#694: F is for Finneas

The brother of Billie Eilish, and the mastermindbehind most of her production choices, one mightthink that this young man would just be a kind of boy-version of his sister. Not even close. Listeningto Finneas, the last record, The Optimist, or this one, For Crying Out Loud, brings into stark contrast the two projects. Oddly, givenContinue reading “#694: F is for Finneas”

#693: F is for Ferry, Bryan

Here’s a super groovy late 80’s album for you. I think I heard Bryan Ferry on the Roxy Music Avalon album and I didn’t even make the connectionbetween this guy and “Love Is The Drug.” And while I loved that Roxy Music album,I have never taken the plunge into Roxy Music’s back catalog, which goesContinue reading “#693: F is for Ferry, Bryan”

#692: F is for Feist

It’s been decades since I participatedin any kind of record club situation. When I was young and poor it was the easiest and cheapest way to accumulate a CD collection, and whenI was a kid, my dad allowed me to orderrecords from his subscription at Columbia House. When I became an adult, I put awayContinue reading “#692: F is for Feist”

#690: F is for Father John Misty (12, 15, 17)

This guy, Joshua Tillman, appears to havehad his big break in rock music as the drummerfor Fleet Foxes. The breakout album he playedon happens to be in my collection, the 2011Helplessness Blues. The drummer’s identity didn’t register with me at the time, nor should it have, as I wouldn’t hear a song byhis adopted monikerContinue reading “#690: F is for Father John Misty (12, 15, 17)”

#688: F is for Fabulous Poodles

“Mirror Star,” the first song on this album,was the single and maybe the only songI’d heard from this British pre-new wavepower pop band in 1978. It’s a song about a young man who pretends to be famous, a kind of Walter Mitty of rock and roll. It’s a damncatchy tune. However enticed I may havebeenContinue reading “#688: F is for Fabulous Poodles”

#682: E is for Eilish, Billie

I see her as both adorableand as a serious artist. Adorable, in that, like Swift, but perhaps even more-so, she seems to exude goodness. And her creative collaborationwith her brother Finneas is perhaps the most adorablesibling musical endeavor ever. They clearly love each otherand are astoundingly well-matchedin their talents and tastes. Finneas is an enormouslyContinue reading “#682: E is for Eilish, Billie”

#679: E is for Eels (96, 05, 15)

There are only two degrees of separationbetween me and one of my rock heroes because a bass player friend of mine, a bassplayer that has played in bands with meover these many years, has alsotoured with Eels on several occasionsand ultimately was recorded and filmedfor the triple record/concert film from 2015, Royal Albert Hall, aContinue reading “#679: E is for Eels (96, 05, 15)”

#678: E is for Earth Wind & Fire

I Am is the name of this record. I am having a dance party herein my study at 11:30 in the morning. I am grooving to these funky rhythms from “In the Stone” right out of the gate, and the funk hardly lets up for half a second as the tracks segue from one toContinue reading “#678: E is for Earth Wind & Fire”

#677: D is for Dylan

I have never really liked the musicof Bob Dylan. Only one or two exceptionsstand out in memory. The first: hearing covers of Dylan’s music by the Byrds. I liked the Byrds, and I liked their covers, but, at the time, I had no clue these were Bob Dylan’s songs. The second: As a child thereContinue reading “#677: D is for Dylan”

#676: D is for Dry Cleaning

I In the short storied tradition of spoken word poetswho front rock bands, stands Florence Shaw, the lead singer, or speaker, the raconteusefor post-punk English rock band Dry Cleaning. She does not sing, although she can carrya tune, as evidenced by the occasional humming or melodic lyric line. Mostly, she talks, recites, speaks her poemsContinue reading “#676: D is for Dry Cleaning”