On the weekend of June 19, my son Nick and I are joining a group of old friends to climb Mount Shasta and will attempt the summit. We’re taking part in a nationwide event to raise money for research and increase awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a devastating illness affecting my friend Paul Cliff’s son Alexander, age 11.
Please consider a donation within your means to support our team, to support this event, and most important to support Alexander Cliff, a young boy facing challenges greater than any mountain peak: http://www.firstgiving.com/alexandercliff
Our friends Doug Glover and Troy Paff, the camera team from Discovery’s “Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe,” will be documenting the climb and I’ll provide updates via Twitter as often as possible.
I’m gearing up for another short run of T-shirts. Feel free to leave comments here about what you’d like to see… Pup ‘n’ Taco in a different color? More KMET shirts? Something different – Licorice Pizza maybe?
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Beware
Bonnie “Prince” Billy Country Rock
How have I missed out on this guy’s music the last ten years? Beau Brummels-style vocals and the perfect L.A. country rock sound grabbed me on first listen; his melodies and weirdness kept me coming back all year.
Blood from Stars
Joe Henry Pop
This is the album Elvis Costello wishes he released this year (not that Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane wasn’t good – but note it didn’t make my list). Henry’s sound is like a confident solo cabaret, if that makes any sense. Traditional jazz and blues standards inform these songs, but never dominate – his questions and concerns come through loud and clear on every track.
The Bright Mississippi
Allen Touissant
Jazz
Nothing less than perfection, really: Touissant keeps the music of Jelly Roll Morton, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, Django Reinhardt, and more alive with the assistance of an A-list backing band and a nod to the ongoing tragedy inflicted by Hurricane Katrina.
The Hazards of Love
The Decemberists Pop
Moving closer to a full-blown stage production, The Decemberists keep the prog-pop progression going with this narrative concept album featuring shape-shifting demons, dead babies, and medieval gardens. Heavy rock recalls Grace Slick’s vocals, Deep Purple’s guitars.
Hold Time
M. Ward Pop
Even when the guy puts out a crap album, it’d probably still find its way onto my top ten for the year – he’s that interesting. Keeping the mood going without breaking too much new ground, Ward entertains with wit and warmth. Lucinda Williams and Zooey Deschanel join in on the fun.
Middle Cyclone
Neko Case Rock
Part familiar, part unique, and all passionate, “Middle Cyclone” sounds like an album I’ve been enjoying for twenty years. Most likely it’ll be spinning another twenty. Ending with a half-hour of crickets though?
Monsters of Folk
Monsters of Folk Pop
Irony noted: they can call themselves “folk” all they want, but this is pure pop fun. M. Ward, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, and Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes have created a Traveling Wilburys-like collection, weaving their influences together and apart.
Noble Beast
Andrew Bird Pop
I’ll go out on a limb and say it’s just about impossible to dislike this album. Or, better – if you don’t like sunny, bright tunes with plenty of whistling and poppy melodies, then just get out. I’ll enjoy it on my own.
Ready for the Flood
Mark Olsen & Gary Louris Americana
The next best thing to a Jayhawks reunion. It’s great to hear these voices harmonizing again after ten years apart – and the songs aren’t half-bad, either. Warm and welcoming.
Black John
The Soul of John Black Soul
A recent passenger in my car asked, “Don’t you have anything with rhythm?” Well, yeah, I do. Miles Davis & Fishbone sideman JB Bingham brings down the house with this slice of retro soul/funk. Just contemporary enough and hardly lacking in substance. Dig it.
To stave off (or, possibly, verify insanity) at my FT gig, sometimes I like to take a short coffee break and indulge in a little creative writing at the expense of others.
I had a little fun at the Q&A site Fluther recently…
Question posted by brand-new member jenabee: “Where did the origin of the word doughnut come from? If there are no nuts in most doughnuts, then why do they call them doughnuts?”
My horseshit response: “The word has its origins in the murky past of Middle English where they were referred to as “toe-naughts.” (Naught meaning zero, of course.)
There were other numeral-shaped treats at the time – perhaps the best-known is the delicious Fig Eight.
Eventually, as the Great Plague passed and the need to make the best of discarded digits waned, these wonderful fried rings came to be known as “doughnuts,” mostly for their use of dough.
It is a Welsh tradition that if you can pass a Filbert through the center of a doughnut, you’ll have three minutes of good luck.”
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Pete said, “this place is like being inside a giant bong!” And he was right – the Gibson Amphitheatre (formerly Universal Amphitheatre) was completely sold out and filled to the brim with throwbacks puffing away, plumes filling the hall like some Cheech & Chong routine. We must’ve missed signing a contract at the entrance waiving our option for a contact high!
Steely Dan was in town with master session guitarist Larry Carlton for a four-night stand playing a different classic album each night: “The Royal Scam,” “Aja,” “Gaucho,” and one night of Internet requests.
For Pete’s birthday, I offered to pick up the tab for his ticket if he would make the trip down from Modesto (we hadn’t seen each other in eight years). He took the long way down (Amtrak, then a Greyhound from Bakersfield) and joined me & Mike for a memorable night. We were all equally repulsed by the desperate flash of Universal CityWalk and just as much impressed by the concert. In particular, Jon Herington, Jim Pugh, Carolyn Leonhart, Freddie Washington took turns blowing us away while old men Becker & Fagen seemed not-so-old, energetic and fresh. Hearing Larry Carlton tear up his classic solo on “Third World Man” was the icing on the skunky cake.
Here’s the set list:
Intro: Teenie’s Blues
The Royal Scam (complete)
Hey Nineteen
Daddy Don’t Live in that NYC No More
Aja
Black Friday
Home at Last
Parker’s Band
Love is Like an Itching in My Heart / Band Intros
Third World Man
Peg
Josie
My Old School
Reeling in the Years
Outro: Last Tango in Paris
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Hello friends -
Beware
Blood from Stars
The Bright Mississippi
The Hazards of Love
Hold Time
Middle Cyclone
Monsters of Folk
Noble Beast
Ready for the Flood
Black John
To stave off (or, possibly, verify insanity) at my FT gig, sometimes I like to take a short coffee break and indulge in a little creative writing at the expense of others.