Cafe Bucky

Not sure why it took me so long to get around to seeing Johnny Cash’s version of “Hurt”. Time has not diminished it …

Very moving & effective ….

I discovered Snow Patrol last year by hearing “Ways & Means” on Pandora. “Final Straw” proved to be a power pop album with lots of depth.

The opening cut on the new album is “You’re All I Have”. With its thumping bass and Beach Boy-esque harmonies, it serves notice that this band hasn’t gone soft. It’s pop, but not overly so. “Hands Open” reminds me of The Cars meets Nirvana.

The thing that gives Snow Patrol a lot of its distinctiveness is the lyrics and vocals of Gary Lightbody. I like the imagery of “both of my shoulders are heavy from the weight of us both” and the couplets in Warmer Climate. In a nutshell, the guy can write about pain without sounding like a frikken whiner, and the songs draw you in (such as “Make This Go On Forever”).

I’m looking forward to seeing them at The Warfield next month in San Francisco. Give ‘em a listen!

Unapolegetic Rock from hard rockin’ Aussies. It’s about time we had another style breakthrough. The last two I remember are Nirvana and the Ramones. Ok, that’s oversimplified.

Wolfmother is the real deal. No tribute band here. It’s as if they went into some hard rock temple, held a seance, and channelled Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and a bit of Pink Floyd. Add a dollop of Smashing Pumpkins, a little bit of Ian Anderson, turn the amps all the way up, and record song after song of original (but yet familiar) heavy metal goodness. They also do the mellow song bit - think Led Zeppelin 4. “Dimension” announces their intent straight off, and they don’t waver from there (except perhaps “Apple Tree”). Memories flood back of innumerable trips to the beach, blaring FM radios, skate sessions, and parties I won’t talk about :-)

They will inspire copycats. Fro’s will come back. If they only put out this one great album, and then flop on a sophomore effort, I’ll still be pleased. For those of us who were there the first time, no explanation is needed. For those who never got past Britney and all things bubblegum, move along. Wolfmother’s the ultimate garage band, and so much more.

I just noticed that Thomas Dolby is a bloggin’. Science! It’s good to get the look into the creative process. Check out his video clip from the TED Conference.

Over on the video and digital media side, check out What Alex Lindsay is doing. He’s leading up to a 1080p videocast called MacBreak. The first few episodes are wonderfully video geeked out, and I can’t claim to understand it all. It’s a subject that I wish I could take a year off and dive into. Alex is also doing a podcast called “This Week In Media”.

Two Pioneers!

My niece Jilly / BiL Bob have an electric guitar, and they rock. I’ve got my Strat with me. It’s going to be a jammin’ Family Reunion Easter. Turn it up.

And if there are any wish-filling Easter Rabbits out there (esp a Red Furred one that likes my playing .. that ought to narrow it down :-), I’m pining for Guitar Rig 2:

To say that GR2 is an awesome bit of kit is an understatement. It’s every amp and effect I could wish for. You can split the signal, run each through a different set of cabinets and effects, and mix them back together. Loops? Yes. Recording? Yes. Foot Pedal Control? Oh yeah! It’s deep. Immersive. The demo lets one play for 30 minutes, which is long enough to “get into it”, and then be jarred when time runs out. Enjoy the Tech, Love the Sound.

Oh yes, this takes me back. I hadn’t seen this performance before, so it was a treat that someone posted it. Devo had the nerd hipster aesthetic going 15 years before they glommed onto it in Billyburg (that would be part of Brooklyn …) They were so dorky they were cool. One of the best things to ever come out of Akron, Ohio!

Photo: Mark Seliger

My wife and I were heartbroken a bit when Kurt died on April 5th, 12 years ago. We were big Nirvana fans. I always wonder how Kurt would have evolved, had he made it to his 30’s. He was someone we gave a shit about - someone worth mentioning in the same conversation as John Lennon. The big difference is that he didn’t live long enough to leave us with the same wealth of material (and let’s face it, they both did some songs that suck, but made up for it with sheer brilliance elsewhere, such as “You Know You’re Right” or “Jealous Guy”, to name a couple of their not as well known tunes).

Sure, the Beatles changed the world, and they’ll always be my faves. Nirvana came along and shook things up when rock had turned into a parody of itself (see the VHS or DVD of Nirvana “Live ! Tonight ! Sold Out !” for a honest look at the band)

A film worth catching (but not a rainy depressing day, because it’ll just make it worse) is Gus Van Sant’s Last Days, which is somewhat based on Kurt’s experience.

I remember exactly where I was 25 years ago, when I heard that Lennon had been shot. I was in a college bookstore with my friend Stephanie. We didn’t want to believe the radio.

Since then, I’ve been up and down 72nd street plenty of times, and stopped in Strawberrry Fields from time to time to think for a moment. There’s a great cafe (La Fortuna) on 71st that John & Yoko used to go. It’s still there.

I miss John, and wonder what he’d have to say about the political idiocy swirling about these days. I think I saw him once in the 70’s, when he was in his L.A. period. It was in the Tower Records on Sunset Boulevard. Sure looked like him.

There are tons of Beatles/John songs that I could say are my fave, depending on the day and mood. I’ll leave off thinking about the lyrics to “In My Life”. [I had posted them earlier, but I am not real clear on what constitutes "fair use", so I'm going to remove them for the time being]