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”
Tag Archives: rock
#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”
#674: D is for The Doors
For such a humorless lot, they sure were funny, those Doors: Let’s, for example, be the first band in rock to feature an organ.Let’s write the most iconic organriff, as iconic perhaps as the guitarriff in “You Really Got Me” or “Satisfaction,” and we’ll featurethat organ riff in our most successful hit song from ourContinue reading “#674: D is for The Doors”
We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program So That Michael Can Write About His Own Band
I have a show tonight with Here Comes Everybody, a band my wife and I formed together 40 years ago. This show is remarkable or significant for a number of reasons. It’s a record release party, as we celebrate and release on vinyl for the first time a 20th anniversary edition of our album Submarines.Continue reading “We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program So That Michael Can Write About His Own Band”
#672: D is for Dirty Projectors
I’d forgotten how crazy and greatthis music was. Claps, subsonicbass, acapella female voices, nutty lyrics, great, rubbery, pitch-perfect, jazzy tenor lead vocals, gnarly guitar, a goofy and groovy mix of real drums and machines, odd time signatures, impossible sounding figures, warbley and wobbly synthesizers,suddenly a string section, female lead vocal here and there,abrupt stops andContinue reading “#672: D is for Dirty Projectors”
#671: D is for Devo
Are we not men? We are Devo. A rare instance during my buddingmusical identity, discovering, or hearingfor the first time, a band’s debut album.Most of my all-time favorite bandsI heard for the first time on their thirdor forth record (XTC, Boomtown Rats, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Japan). After all, I was just a kid. IContinue reading “#671: D is for Devo”
#670: D is for Destroyer
I first heard Dan Bejar’s voiceon The New Pornographers’ records, and I thought to myself, what the hellis that? A voice, not really similarto, but along the linesof a Neil Young–a totally uncharacteristic kind of voicefor rock music, but simultaneouslyperfect for it. At first, I didn’t like it, but there was some hook,some element ofContinue reading “#670: D is for Destroyer”
#669: D is for Descartes A Kant
A group from Mexico Citytakes on a band namealluding to a French philosopherand a German philosopher, respectively, and sings exclusivelyin English, while their stage banter, as far as I can tell, is delivered exclusively in Spanish. I can’t remember how I stumbled uponthis band, although it’s only been a few years; perhaps I saw aContinue reading “#669: D is for Descartes A Kant”
#667: D is for Deerhoof
I love this band but they can bedifficult to listen to. I have one DeerhoofCD, one LP, and about four or five downloadedalbums that, in lightof that difficulty, were not in heavy rotationdespite the fact that I was delighted and intriguedby every one of those albums.They are one of thosebands, and I’ve listenedto a lotContinue reading “#667: D is for Deerhoof”
#665: D is for The Decemberists
First, I almost violently dislike harmonicas, and it’s the first thing I hear on the openingtrack of The King Is Dead, an album I haven’t listened to in years, not since its release way back in 2011, I’d guess.An early fan, I think I have nearly all of their firstalbums on CD. I liked thatContinue reading “#665: D is for The Decemberists”
michael jarmer 