Stream the Dream
Last Sunday night, “Working on a Dream” showed up on Sunday Night Football in heavily butchered form. Well now on New York’s Q104 web site, you can hear the song streaming in all its glory. Stream it here.
Dream Baby Dream – Speaking of dreams, for anyone who saw or heard anything from Bruce’s Devils & Dust tour a few years back, you’re familiar with his cover of Suicide’s “Dream Baby Dream”. It was a haunting and beautiful finale to many of the D&D shows – just Bruce and his pump organ.
Recently released on the Blast First Petite label is a 3 song EP that features one of Bruce’s live versions, one live Suicide version, and “Mr. Ray” by NYC’s Beat the Devil. I’m not sure what the connection is with Beat the Devil. Beats the devil out of me. Anyone?
Click the album cover to check out the EP on Amazon.
Tom Jones – “The Hitter”: And speaking of Devils & Dust, Tom Jones covers “The Hitter” on his new album which comes out this Tuesday in the U.S. Listen to part of it on the handy widget below. Mr. Jones hath set forth a different arrangement! Interesting…
Ickmusic’s (late) Friday Five, November 21st, 2008
Michael-el-el-el-el!! *looking around*
MICHAEL-EL-EL-EL!!!
Well folks, Michael is AWOL this Friday, so although it’s late, I shall post my own Friday Five on behalf of Michael since we’ve had this feature going for about a bajillion weeks in a row. Here’s what’s shuffling on my faithful Mac tonight…
1. “Young Turks” – Rod Stewart. from Tonight I’m Yours: A great piece of early 80’s pop from Mr. Stewart.
2. “God Knows What I Want” – Moodswings, from Psychedelicatessen: the first two Moodswings albums are high on my list of favorites. Total chill music, a lot of ambient instrumental stuff, interspersed with some beautiful vocals like on this tune.
3. “Brownie Hawkeye” – Jason Collett, from Idols of Exile: I don’t listen to Jason enough. Always enjoy the indie-pop stuff he has to offer.
4. “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” – Elvis Presley, from Elvis: 30 #1 Hits: Perfection. Timeless.
5. “One Step Up” – Bruce Springsteen, from Love, Tears & Mystery: this is a great compilation from Bruce’s Devils & Dust tour. This one’s from August 3rd, 2005 (my 25th, I mean 35th birthday).
Your turn!! What’s shufflin’ in your corner of the world?
Beyonce, I WOULD put a ring on it, but I gotta clear it with the wife
Kudos to the wife for posting this video on her Facebook page. Now, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” is clearly not targeted to my demographic, but consider me mesmerized. The tune is catchy as hell. But make no mistake, I could just as easily turn the volume down and enjoy it too.
Zoweee.
The Woes of Satellite Radio
Eek! I thought I was getting such a bargain when I bought a bunch of Sirius stock a few years ago at $2.50 a share. I watched in delight as it rose to almost $8.00 after Howard Stern signed on. Well, it’s 2008, the economy is in the shitter, Sirius is now SiriusXM, and do you care to guess what the stock closed at today? $5.00? $3.00? $1.00?
Right, try $0.16. That’s s-i-x-t-e-e-n cents.
I’m starting to wonder if I’ll hear anything on my receiver when I start my truck six months from now. I’m wondering if this downward spiral can ever make a significant rebound.
Maybe it only truly appeals to a certain segment of society, primarily music lovin’ geeks like me. I LOVE my SiriusXM Satellite radio!! Granted, I’m sort of pissed about some recent consolidations of “redundant” stations that eliminated two of my favorites – Backspin and Sirius Disorder – but the selection of music (commercial-free) is so far better than terrestrial radio that you can’t even make the comparison.
I’m surprised satellite radio isn’t a lot more popular than it is. But given the economy, the availability of music on the internet (iTunes, music discovery sites like Last.fm, Pandora, and Rhapsody), music on smart phones, and the looming collapse of the U.S. auto industry – well, things ain’t looking so bright for SiriusXM.
Me? I’ll be subscribed until Satellite Radio is six feet under. Sorry, I need my variety of music. I need another way to discover new music. And dammit all, I need my Howard Stern!
You guys and gals are music lovin’ fools like me. Who can’t live without their satellite radio? Who could give a rat’s behind?
Sirius XM at 17 cents – look out below – Nov. 19, 2008 (CNN Money)
More Prince Ramblings
I just read this short, what seems to be rather abbreviated piece in the New Yorker. Claire Hoffman was invited over to Prince’s 30,000 sq ft mansion in Beverly Park to chat over carrot soup. It got me once again to thinking about the purple man, so bear with me and my stream of consciousness typing…
As Prince has aged, he’s undergone some significant transformations. He’s always been someone who has changed styles with seemingly every album. The quiet, pompadoured lust king of Purple Rain, the 60’s psychedelic from Around the World in a Day; the outgoing, smiling, short-do’d comedian from Parade, and on and on.
In the 90’s, I watched in a sort of curious fascination as he changed his name to a unpronounceable symbol. The music still grabbed me though. The Gold Experience, Chaos and Disorder, Emancipation – I still ate it all up.
Since Prince joined up with the Jehovah’s Witnesses earlier in the 00’s, he still has managed to pump out some music that I enjoy – I can enjoy parts of The Rainbow Children, Musicology, 3121 and even Planet Earth.
But it’s not the same.
I guess I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’m most enthralled with the Prince of the 80’s – the prolific wunderkind that produced, arranged, composed and performed music that was wholly original, groundbreaking, and off the wall… Sex, God, straight, gay, starfish, coffee, Head, cab drivers, tambourines, banana daiquiris at Christmas time, dirty minds, strange relationships, squirrel meat (uh! don’t try it), revolutionary rock & roll, girls & boys, old friends 4 sale…
Fast forward to 2008 – Prince performing at exclusive rooftop gigs for $1000 a head; changing the lyrics of his song “Sexuality” – an affirmation of complete individual freedom – now to be known only as “Spirituality”; chasing after web sites for posting his image; and not even maintaining his own web site, or offering any sort of presence on the web to connect with the people who have supported him all these years.
“I can’t understand all the things people say”, Prince sang in “Controversy”, “Am I black or white, am I straight or gay?”
Who was that guy? What was he all about? No one knew, not even Prince – and man was it fun to go along on that ride with him.
And in this interview, we get this gem, from the man who has spent his entire adult life blurring the lines between male and female, straight and gay:
When asked about his perspective on social issues—gay marriage, abortion—Prince tapped his Bible and said, “God came to earth and saw people sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all out. He was, like, ‘Enough.’ ”
I’m not ready to jump off the train, mind you. I’ll always be interested in what he’s doing, and will always shell out the money when it comes time to buy albums or concert tickets (but sorry, no perfumes or coffee table books). But clearly, our paths have diverged. And nor do I want for Prince to ever return to the Prince of days past. I mean, we don’t need a 50 year old Prince jumping around stage in bikini briefs and leg warmers – no thank you very much.
I guess all my ranting and rambling here is a chance for me to affirm to myself that we’re all getting older, people change, and some things are just gone forever.
This Prince is gone forever…
“Outlaw Pete” and Other Songs – New Boss Album Due January 27th
Fresh off the heavily edited debut of his song “Working on a Dream” during last night’s Sunday Night Football half time on NBC (almost in the “why even bother” category, imho), there is great news from the East this morning… a new Boss album, a release date, and a track listing!
Much to my delight, a song named “Outlaw Pete” leads off the album! I’m glad Bruce finally took the time to sit down and capture my essence. It’s an honor really, and I look forward to hearing it.
So mark your calendars. It’s January 27th, the Tuesday before the Super Bowl – where we’ll all watch Bruce and the E Street Band tear it up during the half time performance. The title of the album is ‘Working on a Dream’, and has 12 new tracks and 2 bonus tracks. Here’s the listing…
1. Outlaw Pete
2. My Lucky Day
3. Working on a Dream
4. Queen of the Supermarket
5. What Love Can Do
6. This Life
7. Good Eye
8. Tomorrow Never Knows
9. Life Itself
10. Kingdom of Days
11. Surprise, Surprise
12. The Last CarnivalBonus tracks:
The Wrestler
A Night with the Jersey DevilLife = Good.
More info from the press release…
Bruce Springsteen’s new album “Working on a Dream” has been set for a January 27 release on Columbia Records. “Working on a Dream” was recorded with the E Street Band and features twelve new Springsteen compositions plus two bonus tracks. It is the fourth collaboration between Springsteen and Brendan O’Brien, who produced and mixed the album…..
…Bruce Springsteen said, “Towards the end of recording ‘Magic,’ excited by the return to pop production sounds, I continued writing. When my friend producer Brendan O’Brien heard the new songs, he said, ‘Let’s keep going.’ Over the course of the next year, that’s just what we did, recording with the E Street Band during the breaks on last year’s tour. I hope ‘Working on a Dream’ has caught the energy of the band fresh off the road from some of the most exciting shows we’ve ever done. All the songs were written quickly, we usually used one of our first few takes, and we all had a blast making this one from beginning to end.”
“Working on a Dream” is Bruce Springsteen’s twenty-fourth album and was recorded and mixed at Southern Tracks in Atlanta, GA with additional recording in New York City, Los Angeles, and New Jersey.
Jenny Lewis
So Jenny Lewis has been doing her thing for a while now – solo, with the Watson Twins, and with her band Rilo Kiley. She’s also a former child actor who moved on to the righteous musical path.
But it took me until last week to finally discover her.
It all started when I stumbled across the video of “Rise Up With Fists”, a song from her 2006 debut solo album ‘Rabbit Fur Coat‘ (with the Watson Twins). The video is a parody of the old C&W variety show Hee Haw, and also features Sarah Silverman. I’m not sure if it’s from Sarah’s show or if it’s a music video of its own. But suffice it to say that I’ve watched this video about 50 times over the past week or so.
A couple days ago, I was watching it, and looked behind me to see my kindergarten age daughter transfixed as well. She now proudly states that her three favorite artists are “Gogol Bordello, Led Zeppelin, and Jenny Lewis”. Never mind the fact she thinks Led Zeppelin is Jack Black, because “The Immigrant Song” was in ‘School of Rock’. But that’s quite a top three for a girl about to turn 5.
But back to Jenny Lewis. I love the folksy/indie/country vibe she exudes. I love her stage presence (watch her recent Letterman performance below). I love the effortlessness and clean quality of her singing voice. And face it, she’s pretty easy on the eyes too.
Here’s “Rise Up With Fists”
And here’s Jenny and her band with Elvis Costello, from last Monday’s Late Show with David Letterman. The song is “Carpetbaggers”, from her most recent album, ‘Acid Tongue‘, which came out a couple months back. This is a country-rock barnburner. I love this tune. And like I said, the presence she exudes…. Great stuff.
Me gusto Jenny Lewis!
A Promising Week
Well, on Tuesday morning I said I’d see you on the other side. And here we are. And you know what? The other side is a good place! On January 20th, Barack Obama will be sworn in as 44th president of the United States.
Granted, this country is in a mess, and our new president has an enormous series of tasks in front of him, but to know that we’ll have an intelligent, coherent, rational, calm presence in the White House is so refreshing to me.
And to think also that this nation – a country that still has a looong way to go with its race issues – elected an African American to the highest office in the land… I find it profoundly encouraging. And so does most of the country and the world. I can’t understand how anyone can fail to be deeply moved (in a very positive way) by the events of the last week. But everyone sees different things in different ways. Hopefully Obama will help ease the doubts, fears, and in a lot of cases, the hatred and the venom among his detractors.
For this white American dude, his African-American bride (born in Kenya, raised in Seychelles), and our two gorgeous girls, this week was like a burst of sun through the clouds.
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Coming in From the Cold
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SHORPY – An Amazing Web Site
If you’re a history buff like me, you will love this site. Dave regularly posts high resolution photographs from times long gone, which offer vivid, often breathtaking views into the past.
Here are a few examples. Click them to see the high res versions… Seriously, look at the high res images. Stunning.
1914. “White House tent in Rose Garden.” A view of the executive mansion from over the West Wing looking east past the Treasury and along Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol. Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. 
March 4, 1913. “Inaugural ceremony, East Front of Capitol.” Woodrow Wilson being sworn in as 28th president of the United States. 
Spring 1943. “Romeroville, near Chacon, New Mexico.” 4×5 Kodachrome transparency by John Collier for the Office of War Information. Election Day is Here – so is a new Boss tune
And so here we are. The day I’ve been looking forward to since Wednesday, November 3rd, 2004, when John Kerry conceded to George W. Bush. Tomorrow, my country will elect a new president.
My vote was mailed in early. There will be no long lines for me. I am feeling cautiously optimistic that Barack Obama will be our new president – my caution firmly rooted in the fact that I live in a country that re-elected Bush.
We all have our opinions, but the important thing is that if you’re eligible to vote in these United States, that you get out and vote tomorrow. If you don’t, you’re a turd.
Yesterday at an Obama rally in Ohio, the Boss brought his wife Patty up on stage and debuted a new tune: “Working on a Dream”. Check it out here, and I’ll see you on the other side!
