It’s 1968. Hey, I know, let’sopen up a rock recordwith Eric Satie and follow that with somewild, short, orchestral Satie variation thing, and then we’ll play the funk rock real hard with horns and organs and lyrics about gettingyourself togetherand then we’ll swingharder than any jazzband and the drummerwill just kind of go crazythrough theContinue reading “#626: B is for Blood, Sweat & Tears”
Tag Archives: Reviews
#623: B is for Black Midi
I heard Black Midithe first time in the video for “John L,” a.k.a.“John 50,” which must have been the first single from the 2021 Cavalcade album, the band’s sophomoreeffort. Visually insane, a group of dancers in nude-beige body suits, in clown-like white face, wearing wigs, cavortingand contorting wildly around some obelisk figure with armsand a single eyeball. Musically, it was like a marriage between King Crimson and Primus, but weirder, noisier, aContinue reading “#623: B is for Black Midi”
#622: B is for Black Country, New Road
I It’s 2021, pandemic winding down, civilization returning somewhat to normal, and two artists, right next to each other in the alphabet, breakout from jolly ol’ England, two experimental and unconventionalyoung bands bringing togethera regular smorgasbord of influencesfrom the progressive and art rockmovements of the last decades. The first of these, this band called BlackContinue reading “#622: B is for Black Country, New Road”
#620: B is for Bird, Andrew
I He’s a whistler. He does the whistlingfor Walter, the muppet, in one of the Muppet movies.More than a decadeago (maybe two!) an intern of mine turned me on to Bird.Back in the oughts of this 21st century, I usedto purchase records for download, before streamingwas a thing. For a shorttime I subscribed to aContinue reading “#620: B is for Bird, Andrew”
#602: A is for Asia
Get a bunch of superstarprog-rockers togetherin the early 80’s and watch them writehit pop songs. “The heatof the moment showedin your eyes” is objectively a dumb lyric. Does thischorus speed up? I think I inherited this album from my brother’s discardedrecord collection, but it’s got a price tag on it: 95 cents,and I can’t imagineContinue reading “#602: A is for Asia”
On the Fifteenth Day of 2025…
. . .You decide to write about yourself in the second person. You realize that’s an odd thing to do, even though, as most things a writer can do, it’s been done before hundreds of times. You’re mostly curious about how it feels. You’ve tried the first and the third, the first being the mostContinue reading “On the Fifteenth Day of 2025…”
On the Tenth Day of 2025. . .
. . .I was in the shower just long enough to lather up with soap when the entire shower fixture came apart and water sprayed everywhere and anywhere but from the shower head. The third visit from a plumber in as many weeks, from the last days of December up to today, we have hadContinue reading “On the Tenth Day of 2025. . .”
On the Fourth Day of 2025. . .
. . . the proposed morning routine went to hell in a hand basket. Last night’s gig was brutal on the body and I slept in until 9. I’ve had zero alcohol in two days, but all night the body was complaining and the sleep was mediocre. Get up. Dogs and coffee, breakfast. The stupidContinue reading “On the Fourth Day of 2025. . .”
On the Thirteenth Day of 2024: Home Alone with Snow and Old Records
My brother and my brother-in-law both bequeathed to me their record collections. In my brother’s case, he let me cull and pick out things I knew I wanted in my collection. My brother in law just gave me a big ol’ box. Finally, after years of storing these things in my basement, I went throughContinue reading “On the Thirteenth Day of 2024: Home Alone with Snow and Old Records”
michael jarmer 