Yet Another Phoenix Rises...

First the Pumpkins, now this? What a great time for music.

Louris and Olson Together Again

Hold Steady...

Record number four is complete. Brings a smile to my face and a tear to my eye.

Official Hold Steady Website

Wilco's Five Night Chicago Residency..

A review of the five night jaunt Wilco took exploring their back catalog this past week in Chicago.

Extended Play

















With special guest Andrew Bird on violin...

Nicole Atkins at The Current...

MP3 or Stream of a live performance in the Current studio by the always terrific Nicole Atkins

Nicole Atkins at the Current

Burial - Untrue

I know I'm arriving a bit late to the Burial party, but one of my current favorites.

Another Country...

Ok, so it's early and I'm on my first listen, but Tift Merrits "Another Country" is the warmest and nicest and best of this early part of the year. Loving it.

(Not my) 20 Most Influential Records....

From the Times Online:

1 The Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground & Nico Hardly anybody bought it, as the saying goes, but everyone who did formed a band.

2 Beatles, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Created the idea of using the recording studio as an instrument.

3 David Bowie, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars The arrival of postmodernism in rock’s most glamorous self-fulfilling prophecy.

4 Patti Smith, Horses Pioneered vast new territories for women in popular music.

5 Beach Boys, Pet Sounds The instrumentation, the harmonies, the arrangements, the sheer ambition.

6 Beatles, Revolver Goodbye “pop group”, hello “rock band”.

7 The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Are You Experienced? Shaped our sonic world – the template for guitar heroes everywhere.

8 Bob Dylan, Highway 61 Revisited How does it feel? Like a whole new world just opened up.

9 Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back Hip-hop comes of age.

10 Sex Pistols, Never Mind the Bollocks... Rendered the rock dinosaurs extinct (for a while).

11 Kraftwerk, Trans-Europe Express It sounded like the future then; eerily, it still does now.

12 Michael Jackson, Thriller The last quarter of a century of R&B starts here.

13 Nirvana, Nevermind Rendered the rock dinosaurs extinct (again).

14 NWA, Straight Outta Compton Created the template for gangsta rap.

15 Aretha Franklin, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You A soul masterpiece, and an album whose anthems radiated out into the wider culture.

16 Ramones, Ramones Rock’s ultimate palate-cleanser. Generations of punks started here.

17 Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On Motown finds its social conscience.

18 The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Gilded Palace of Sin It was largely ignored at the time, but where would alt-country be without it?

19 Bob Marley and the Wailers, Live! Reggae goes global.

20 Joni Mitchell, Blue Searching for sensitive singer-songwriters? Here’s the source.