I'd have to agree with Tom Warren. My current favorite indie record label is also Drag City home of Smog, Silver Jews, Joanna Newsom, The Fucking Champs, Espers, Jim O'Rourke, The Red Krayola, I could go on.
Alright. There was that piece in the Wall Street Journal where the writer, Terry Teachout, says he's cool with MP3s because they're wildly convenient and because he can't hear very well anyway, being middle-aged and all. He goes on to say that his hearing loss has set him free from the "snare and delusion of audiophilia"that wallet-choking merry-go-round of upgrading for sonic improvements.
The very first issue of The Stereophile appeared 45 years ago, in October 1962. It had been founded by a guy named J. Gordon Holt. The "J." is for Justin. I've never met him, never even exchanged e-mails with him.
What's amazing (and absolutely obvious, depending on how you look at it) is that I listen to music differently now. I mean, my teenage ears don't have very much in common with my soon-to-be 30 year old ears.
SM lists his favorite records of 2010: Every now and then, I hear people complaining about the lack of good, new music. I figure these people just aren’t paying attention, or they’re looking in the wrong places, because I have the opposite problem: I am overwhelmed by all the good music there is to explore.
Happy Friday, lovely. I'm sorry for missing you yesterday. I started on several different entries, actually, but none went where I wanted. Which isn't necessarily bad entries often take unexpected turns but these entries, in particular, simply seemed not right enough for this space.
I would like to be at home right now, sitting on the orange couch, listening to the hi-fi. Because Bill Callahan has been on my mind, I think I would choose to listen to Smog's A River Ain't Too Much To Love, an album that soothes me, that makes me feel good.
I've told you about my love for CBS' Sunday Morning news program. The show is simply fantastic. Charles Osgood is the host. Charles Osgood wears bowties and talks in perfect rhyme. Mo Rocca knows how to dress. David Edelstein takes me to the movies. Bill Geist is the most charming buffoon. Ben Stein has a strange way of lifting the human spirit. Serena Altschul makes me sigh.