BBC Symphony, Chorus, and Singers - Auld Lang Syne

Out with the old, in with the new.

The Moody Blues - Peak Hour (Live)

A band known for its studio recordings performs live on TV in 1967. Not bad.

Krugman on BitCoin

As you might have suspected, the fact that it's not a scam doesn't mean it's a good idea. Krugman explains.

I have had and am continuing to have a dialogue with smart technologists who are very high on BitCoin — but when I try to get them to explain to me why BitCoin is a reliable store of value, they always seem to come back with explanations about how it’s a terrific medium of exchange. Even if I buy this (which I don’t, entirely), it doesn’t solve my problem. And I haven’t been able to get my correspondents to recognize that these are different questions.

Cat Stevens - Sad Lisa

Yet more boomer music. I've posted this song before, but only the Kermit the Frog version. Here's the original. The ending is cut short, but you can't have everything, I guess.

Jackson Browne - Doctor My Eyes & These Days

More boomer stuff. BBC 1978, so it looks like the Running on Empty band.

Yusef Lateef - Like It Is

RIP Yusef Lateef, who was never as well-known to the world at large as people likes Mile Davis but was widely respected by his fellow jazz musicians. Ninety-three is a good age.

Charles Brown - Merry Christmas Baby

Traffic - Hidden Treasure

Another lost golden oldie.

Howling Puppy

In once swore to myself that I'd never have a post that was nothing but a cute puppy, but hey, things change. H/t Buzzfeed.

The Walker Brothers - The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore

Another great Bacharach/David song.

PJ Harvey - Sheela-Na-Gig

Just another song that's been in my head.

Ray Price - For the Good TImes

Let's have one more Ray Price song. "For the Good Times," besides being one of Price's biggest hits, was also one of the songs that helped establish Kris Kristofferson as a songwriter.

Keith Richards - Locked Away

The rock musician whose death has been predicted for decades turned seventy yesterday. Here's my favorite song from his solo career.

Ray Price - Crazy Arms

Let's keep the RP love going a little longer. I'm pretty sure this was his first really big country hit.

Ray Price - Heartaches by the Number

This is the first Ray Price song I ever remember knowing. RIP Mr. P.

RIP Peter O'Toole

From The Ruling Class. O'Toole's character is an English lord who believes that he is God.

nada rises out of the mist

Oops. Just forgot today.

Mozart - Requiem

On the first anniversary of the Sandy Hook shootings, this is what came to mind as appropriate music. It's a live performance of one of the best-known works of music expressing sorrow in the face of death. Hebert von Karajan conducts.

Harry Nilsson - Nevertheless

From 1973. I hadn't known this video re-creation of at least some of his album of standards, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night, even existed. What a voice.

The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes

Still got Lou Reed in my mind. This is one of his best songs.

Lightnin' Hopkins - Trouble in Mind

Hard to go wrong with Lightnin'.

What Digby Said, Part the Next

Digby links to Andrew Sullivan because she agrees with him, which she points out is rare.

Having expectations of [leaders] and demanding accountability from them is hugely important. It's fundamental to how human beings understand how the world works.

John Lennon - (Just Like) Starting Over

When he died on December 8, 1980, this was his current hit single.

Joan Armatrading - Love and Affection

Hadn't thought of this song in a while, but it is so good.

Krugman on "Third Way"

The professor gives his take on the Third Way's editorial excoriating Elizabeth Warren et al.

I mean, going after Warren and de Blasio for not being willing to cut Social Security and their “staunch refusal to address the coming Medicare crisis” ??? Even aside from the question of exactly what the mayor of New York has to do with Medicare, this sounds as if they have been living in a cave for years, maybe reading an occasional screed from the Pete Peterson complex.

On Social Security, they’re still in the camp insisting that because the system might possibly have to pay lower benefits in the future, we must move now to cut future benefits. Oh, kay.

RIP Nelson Mandela

At ninety-five, he had enough time to accomplish a lot. And he did.

Frank Zappa - Peaches en Regalia

Yesterday marked twenty years since FZ left this vale of tears. To mark the occasion, here's one of my (and a lot of other people's) favorite pieces of his. It was the first track on his solo album Hot Rats from 1969.

Los Lobos - When The Circus Comes

I've posted this before, but the link is dead. Apparently for many people this is now a Phish song, but Los Lobos wrote it and performed it first.

The song seems to be about the death of a longtime friendship.

Laurel And Hardy - Putting Pants On Philip

On this date in 1927 the first official pairing of Laurel and Hardy was released on film. (They had appeared in a movie together once before but in separate scenes.) Their familiar characters were not yet set, so in this movie they never quite look like "Laurel and Hardy." As a historical artifact it's very interesting. Plus it's funny.

YouTube Comment Reconstruction #2 - 'GoPro: Fireman Saves Kitten

What happens if you take a typical argument provoked by some jerk in a YouTube comments section and re-create it with actors? From Gawker. H/t Digby.

Los Lobos - Bertha

The Wolves have been playing this song for so long that it's now part of their regular repertoire, but it was written and first performed by the Grateful Dead. Thus Cesar's shout-out to Jerry at the beginning, and the inclusion of longtime Bay Area musician Pete Sears on piano.