Record Store Day
April 19 has been declared Record Store Day, which means…well, it means all you record fans should drop by your favorite store and show some appreciation that they still keep hanging on. I know I’ll be at either/both of my San Francisco locals, Aquarius and Amoeba (not that I need more than the thinnest excuse to drop by anyway).
Duane Eddy Talks About Lee Hazlewood
Looks like it’s from an interview put together by Gibson. Whoever’s responsible, thanks–great to hear him talk about meeting and working with Lee.
Second Childhood
Since I’m on the subject of ambient, atmospheric, cinematic-type records, thought I’d pass along another that’s been pulling me in lately: Second Childhood. It’s a collaboration between Hidur Gudnadottir, BJ Nilsen (he of Hazard and the brilliant Storm collab with Chris Watson), and Stilluppsteypa (try asking for those names at your local shop), came out in 2007 on the Quecksilber label (meaning you won’t likely find it at Best Buy–no…
Type Records
Lately I’ve been growing more and more enamored with the label Type Records, a small indie experimental label out of the U.K. that specializes in moody, low-key, soundscape-y music. Think drones, quiet piano pieces, a few scratches and electronic glitches–plus a bit of folk-like guitar here and there, environmental sounds, and the occasional industrial grind. Perfect stuff for grey Sunday mornings or laid-back late nights, when in either case you…
James Blackshaw
Last night (2-5-08) I caught James Blackshaw at San Francisco’s Aquarius Records–hard to see the guy from the back of the room, but I managed to squeeze up front for a few minutes and fire off a few shots. If you haven’t heard the guy, he’s a young U.K. 12-string maestro in the John Fahey or Robbie Basho camp–a lush, cascading sound that’s both delicate and, in the right moments,…
The Feelies
The recently revamped indie blog Songs:Illinois has a YouTube Saturday feature that’s pretty cool, and among the recent treats was a clip of the Feelies playing “Crazy Rhythnms” at the New Jersey club Maxwell’s. Know the Feelies? This band rocked my world in the ’80s. Not sure when the clip is from, but it’s well worth checking out.
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Cambodian disabled musicians
Traveling to Cambodia for the first time is an eye-opener. The average western has likely never seen poverty on this level–and on top of that, a tragically huge number of people continue to be killed or injured by land mines (set mostly by the Khmer Rouge, but some likely left over from the Vietnam War era). People with missing limbs are everywhere, many left with no choice but to beg…
Music in Thailand
I had high hopes for catching some great local music while in Thailand over the holidays. I’d heard a lot about what they call “Thai country music,” which is really a rough and rowdy brand of homemade rock ‘n’ roll called Molam that’s from the Isan region (northeast of the country). Never found any, as luck would have it. However, I did catch a few minutes of of this awesome…