Has there ever been a group in the history of "alternative" (or whatever corporate America is calling it these days) music as dark as Joy Division? Bono, he of U2 fame, had this to say about the band: "It would be harder to find a darker place in music than Joy… Read full post »

 I realize, dear readers, that I haven't posted a blog on this site in almost two years. Gulp. I got sidetracked by a few other projects. Wrote a novel for one. Made some music of my own. Well, now I'm back, hopefully with a vengeance. Actually, I had no intention of… Read full post »

I have recently been creating music on my computer using a software program called Acid, a loop-based program favored by many hip hop artists and DJs. The program is very user friendly ( even a complete technological nincompoop such as myself has no problems making tunes with it.) You just select… Read full post »

I just found out the other day that Malcolm Mclaren, the musical provocateur and impresario most famous for assembling and managing that fabulous disaster of a group known as the Sex Pistols died at the age of 64. Actually, before I read about it in Rolling Stone, my brother had asked… Read full post »

A couple of days ago I plunked down 9.99 for a copy of The Future Starts Here, yet another compilation of hits by The Doors. I had been scouting around both Barnes and Nobel and Target for something to spend my microscopic crumbs of disposable income on. Seen about every movie… Read full post »

I have been thinking a lot about Dylan recently. Dylan. Dylan. Always Dylan. He is, I think (not really going out on a limb here) one of the greatest songwriters of all time, and his work has touched me and shaped me--both as a spiritual being on this planet, and as… Read full post »

A few nights ago I rewatched Julian Temple's documentary about Joe Strummer, The Future is Unwritten. It is a great look at the life of one of rock music's most charismatic and principled provocateurs. As leader and chief songwriter for the Clash, Strummer (aided by his capable band mates) produced s… Read full post »

I'm sitting in a Starbucks right now, drinking a coffee, getting ready to devour a cheese danish. They are playing some kind of Latin swing music on the stereo system and I have to admit, it's pretty catchy. But I will tell you the truth; whenever I'm in a Starbucks, my… Read full post »

The members of Led Zeppelin always reminded me of the major characters in some epic fantasy novel, ready to set out on some long arduous musical quest. Think about it. You had Robert Plant, looking like some knight errant, with his charismatic good looks and his long golden tresses. The silent… Read full post »

This time around my blog should be entitled From My Netflix Queue, because this is a movie review. Recently, I had a chance to see South Korean director Park Chan-wook's masterful vampire movie Thirst, and I was completely bowled over by it! Park is known in the US primarily for his… Read full post »

Sorry I haven't been around in a while boys and girls. The holidays came and went, and in a gesture of Christmas magnanimity my youngest brother gave me and the rest of our siblings the flu bug. (The gift that keeps on giving.) Anyway, I seem to be on the mend, save… Read full post »

Sometimes I think there is hope for this fucked up jaded world. And right now the word hope has a synonym for me. Do you wanna know what it is?  OK.

Susan Boyle.

Forever and forever and forever I have been totally disheartened by the direction popular culture has been… Read full post »

    I knew before I heard the UK band the Darkness that I would probably dig 'em. It's kind of a cultural pattern in my life. I find that the most exciting and satisfying art (whether that be in music, cinema, plastic arts) is usually not going to be embraced by… Read full post »

    Well, here it is, Christmas Eve, 2009. And what have I decided to blog about at this the most wonderful time of the year?  An irascible rock critic who has been dead for almost thirty years. Really? Yes, really.

    If you have ever seen Cameron Crowe's mov… Read full post »

Every year, from December 1st or thereabouts, until the big holiday, the radio does nothing but spew forth Christmas song after Christmas song. It gets so bad that, after a point, you just wanna turn around and strangle the first jolly old fat man with a beard that you see. Anyway.… Read full post »

     As I write this, it is December 11--two weeks until Christmas. It is bitterly cold and windy outside, way below freezing, probably well below zero with the wind chill factor. The shoppers today are truly rushing home with their presents because if they don't, dear reader, the… Read full post »

        I have become a wee bit bored with the format of this blog (3 songs-3 reviews) and I have decided to do something different, at least for a little while. I may eventually return to the original format, but for now I want to get more expansive with the subjec… Read full post »

     Over Thanksgiving my brother and I took in a showing of the Michael Jackson film This Is It. I had heard from several people whose opinions I value that the movie was entertaining, but it wasn't really at the top of my holiday movie list. (Being the perverse person I… Read full post »

Ok.  I promise. This will be my last post of bad lyrics (for awhile at least.) It's just that the field is sooo fertile, I can't resist making wise. And so, here are ten more sets of atrocious lyrics for your perusal:

Song- We Built This City  Artist- Jefferson Starship

"Marconi… Read full post »

I really enjoyed my last post, where I skewered some of the more annoying and moronic lyrics from the pop music vault. So much so, I thought I might do it again. So here are ten (in no particular order) lyrics that make me shake my graying head in sad wonderment:… Read full post »

I would have to say that I am a writer first, musician second, so I tend to listen to the words whilst tapping my feet. So it pains me when other musicians forget that the lyrics are part of their song craft,  rhyming lines just for the sake of rhyming or… Read full post »

I have been reading some great histories recently, books I would like to recommend if you have a penchant for such things: Waking Giant--America In The Age of Jackson by David S. Reynolds is a comprehensive look at this country as it began to flex its muscles as a power in… Read full post »

Song- Moya  Artist- Godspeed You! Black Emperor

This unbelievably tense and melancholy instrumental is from GYBE's 1999 EP Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada. I first heard "Moya" when it was used on the soundtrack for The American Nightmare, a documentary on American horror movies of the 60s an… Read full post »

Once again, I apologize for the infrequency of posts here recently. I've been on a mad mad songwriting spree with the intention of entering some contests or getting a CD together sometime in the near future. Sooo, with that going on, and having to make money as well, I have not… Read full post »

I actually was going to write about Cat Power's version of "New York New York" for this post, but I'd already written about Sinatra's version of the song , and to tell you the truth, overall I just don't get her. Soooo I thought I would just talk about three women whose work consistent… Read full post »