ABKCO Records

Great interview in the new Tape Op (#129) with Teri Landi, curator of the huge ABKCO Records tape archives. Especially the info about Cameo-Parkway recordings, like how there was often gobs of reverb on the tapes that almost disappeared in the transition to 45s.

Hal Blaine

Hal Blaine’s drumming on “Any World (That I’m Welcome To)” ❤️

Presonus Eris 3.5

Wanted a decent, inexpensive pair of powered monitors for everyday listening, so I got these Presonus Eris 3.5s. Very pleased! They’ll be useful for mix-checking, too.

Fleetwood Mac, “Rhiannon,” OGWT 1976

Every time I watch this video from the Old Grey Whistle Test (and I’ve watched it many times over the years) it has the same effect — it just floors me. The band’s in total command, yet at the same time they seem possessed by the music — as is Stevie, for sure. The only word I can think of to describe her performance is “electrifying.” The sad part is — I can’t imagine anything like this taking place today. watch “Rhiannon” on YouTube

Schaun Tozer

Listening to Schaun Tozer’s OST for Mighty Jerome. A lot of his stuff is jazzy, but this (like Intelligence) has an electronic edginess to it that I love.

Enigma

But now I have come to believe that the whole world is an enigma, a harmless enigma that is made terrible by our own mad attempt to interpret it as though it had an underlying truth.
the narrator of Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco

Steely Dan, “Here At The Western World”

Some song lyrics are cryptic, but we don’t need to “figure out” the meaning. We can suspend disbelief and just live in the mood or the world they create. “Here At The Western World” is certainly an oblique lyric (like those of most Steely Dan songs), but it’s one of those where the details are so specific, and hang together so well, that it’s hard to resist trying to sleuth out the story. The music is laid back, smooth, almost innocuous (but this is SD, so the lyrics scratch the surface to reveal the darkness underneath). There’s an implied bossa nova rhythm (similar to “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”/“Song for My Father”), which brings us to… South America. No way could I pin down this song’s meaning on my own, so I googled a few times over the years, and found that the most coherent explication was this: it’s about … Read more

Amateur

The professional blogging sites (and courses, and books) say the savvy blogger should become an expert at something. No, more precisely, you should be perceived to be an expert. I’m not an expert at anything, even the things I love. I love = amateur.

Experts (the real ones, not the “perceived as” types) burrow as deeply as possible into a topic, whether it’s early punk music, or JFK conspiracy theories, or vintage motorcycles… they know the whole history, the tiniest details — and we need these people; they write the histories. And don’t get me wrong, they love their subjects; they all started out as amateurs.

I’ve just never had the inclination to be an expert on any one topic, or a “critic” for that matter. I hope that my writing here (especially about music) comes across more as appreciation, from the heart of an amateur.

Steely Dan cast of characters

For no particular reason, here’s a list of named characters who appear in Steely Dan songs: Felonius (my old friend) Cathy Berberian Dr. Warren Kruger Kid Clean Ann de Siècle Pixeleen Charlie Freak Kid Charlemagne Lonnie Lady Bayside Deacon Blues Buzz Abu Peg Josie Gina Yvonne Rikki Abbie Pepe Aja (? a woman or a drug ?) Doctor Wu ‘Retha Franklin Jill St. John Marilyn 4.0 Katy Rudy Carlo (oh) Michael (oh Jesus) (the corpse of) William Wright Good King Richard and Good King John (my) Louise the Queen of Spain Napoleon Hoops McCann Jive Miguel Miss Fugazi Dave from Acquisitions Franny from NYU Bobby Dakine Mr. Parker (Bird) Little Eva Klaus (Barbie?) The Rooster (Hugo Banzer Suarez?) Ruthie Mr. LaPage Babs and Clean Willie Papa (Doc Duvalier) T-Bone Angie Madame Erzulie Brother Lou Garue and the Jerry Garry Chino and Daddy G (Gordon Liddy) Rose Darling Snake Mary Janie … Read more

Music & Mindfulness

As I said earlier, this isn’t an “oldies music blog” (first few posts notwithstanding). It’s not really a “music blog” either, although I’ll probably write more about music than about any other topic. One big area I want to explore is Mindfulness, particularly from a Buddhist perspective. Although, I’d never call myself “a Buddhist.”