Thursday, June 30, 2011

Finn Brothers - Last Day of June

Famous Enzedians. Of course, there it's a winter song.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Bound to happen sooner or later...

We've put the nothing-matters-but-stock-prices-because-the-free-market-regulates-itself bean counters in charge of the medical profession. Guess what the result is.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The Black Irish Band with Michael Martin Murphey - Life Is Like A Mountain Railroad

An old gospel song.

Monday, June 27, 2011

How to Trim the Deficit

From TPM: the Congressional Budget Office predicts that "deficits will disappear entirely by the end of President Obama's second term (if he gets a second term) if Congress were to just sit on its hands and do nothing."

Friday, June 24, 2011

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Keith Richards - Locked Away

People generally don't think ballad-with-rich-harmonies when they think of Keith Richards, but lookie what we got here.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Bob Dylan - Dignity

From his Unplugged session.

"Someone showed me a picture and I just had to laugh;
Dignity never been photographed."

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The Illusionist - Trailer

By far the finest French animated movie set in Edinburgh in 1959 that I have ever seen. Highly recommended if you liked The Triplets of Belleville and/or Jacques Tati.


Sunday, June 19, 2011

Randy Newman - My Life is Good

Newman at perhaps his most cynical, though as usual the delivery is straight-faced. From 1983.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Goodbye Wild Man Fischer

Larry "Wild Man" Fischer died Thursday. The fact that at one point I listened to Wild Man Fischer meant that a lot of other music around at the time sounded very boring. Here's the trailer to Derailroaded, a documentary about him from 2005.

Friday, June 17, 2011

"Texas state budget includes spending on commercials for Fortune 500 companies"

Unbelievable.

State Rep. David Simpson says the state budget lawmakers sent to Gov. Rick Perry spends money in the wrong places — such as on Walmart commercials.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Wallace Stevens - Sunday Morning

Don't know who the reader is. I could have posted this on Sunday morning, but I'm posting it now because it's the closest thing to an elegy (although it isn't a true elegy) that says something like what I wanted to say today.

Friday, June 10, 2011

James Taylor - Fire and Rain

Such an iconic song of the easy listening type, it's hard to remember that it's about dealing with a friend's suicide and heroin addiction. But it is.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Linda Ronstadt - You're No Good

Posting this because nearly all the instruments were played by one person, Andrew Gold, who died a few days ago. A remarkable piece of musical craft.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Weinergate, the Latest

From Talking Points Memo, ordinarily sympathetic to Anthony Weiner, a useful overview of his comments.

Monday, June 6, 2011

"Collateral Damage"

Haven't commented on Weinergate yet, and hadn't planned to, but this is a good article on one aspect of it: the college student to whom the rude Tweet was sent.

“If I’ve refused to do interviews with credible shows like Good Morning America, why would I give an interview to @NewYorkPost?” she tweeted. Again, rhetorically addressing Fenton, she tweeted: “Why would I do an interview with a tabloid about how I don’t want media attention? Trash.”

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Gerry Mulligan & Paul Desmond - Stand Still

Baritone and alto, with only bass and drums, is a combination you don't hear often. But it's Mulligan and Desmond, so...

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Oliver Nelson - Stolen Moments

The band consists of Nelson, Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy, Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, and Roy Haynes. From the classic album Blues and the Abstract Truth.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Willie the Lion Smith - Echoes of Spring

Arguably the most influential pianist in jazz history, simply because he was a big influence on the generation that included Duke Ellington and Fats Waller (among others), who then went on to influence everyone who followed them. But Willie did not really record until the 1930s, apparently content before that to make a living as a live performer in New York. Combining commanding technique with an encyclopedic knowledge of early twentieth-century popular song (not to mention an engaging personality), from the thirties until his death in 1973 he performed all over the world.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

The Beach Boys - Heroes and Villains

There are always heroes, there are always villains. Music by Brian Wilson (hero), lyrics by Van Dyke Parks (also hero).


Wednesday, June 1, 2011