Townsman Andyr, in the middle of his spiritual journey to the Holy Land of Jerusalem sent me this shocking photo from one of the world’s most famous series of Stations of the Cross paintings. (I’m sorry I forget the name of the church, which he breathlessly relayed to me in an excited transcontinental call.) This is truly a miracle of Boss-like proportions…after the jump!
Continue reading »
That Secret Santa practice that’s popular in the workplace and in some families always confuses me. I can’t keep track of how it works, and when I find myself unable to get out of one of these things, I get a bad feeling in my stomach. I’m cool with gift giving being out in the open. The guessing game thing and the ability to trade in a gift don’t sit right with me. Hit me with your best shot!
In that spirit I’d like to suggest Rock Town Hall’s Not-So-Secret Santa Celebration. Choose a Townsperson – one Townsperson – and wish a musically relevant gift upon that person. Try to spread the wealth: pick someone who has not yet received a gift, and don’t hog a half dozen Townspeople for yourself.
This “gift” doesn’t have to be a specific thing, like a particular record. In fact, I think it could be more fun it was more like wishing a musical value or insight for a fellow Townsperson. For instance, I might wish that my close personal friend E. Pluribus Gergely would finally feel the brilliance of the s/t album by The Band, one of my favorite albums since childhood and a constant point of disagreement between the two of us. It’s not just that we disagree aesthetically. I think a little less of him for not getting that album, and he takes pity on me for being so tied to the emotional and historical involvement that I have placed in the album since it was given to me by my uncle when I was about 5 years old. Wouldn’t this be a wonderful world if Rock Town Hall’s Not-So-Secret Santa simply granted him the ability to find a place for that album in his heart?
Over the course of any year in Rock Town Hall, ideas come and go. For any 5 threads one of us has launched, there may be another thread that seems like a great idea for at least a few minutes but that you never get around to crafting and publishing as a fully realized piece on The Main Stage. Maybe you’re better at following through than I am. This is the case with my rock ponderings in these hallowed halls.
In The Back Office I have a number of thread ideas mapped out – or titles for future threads, if nothing else, saved and waiting for that day I get down to business and flesh out what I once envisioned would be a great topic. It’s not unusual that I eventually complete these ideas, maybe after drinking a late-night cup of espresso or seeing off some friends with whom I’d spent an evening reviewing my ideas. These are satisfying times; I feel like a real writer. Other times the very rough topic just sits there, eventually forgotten. I’m an optimistic guy when it comes to getting around to all the things I procrastinate doing, but sometimes it’s best to face up to my limitations and let some of my rough thoughts float away.
So that I don’t completely waste what might have been some decent ideas, following are topics that I have sat on for the past 2 years. Consider these threads I can no longer expect to ever complete in 2009. Maybe posting these “lost” topics here will inspire others to pick up where I left off. Maybe doing this will simply give these topics their proper burial place. By letting go of these topics before they clutter up The Back Office filing cabinets any longer, I envision a clearing of my own mind and the coming of new ideas, the kinds of threads that really need to be written. I sense I will experience a Sting-like feeling of contentment and self-satisfaction. Here goes!
Just a few more long-delayed Hear Factor, deux comps to run this week! This mix contains a lot of newish, Prock-oriented stuff that will likely appeal to Hrrundivbakshi and his Jellyfish supporters, so I’d most encourage our anti-Prockist Townspeople to settle in with this mix for a day or two. It’s not all heavy duty Prock, though. There’s a good deal of laid-back, melodic stuff, along the lines of Crowded House. Enjoy!
Having Tim Kazurinsky on backing vocals (center @ 2:38 mark) seals the deal on this All-Star Jam of All-Star Jams! Why don’t you join in and do your own thing?
I was listening to the first two dB’s albums on my iPod the other night, and I forgot that the CD I burned to my iTunes had some singles tacked on. Years ago I landed a six-pack of early dB’s singles, which along with awesome cover art included some songs I’d never heard on the two albums I’d been playing to death in the year leading up to that purchase. Way back when and again the other night I was underwhelmed by the song “Soul Kiss.” I remembered how hearing that song became a Holy Grail issue for me when I was 18 years old. I remembered how finally hearing it didn’t live up to the advance billing I’d somehow accepted as gospel.
Another Holy Grail that I shouldn’t have bothered chasing was that first Buzzcocks ep, Spiral Scratch. It took me about 10 years to finally shell out for that bad boy, and it sucks. The Buzzcocks aren’t the Buzzcocks, to me, without Pete Shelley singing lead. I never minded Howard Devoto singing for Magazine, despite never finding that band half as appealing as the Shelley and Steve Diggle-led Buzzcocks, but Spiral Scratch is not an ep I’d ever recommend tracking down and paying top dollar for – or even buying at a reasonable price as a CD reissue with bonus tracks, as I did.
You may disagree with my particular nonrecommendations, but I’m most interested in hearing your own walk-on-by nonrecommendations.
The challenge is self-explanatory. The only thing I ask is that you stay away from listing every odd percussion device that Harry Partch may have invented. Let’s keep this to rock ‘n roll and other forms of popular music.
I’ll start with Jon King’s use of the folding chair.
