This one though that I cannot resist, even if it's a sign that Armageddon is now surely approaching.
For their new Brendan O’Brien–produced record that's expected to come out this fall, AC/DC has signed an exclusive agreement with Wal–Mart `a la the recent Eagles deal. The reason for this is monumentally simple: MUN–NAY. In their deal with the retail Anti…
Two microphones. Two ears listening. With my teponatzli, an Aztec slit drum, and a fresh pair of Vic Firth 7A drum sticks, I marched back and forth between two $35 Audio Dynamica Low-Z Dynamic microphones: "Stage left near!" Smack! Against the teponatzli. It produced a low tone. "Stage left far!" Whack! I gave the log another beating, this time on the higher pitch. "Center stage!" Barararata! I let off a diced-up buzz roll. I slapped on some cans to listen to the recording. It was all screwed up.
I had my microphones switched around, with my left mic panned all the way to the…
Maybe it's some hardcore Baader-Meinhof business, some of that crazy cosmic unconscious plate of shrimp stuff. It's certainly possible that the thing was there all along—just chilling, waiting to be used, enjoyed, listened to—like some wonderful, little beat or sigh that had gone on for so long unnoticed until someone else…
The Louis Armstrong House has been extensively renovated and enlarged, so those tapes are now on display. If you want to hear excerpts from them, go to Satchmo.net. To get a preview of Armstrong's…
Last Wednesday, I tagged along with Michael Lavorgna on his latest 6moons.com RoadTour. I feel very fortunate to have been a part of it. Michael's RoadTours are not about declaring bests or absolutes. They are about people, places, music, and gear—pretty much in that order. Michael wants to know more about what happens to a piece of gear after it leaves the dealer—after the reviews have been read, the auditions have…
As usual, I find myself even more impressed by Pratchett (seems to happen with each new novel and interview). He's a modest chap—he's proud enough of his OBE and Carnegie medal, but he's even prouder of having been made an honorary Brownie for his creation of Tiffany Aching in The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, and The Winter King. I think the Brownies showed good judgment—those three rank among my favorites of…
First, I hit them with the MoFi Super Deep Cleaner, which the company recommends as a pre-cleaner for extra-dirty records. It's said to be made of a mild detergent and an "exclusive Quad-Distilled, hyper-pure water base." I don't even know what that means, but I'll trust them on it. A 16-oz bottle of the stuff costs $25. It's hyper-pure, brohams. I…
Michael Gray's weighty tome, The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia (Continuum, New York, 2008) is perhaps more than anyone but the most fanatical and fearless Dylan freaks (thank you Flaming Lips) will actually ever want or need. There are to be sure some doozies among the 850 entries. That fact that Dylan was on Dharma and Greg…
MUSICIAN OF THE YEAR: Herbie Hancock. (This is for his remarkable Joni Mitchell tribute-album, which crossed jazz and pop more compellingly than any fusion heard in some time. But I voted Ornette Coleman, for blowing as rivetingly as ever, and in some ways more gorgeously, at his concert at Town Hall.)
RECORD OF THE YEAR: Maria Schneider, Sky Blue. (Yes!)
REISSUE/HISTORICAL RECORD OF THE YEAR: Charles Mingus, Cornell ‘64. (Ditto!)…