28 Thursday Feb 2013
Posted in Words
26 Saturday Jan 2013
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“So tired… tired of playing with this bow and arrow… Going to give my heart away…. Give me a reason to love you … Give me a reason to be a woman… This is a beginning of forever and ever…”
Plenty smooth grooves and lyrical velocity to lay you out.
10 Thursday May 2012
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Tonight, I was sitting with a friend listening to this in the car waiting for the train. Want to see my goose bumps? Buckley’s version of this Cohen tune always gets me… I stop everything I am doing when I hear this. Sometimes late at night, I will turn off all the lights, lay down on the floor and turn this up very loud. His voice is ethereal and it makes me sweetly numb.
11 Wednesday Apr 2012
Posted in Photography
14 Wednesday Mar 2012
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This little track is my favorite Zappa guitar instrumental. There are so many amazing solos… but the tone and simplicity, and ultimate complexity of this duet, is very essential to what I believe made FZ the ingenious musician that he was. For me, this is so rare and beautiful and poignant that I always find myself staring at nothing when I listen to this, feeling my brain move along the notes and pulling the sound around in my soul. This is exceptional music.
14 Wednesday Mar 2012
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Boogaloo Joe’s killer hollowbody grooves lay me out every time I hear this. He’s playing on a whole ‘nother level of soul intensity. Scrape me up off the floor…
14 Wednesday Mar 2012
14 Wednesday Mar 2012
Posted in Words
Byronic:: [bai’ra:-nik] 1. Characteristic of, or after the manner of Byron or his poetry. 2. quasi-n. pl. [after Philippics.] Declamatory utterances or invectives in the style of Byron. 3. Byronic hero: prominent literary character type of the Romantic period, whose characteristics include: extraordinary intelligence and perception; high level of education and intellectual prowess; arrogance; cunning and manipulation; emotional conflictedness; moodiness; self-criticism and introspection; self-destructive behaviour; aesthetic sophistication; dark mysterious beauty; powers of attraction; seductiveness and sexual perversion; world-weariness; distaste for social institutions and norms; disrespect of social ranks; being an outcast, an outlaw, or an exile.
11 Sunday Mar 2012
Posted in Music, Of Interest
There I was, sitting with great friends, sipping deviant libations, wishing for old New York where I could have a whiskey and a smoke in a fine and refined music club. But alas, the clean air was valuable, if not for my lungs, so too for the musicians, and, well, it makes for better visibility. There was quiet commotion after the opening act (Kat Edmonson, a superb vocalist), things were happening up front and several people were moving about. Oddly, they never left the stage. Turns out, Noah and the MegaFauna is a nine piece ensemble, who, at Joe’s Pub, can hardly fit on the stage. I don’t know what they opened with, but I do know that I was taken. Very taken. Not only with the sound, but to some far off sandy land with camels and sheer headdresses. Absolutely unique, I am thinking… yet, I am hearing some spectacular influences, not the least of whom are Tom Waits, Django Reinhardt, and perhaps a little David Byrne. And oh, are you trying to kill me with the accordion? Yes, yes you are. I’m entranced now, with tears of mirth shining in the corners of my eyes, overcome by the sleek sounds, resonating rhythms, and visceral vibrations. The music is decidedly Byronic (you know…. “Mad, bad, and dangerous to know” as Byron’s lover, Lady Lamb, described him) in nature, although Noah Lit, lead acoustic guitar and vocals has a marvelously sardonic sense of humor. “Moan All Night”, clearly their get-up-and-groove-ya tune, is making me swoon. And Noah is screaming these tempting and tragic words. And it’s getting louder and he’s rocking back in his chair, stomping, and I can feel every bass note through my body. With a closer listen, I realize there is some tremendous lyrical viscosity going on. And the band… horn section, violin, percussion, stand-up bass, piano et al. were totally ON. ON, ON and ON. I want to sway in the murky water with them. There is some kind of very particular energy that happens and collectively oozes coolness when there is perfect syzygous alignment between bandmates. This was happening. I’m sure the audience’s heartbeats were in sync. All I could do was slyly grin and think, Thank the music gods there is some great new talent on the way. Whoever’s ears this fine music drops on, they will be better for it. Noah and the MegaFauna are THAT good. And it was an absolute piquant pleasure to see them play live.
24 Friday Feb 2012
...Within the Interstices... 