Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Happy Fusion Friday! This is a rare live recording of Allan Holdsworth playing with Tony Williams Lifetime. He had left the band shortly after recording an album with them, and did not play live with them very much. Embedding has been disabled, so you’ve got to go watch it on YouTube.

Yes, today is 2112 day! So here’s Closer to the Heart the 2112 Overture/Temple of Syrinx from the Rush in Rio DVD!

I loved The Cult back in the day. They weren’t exactly punk and they weren’t exactly metal, but whatever they were, they rocked. Love was kind of chill and strange while Electric, was, well, very electric. Sonic Temple had some good tunes, but after that I had pretty much forgotten about them. Ian Astbury went touring with the surviving members of the Doors as the replacement Jim Morrison which I ignored on principle. It seems the Cult are releasing their first new album in 5 years (they had another new album 5 years ago?) and the first track is available along with this interview on Rolling Stone’s site. For those too lazy or uninterested in hearing the new stuff, here’s a classic…

I wasn’t exactly trapped under any ice, but ice is the cause for what’s ailing me right now. I took the kiddo ice skating on Saturday and I wiped out right on my knees. I’ll be spending some time getting x-rayed today and will hopefully be in a world of painkiller bliss by noon.

Wait a second, there’s already a Steely Dan album called Aja. What’s this then? Yes, it’s the same album, played by different people. I truly enjoy listening to one band’s interpretation of the entire album of another band. The Flaming Lips’ Dark Side of the Moon and Camper Van Beethoven’s Tusk are the first that come to mind but there are others out there (many of which are Dark Side of the Moon). The other night I was running an errand and as I was pulling into the parking lot a really strong indie rock groove came on the radio. I was about to turn the key off and go about doing what I needed to do when the singer started singing “I see your picture. I keep it with your letter.” Wait a second, could this really be a cover of Peg? So I sat and listened to it, trying to remind myself to go to the KALX website and look at the playlist to see who that was. And then I completely forgot about it. Then an ad on Facebook caught my eye. It was for a band I’d never heard of called The Darcys, with their interpretation of the entire Aja album. Then I did something I rarely ever do. I clicked an ad on Facebook. And I’m glad I did, because it took me to a page where I could stream and/or download the whole album!

Steely Dan seem to be one of those bands that people either love or hate, and many of those who love them consider them a guilty pleasure. I don’t get this. The musicianship is top notch (which it better be considering the roster of top hired studio guns who played on their albums). Their lyrics are witty and sarcastic. Their hooks are downright infectious. There’s nothing to feel guilty about there. Kiss are a guilty pleasure. Journey are a guilty pleasure. Styx are a guilty pleasure. But Steely Dan are just a pleasure. I know the critics say they sound too over-produced or dated or cheesy in that special 1970′s sort of way, but I consider that to be part of their charm. Aja is the album that many a sound engineer uses to test their levels because just about every part of the sonic spectrum is in there. And if an entire album can be taken and remade in a completely different style and it sounds as good as this one does, that points to some mad songwriting chops.