The black dude, as he watches, senses something, senses someone…
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A group of people sit along an old, grimy bar, doing things. Watching, waiting, aspiring. Every single one of them, in one way or another. Watches, waits, aspires. One of them—the strangest looking one of all—is a black dude with hair like the wind through a California Cypress. Eyes like two half moons. With more care and concern than any of the others, he watches. He watches the man on stage, a fellow named Henry Vestine. Henry is playing guitar, bass, and drums all at once, all by himself.
There is a proper procedure for taking advantage of any investment.
Music, for example. Buying music is an investment.
To get the maximum you must
Music, for example. Buying music is an investment.
To get the maximum you must
LISTEN TO IT FOR THE FIRST TIME UNDER OPTIMUM CONDITIONS.
Not in your car or on a portable player through a headset.
Take it home.
Get rid of all distractions (even her or him).
Turn off your cell phone.
Turn off everything that rings or beeps or rattles or whistles.
Make yourself comfortable.
Play your LP.
LISTEN all the way through.
Think about what you got.
Think about who…
If you’re a fan of John Fahey—a fan of his music, his writing, his thoughts on life, whatever—and especially if you’re sort of sad, like I am, about having never met him, then you’ll enjoy this disc. The Three Day Band is Fahey and musician Ayal Senior who, in addition to capturing Fahey on four-track here, also edited much of Fahey’s second collection of stories, Vampire Vultures. (Senior’s also got a bunch of good-looking cassettes available.)
Ayal Senior jumped in a car with John Fahey and a couple of pretty girls and headed back to Fahey’s little room at the…
It’s been nearly a week since PBS’ broadcast of the White House concert of music from the civil-rights era, and its sounds and images keep popping up in my brain.
The Blind Boys of Alabama (now old but still feisty men) singing “Free At Last,” the Freedom Singers testifying “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ’Round,” Natalie Cole putting a surprisingly spirited cover on “What’s Goin’ On,” the very sight—shivering, for someone like me who remembers those times—of watching these people singing these songs a few hundred yards from where some of them sang in protest not quite a half-century ago…
Last night at Le Poisson Rouge,
Kieran Hebden made all the kids
slither and groove.
Kieran Hebden made all the kids
slither and groove.
There is love in you,
there is love in you, there is love in you,
there is love.
Through the rhythms and waves,
he reminded everyone.
The March 2010 issue of Stereophile is now on newsstands. Open it up and you’ll see that Steve Guttenberg has rediscovered his faith in vinyl. Hooray! What did it for him? A new turntable: the VPI Classic. “Coming back to vinyl,” Steve writes, “I now see that digital’s primary fault is that it encourages passive listening.”
Passive listening is the devil. Hallelujah, Steve has seen the light.
Deeper in, we have two excellent, intense features: Keith Howard’s “Arc Angels,” examining tonearm geometry, and Richard Lehnert’s “Finally, A Finale,” exploring the many odds and…
The relationship between the internet and music continues to evolve in new and bizarre ways. The latest is Guvera, a site that offers free music downloads, that the principals say uses the sponsorship model in new and they hope successful ways and keeps everyone—from artist to label to consume—happy. When you register for the site, they ask you a battery of questions about your likes and dislikes and then you’re free to search for a song or an artist. The site will then direct you to a channel or channels, sponsored by an advertiser, which has what you’re looking for. Using the…
The guitarist John Fahey was born on February 28, 1939, and died just days before what would have been his 62nd birthday, on February 22, 2001. Like so many other beautiful things that continue to have enormous impact on my life, Fahey’s music was introduced to me by Michelle. The album was 1997’s City of Refuge. We were in our second year at Fairleigh Dickinson University, in the second year of our relationship. Michelle had claimed the album from our campus radio station and brought it back to our dorm room and played it for me.
City of Refuge was John Fahey’s “comeback”…
Joanna Newsom’s third full-length LP, Have One On Me, is available today. You can stream the entire thing from NPR, if you’re interested. Today, after work, I will go out into the light rain and hunt down this album. The arrangements are as intricate as ever, but Newsom’s voice has never been so seductive, alluring, inviting. So far, I especially like the kindness and yearning of “No Provenance,” but the entire thing—three LPs, 18 tracks, and two hours long—is bewitching and rewarding.
The problem has not been solved.
I’ve been listening to a lot of compact discs lately. It’s okay, I guess. This situation, I mean. No, it’s actually really bumming me out. I want to listen to my vinyl records. I went for a long walk a couple of weekends ago and thought about life and took some pictures and stopped at Target and bought an ultrasonic humidifier. Being “ultrasonic” and all, you’d think it’d be quiet. But, no. It’s fairly loud.
(Then again, maybe it’s so much louder than I realize. Maybe that sound I’m hearing is just the purr of billowy wings as…