Long live rock and roll.

On Saturday night, I was in New York City with my brother to attend a concert at Maxwell's - just across the river in Hoboken, NJ. The opening band is one of my favorite garage / surf / hillbilly bands called, The Woggles. They were followed by the always entertaining Southern Culture on the Skids. A grand time was had by all.

Billboard magazine even wrote a review of the show.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Woggles:

Pink Martini

This evening, I ambled down to Barbican Hall, hoping to score a ticket to the sold out Pink Martini show. I was standing desperately in the "returns" line when someone simply walked up, handed me a ticket, and said that she was giving it to me for nothing. I already liked Pink Martini, but somehow, free music sounds better.

To live is to fly.

Painting by Michael Sowa

Won't say I love you babe

Won't say I need you babe

But I'm going to get you babe

and I will not do you wrong

Living's mostly wasting time

and I waste my share of mine

but it never feels too good

so let's not take too long

You're as soft as glass and I'm a gentle man

we got the sky to talk about

and the world to lie upon

Days up and down they come

like rain on a conga drum

forget most, remember some

but don't turn none away

Everything is not enough

nothing is too much to bear

where you been is good and gone

all you keep's the getting there

To live is to fly low and high

so shake the dust off of your wings

and the sleep out of your eyes

It's goodbye to all my friends

It's time to go again

Think of all the poetry

and the pickin' down the line

I'll miss the system here

the bottom's low and the treble's clear

but it don't pay to think too much

on the things you leave behind

I may be gone but I won't be long

I'll be bringing back the melody

and the rhythm that I find

We all got holes to fill

and them holes are all that's real

some fall on you like a storm

sometimes you dig your own

But choice is yours to make

time is yours to take

some dive into the sea

some toil upon the stone

To live is to fly low and high

so shake the dust off of your wings

the sleep out of your eyes

Lyrics by The Cowboy Junkies

The Crow

One of my favorite albums over the last year has been Steve Martin's bluegrass / banjo album called, "The Crow." As Steve once said in an old stand-up routine, "You just can't sing a depressing song when you're playing the banjo... When you're playing the banjo, everything's okay... I think it's the one thing that could have saved Nixon." The video above is the title song from that album, but if you click here, you can watch an absolutely amazing performance with Steve and other banjo luminaries on The Late Show with David Letterman.

No kidding.

Almost a year ago, I posted what I still consider to be one of the oddest duets in musical history.  Take a moment to welcome a new addition to that list:  Norah Jones and Keith Richards, the rock and roll icon now known primarily for snorting the ashes of his father.

Flight of fancy.

I have fallen for the first season of the HBO production, "Flight of the Conchords". It is one of the rare television programs that is consistently funny, creative and yet somehow oddly relevant. The show is part absurdist / deadpan comedy, part musical theater. It's also a shade risque and a little edgy.

Above is the probably-not-safe-for-work song, "A kiss is not a contract". Here are other random (neither boss nor child-friendly) video clips of their music: a) Business time, b) Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros, c) If you're into it, d) She's so hot, e) Mutha Uckers, and, f) Sugarlumps. Each makes me laugh out loud.

Da Da Da.

There is something extraordinarily decadent about this minimalist 80s classic from the one-hit-wonders known as "Trio". Who would have thunk that a song comprising nonsensical German and repetitious babble would be co-opted by the likes of Volkswagen, Pepsi, and even Microsoft?

Henryk Górecki

The most interesting people, and certainly the best artists, are exceptionally self-reflective, self-critical individuals who are entirely free from the desire to see themselves through the eyes of others. It is a delicate state, but those who achieve it are souls truly liberated from the social confines of their surroundings and open to pursue the strength of their own authenticity. They are not sociopaths, for they often possess a conscience and an empathy and a rigid morality that surpasses their peers. They simply do not allow others to motivate or define them.

Consider this quote from the composer Henryk Górecki:

"I never write for my listeners. I think about my audience, but I am not writing for them. I have something to tell them, but the audience must also put a certain effort into it. But I never wrote for an audience and never will write for because you have to give the listener something and he has to make an effort in order to understand certain things. The same thing is true of poetry, of paintings, of books. If I were thinking of my audience and one likes this, one likes that, one likes another thing, I would never know what to write."

and this exchange during a 2007 interview attempting to discuss his quartet, "Songs are Sung":

"It’s just notes," says Gorecki dismissively. Does it have a religious or spiritual impulse? "That must remain in my work room," he repeats. Did the third symphony have a message? "Listen," says the composer, "what goes into my music stays in my room. The world can hear what it likes."

It seems that whenever I find a friend or an artist that I admire, a quick look into his or her life reveals a similar character. Will we ever find a politician like this?

While I'm not a big fan of the glossy video interpretation of the movement above, the entire symphony is truly transcendent. Much if not all of his other work is also worth a listen.

When you're falling.

"When you're falling", by Afro Celt Sound System, featuring Peter Gabriel, from the album, "Volume 3: Further in time".

Can't Stop

The music video for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' song, "Can't stop" from their 2002 album, "By the way". If you see or hear anything that makes sense, you let me know.

Hurt

One of the final recordings - and the last video made - by the late Johnny Cash was of the song "Hurt", written by Nine Inch Nails / Trent Reznor. The story of how Cash came to cover the song, and Reznor's emotional reaction to it, is found here.

I hurt myself today,
to see if I still feel.
I focus on the pain,
the only thing that's real.
The needle tears a hole,
the old familiar sting.
Try to kill it all away,
but I remember everything.
What have I become?
My sweetest friend.
Everyone I know,
goes away in the end.
And you could have it all,
my empire of dirt.

I will let you down,
I will make you hurt.

I wear this crown of thorns,
upon my liar's chair.
Full of broken thoughts,
I cannot repair.
Beneath the stains of time,
the feelings disappear.
You are someone else.
I am still right here.

What have I become?
My sweetest friend.
Everyone I know,
goes away in the end.
And you could have it all,
my empire of dirt.

I will let you down.
I will make you hurt.

If I could start again,
a million miles away.
I would keep myself.
I would find a way.

Paul Potts

I do not care for "reality television" in any of its unscripted, overdone forms. In fact, I don't even own a real television (defined here as a device that actually does display a broadcast signal). When I travel, I watch whatever is on, and in doing so I've found that contestant oriented dramas such as American Idol make me cringe.

Therefore, it's not a surprise that I am likely the last person on the planet to hear the story of Paul Potts. No, not the insane, genocidal Brother Number One of Cambodia - because that would be weird - but here I write of the awkward, insecure, dentally challenged mobile phone salesman performing on American Idol's sister program in the United Kingdom, Britain's Got Talent.

The video above documents his initial performance on the show.

I did not see this coming, and neither did the judges.

Update (April 16, 2009):  Just as inspirational.

The Who

The Who, with a reputation not lacking in superlatives, was formed in 1964 and disbanded (for the first time) in 1983, though most believe the magic faded with their drummer's death in 1978. The band was known primarily for three things: a) live performances, which were astonishingly loud, chaotic events that often ended with the complete destruction of everything on stage, b) a "mod" style of dress (which was followed by other contemporary styles), and c) concept albums such as Tommy and Quadrophenia, the so-called "rock operas". The band was made up of Pete Townshend (guitar), Roger Daltrey (vocals), John Entwistle (bass) and Keith Moon, perhaps the greatest rock-and-roll drummer of all time (and inspiration for the Muppet character Animal).

Pete Townshend claims that the song in the performance above is his first attempt at a piece of music longer than two and a half minutes - he refers to it as "Tommy's parent". "A quick one while he's away" was written to fill a large gap on the Quick One album, and consists of six separate musical sections telling one narrative of loss, infidelity and forgiveness. The performance itself has an interesting story. Yes, that is Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones giving the intro (update: new version does not have Keith's intro). No, I don't know why the audience looks like a group of migrant farmers at a Gallagher show. The video below of "My Generation" concludes with collected footage of The Who destroying whatever they can get their hands on...

Long Live Rock.

Wish you were here

"Hotel Room" (1931), Edward Hopper

So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.

by David Gilmour and Roger Waters

About the song

Immortal Beloved

At the end of Ludwig van Beethoven's life in March of 1827, letters were found in his desk addressed to, "Immortal Beloved". The well-written 1994 film by that same name (trailer above) explores several theories regarding this woman's identity and why the two were never united.

It would seem that Beethoven had one true love, a "soulmate", and that a twist of fate kept them apart. The movie asserts that it was this source of passion, frustration and longing that fueled his anger and bitterness over the course of his life, resulting in some of the most transcendent music ever written.

I am fascinated by man's willingness (and capacity) to hold on to people, convictions and feelings indefinitely, even in the face of a contrary reality and long after hope is gone. The mystery to me is not that some people do hold on, but that some people do not. After all, what happened to Beethoven is not rare. Many, if not most people live their lives without that person or thing they care about the most. Apparently, there is a fine line between devotion and futility, just as there is a fine line between genius and insanity.

Here is one of Beethoven's letters to Immortal Beloved:

Though still in bed, my thoughts go out to you, my Immortal Beloved, now and then joyfully, then sadly, waiting to learn whether or not fate will hear us - I can live only wholly with you or not at all - Yes, I am resolved to wander so long away from you until I can fly to your arms and say that I am really at home with you, and can send my soul enwrapped in you into the land of spirits - Yes, unhappily it must be so - You will be the more contained since you know my fidelity to you. No one else can ever possess my heart - never - never - Oh God, why must one be parted from one whom one so loves. And yet my life in V is now a wretched life - Your love makes me at once the happiest and the unhappiest of men - At my age I nedd a steady, quiet life - can that be so in our connection? My angel, I have just been told that the mailcoach goes every day - therefore I must close at once so that you may receive the letter at once - Be calm, only by a clam consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together - Be calm - love me - today - yesterday - what tearful longings for you - you - you - my life - my all - farewell. Oh continue to love me - never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.

ever thine
ever mine
ever ours

Hallelujah

One of the songs that has touched me the most over the last several years is the Leonard Cohen song, "Hallelujah". I became aware of John Cale's version (what I still consider the best) while curled up on the couch watching the show "Scrubs", and it brought me to tears. Above is the song as it appears in that episode, "My old lady". Cale's 1991 studio recording is surprisingly hard to get a hold of (mine came off of the 1996 Basquiat Soundtrack), but you can see a live performance below.

Over the years, and more often recently, this song has been recorded by a large number of people. Click here for a truly wonderful version by Jeff Buckley from the 1994 album Grace, vaguely reminiscent of the Cowboy Junkies' Trinity Sessions.

Regina Spektor

Regina Spektor's breakout album "Begin to Hope" was released in 2006 with the catchy single (and creative video) Fidelity, and rightfully made several critic's Top Ten lists. Her music is all at once sophisticated and childlike, melancholy and whimsical. Her voice is lovely, cutting and unique. This particular album is one of the extraordinary few to which I never tire of listening. The video above, "Us", is from an older album called "Soviet Kitsch". While not my favorite song, I think it gives the best example of her range and musical innovation. The video below, "On the radio", is from "Begin to Hope". Be sure to check out this version of the hit "Better", "Sampson", and the rest of her video postings on YouTube.com. And, if you click here, you can listen to an 80 minute concert broadcast on NPR using RealAudio. Good stuff.

Leo Kottke

Leo Kottke is the first guitarist I ever cared about. His impact on the genre of acoustic guitar since his debut "Armadillo" album in 1969 (actually titled "6 and 12 String Guitar") can not be underestimated. Often referred to as "a guitar player's guitarist", Kottke's playing has to be seen to be believed (otherwise, you might presume you are listening to more than one musician). This particular video, as I understand it from the original YouTube posting, is from German television in the 1970s. It's worth every second of the 5:51 running time, as it builds and builds until your mind pops. Here is a link to another video (one of poor quality) that will give you a good idea of what it's like to see him in concert.

Pavarotti and Brown

Yes, really. On the all-time top five list of most unlikely duets, this one has got to be near the top. I have no idea who came up with the idea, nor what they had in mind, but what's shocking is how extremely well it works. James' wide, toothy grin and constant genuflecting show that he is clearly touched both by the presence of Luciano and the beauty of his voice. From looking at his face, it's less clear that Luciano knew what singing with The Godfather of Soul (The Hardest Working Man in Show Business) really meant, but still puts a powerful energy into his performance.