Mr. Moderator

Mr. Moderator

When not blogging Mr. Moderator enjoys baseball, cooking, and falconry.

Sep 112013
 
Self Pooptrait

Self Pooptrait

Younger generations are free to celebrate the landmark anniversary of whatever album blew their mind in their youth, say Beck‘s Odelay (an anniversary party for which even I would attend) or that big Outkast album everyone made a fuss over and probably hasn’t listened to since 3 months after initially purchasing. That’s cool; that’s their music. My generation, however, has officially reached the point of scraping the bottom of the barrel on celebrating “classic” albums by classic artists. I first noticed it late last year, I believe it was, when a special anniversary edition of the final full-length album by The Jam, The Gift, was released. Don’t even diehard Jam fans feel that album is pointless beyond 3 songs? That was a memorial ceremony, not an anniversary celebration.

Recently, things went from bad to weird with the box set special anniversary edition release of Bob Dylan‘s critically lambasted Self Portrait. The new special anniversary edition, packaged as Another Self Portrait, includes digitally remastered alternate takes of the original turd as well as outtakes from the equally dismissed—I’m sorry, “under-appreciated” is the revised critical term—New Morning. If that’s not enough to get you to cough up an anniversary gift, the package throws in some outtakes from The Basement Tapes and Dylan’s personal collection of tasteful nude Polaroid shots of Edie Sedgwick. I think I’ll wait for the special anniversary edition of Infidels.

Where do you draw the line on buying a special anniversary edition release from one of your favorite artists?

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Sep 092013
 
Now you funny too!

Now you funny too!

I’m not a joke teller. I can’t tell a joke to save my life. I think I tried to tell a joke only one time, when I was about 12. I’ve never attempted telling another joke since then. Some of you, however, can tell jokes. And do. In a recent thread, Townsman Bobby Bittman impressed me with the following rock ‘n roll stand-up joke:

A guy goes on vacation to a tropical island. As soon as he gets off the plane, he hears drums. He thinks, “Wow, this is cool.” He goes to the beach, he hears the drums. He eats lunch, he hears drums. He goes to a luau, again with the drums. He tries to go to sleep, and he still hears drums.

This goes on for several nights, and gets to the point where the guy can’t sleep at night because of the drums. It’s driving him nuts! Finally, he goes down to the front desk.

When he gets there, he asks the manager, “Hey! What’s with these drums? Don’t they ever stop? I can’t get any sleep!”

The manager says, “No! Drums must never stop! Is very, very bad if drums stop.”

“Why?”

“When drums stop…bass solo begins.”

This got me thinking: there must be more rock ‘n roll jokes, old-fashioned jokes that joke tellers can tell at parties, out there. I know there are lots of drummer jokes, which have probably been documented elsewhere, but what else have you got?

I look forward to the laughter.

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Sep 072013
 

The All-Star Jam is the place where YOU can turn the knobs! Newcomer with something to share? Here’s the place. Not enough time to log into The Back Office and craft your own new thread? Get it rolling here.

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Sep 022013
 
Dude!

Dude!

An interesting note in Philadelphia Inquirer writer Dan DeLuca’s recap of Philadelphia’s recent Made in America music festival centered around female concertgoers’ right to sit atop their boyfriends’ shoulders. DeLuca mentions the following act of vigilance by Josh Homme during the set by Queens of the Stone Age:

The Josh Homme-fronted QOTSA sported a roaring, wildcat guitar sound, Homme isn’t a typical headbanger. He slowed down on moody “The Vampyre Of Time and Memory” and slinky “Make It Wit Chu,” during which he yelled at security for making a woman get off her boyfriend’s shoulders. “Take the rule book and shove it … would you? This is Philadelphia, we know how to have a good time!”

Right on, Josh Homme for sticking it to L’Homme! For this act, we award you the Prestigious Rock Badge of Courage. Take away female concertgoers’ right to sit atop their boyfriends’ shoulders and you take away the right for the audience to get a peak at some potentially bare breasts!

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Sep 012013
 

Sounds of the Hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!

What a summer it was. I turned 50 and got in the best shape of my life. I’ve embraced technology like I’ve never embraced it before. No hot tub. No convertible. Just straight-up rock ‘n roll, including the completion of a new album, the digitization of scratchy records, and a few more chapters in a book I’ve been picking away at writing. I wish I was headed back to school rather than work once this weekend ends. I’m ready for the fall regardless.

RTH Saturday Night Shut-In 112

[Note: You can add Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your iTunes by clicking here. The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player.]

RTH Saturday Night Shut-In, episode 112 by Mrmoderator on Mixcloud

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Aug 302013
 

Most surprising use of a 12-string guitar? You might say. I love Bowie’s rhythmic deployment of that instrument on his breakthrough albums; I didn’t know he kept using it that late into his career.

Almost anything goes in an All-Star Jam. Pull out your instrument of choice and join in.

Meanwhile, you might dig this Olde Thyme mix of music from founding RTHer General Slocum.

20s and 30s vol.1 by General Slocum on Mixcloud

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