Grateful Dead: Althea

The Dead played a lot of kinds of music. This is one of their deceptively laid-back songs.

The Last Unicorn - Opening

Arthur Rankin of Rankin-Bass productions has died at eighty-nine. They produced many of the best-known animated TV shows and holiday specials of the sixties and seventies. Here's the beginning of one of their lesser-known efforts, an adaptation of Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn.

Edith Piaf - Comme Moi

I've actually posted this song before, but the link is broken, so hey, it's time to do it again. Piaf was one of the great popular music singers of the twentieth century. She's heard here in a live performance from 1958. What a voice, what a heart.

nada's presence: is it really a presence?

Nothing today, sorry.

RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman

So sad, such a waste of so much talent. Can't even find a pic I want to post. I just remember in the nineties going to movies and thinking, who is that guy? The blond guy in the supporting role (in Twister, Boogie Nights, etc.) who just takes over the screen whenever he speaks? Then the big roles (Capote and others) came and we knew who he was. I was looking forward to many more years of watching him. So sad, such a waste.

Fred Frith - No Birds

Had a chance to see Frith and got reminded of why he has the reputation he does. Here's one reason: the piece here, which has multiple parts going simultaneously, was recorded without any overdubbing. One person, one guitar, live, and it sounds like a small orchestra.

Pete Seeger - Waist Deep In The Big Muddy

This is probably the last song written by Pete Seeger that I'll be posting, at least for now. There's a list circulating of his best five songs, and that's what I've been using as a guide. "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" was written at the height of America's involvement in the Vietnam War. Seeger recorded it for an appearance on the Smothers Brothers' show. The song was cut by the network executives, a stink was raised, and a few weeks later the song was aired. This is that performance.