Every other Friday, Popdose runs a feature called "Chart Attack" in which that week's top ten singles from a chosen year in the distant past are dissected, lauded and lambasted, all in the name of entertainment. The feature's originator, the witty and talented Jason Hare, afforded me the opportunity to be a guest 'chart attacker' this week, and I invite you to join in the fun too. Check out my guest 'Chart Attack' entry as we look back at the top ten songs for the week ending March 22, 1975.
Enjoy!
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blogging. Show all posts
Friday, March 21, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Linked!
Joy of joys! USA Today's pop culture writer Whitney Matheson linked yesterday's Bullz-Eye feature ("Rock of Pages") in her Pop Candy blog this morning. Even though she did not mention Bullz Eye by name, we are still quite happy. Thank you, Whitney!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
One dead link + three live ones and Brian Wilson!
About a week ago, jefitoblog.com went offline. The reason? Jeff's web hosting provider, Jatol, went under and unfortunately, the blog itself wasn't backed up locally. Whether jefitoblog will return is unclear at this point.
In the meantime, I've got three new blog links here to help fill jefito's huge void:
Brian Wilson's recent performances at London's Royal Festival Hall featured the debut of That Lucky Old Sun (A Narrative), which is basically the follow-up to SMiLE. Dare I say Brian has created his third masterpiece (after Pet Sounds and SMiLE)? I think the long-form song cycle is really Brian's thing, much more than 3-minute pop songs. His last batch of pop songs (2004's Gettin' In Over My Head) sounded great, though they were bankrupt lyrically. He sounds truly inspired on That Lucky Old Sun, weaving the title song (yes, that same oft-covered Frankie Lane pop hit you know so well) throughout in variations, much in the way that fans had speculated Brian would do with his "Heroes And Villains" theme on a finished SMiLE. He draws on his rock n' roll roots by way of that plodding, idiosyncratic style he put forth on '70s tunes like "Let Us Go On This Way" in the part titled "Going Home," some of the camp of SMiLE in "California Role," the emotional intensity of Pet Sounds in "Midnight's Another Day," and pays tribute to his brothers in the closing section. There are little melodies throughout the piece that can be placed back to some of Brian's own work (like "Rio Grande," for instance) and, in "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl," he even nicks a riff from Three Dog Night's "Mama Told Me Not To Come." And of course, Brian's patented harmonies he developed with the Beach Boys are present throughout, rendered lovingly by his backing band.
I'm placing my bets on a big Brian Wilson U.S. tour sometime next year to promote a new studio album. This will be the one that proves he's still vital, and not simply making his living by raising old ghosts. In a sense, this is even bigger than SMiLE, but we don't really know it yet, and probably won't for another 30 years...
In the meantime, I've got three new blog links here to help fill jefito's huge void:
- JasonHare.com, the home of the always entertaining Chart Attack and Mellow Gold, was actually designed by jefito's Grab Bag Design company. So the look and feel is very familiar to jefito fans. Jason posts probably about as often as I do, which means it's easier to keep up with.
- Isorski's Musings is based in Portland and comments on a lot of live music happenings, such as the recently announced Led Zeppelin reunion (I'm snoring at that news, which I should probably elaborate on in a separate post). He leans towards hard rock most of the time, and posts fairly regularly with great personality. This is one to get into, for sure.
- Linear Zap's Blog is one of those awesome, generous music blogs like jefito's was, only with a strict Brian Wilson/Beach Boys focus. Which leads to...
Brian Wilson's recent performances at London's Royal Festival Hall featured the debut of That Lucky Old Sun (A Narrative), which is basically the follow-up to SMiLE. Dare I say Brian has created his third masterpiece (after Pet Sounds and SMiLE)? I think the long-form song cycle is really Brian's thing, much more than 3-minute pop songs. His last batch of pop songs (2004's Gettin' In Over My Head) sounded great, though they were bankrupt lyrically. He sounds truly inspired on That Lucky Old Sun, weaving the title song (yes, that same oft-covered Frankie Lane pop hit you know so well) throughout in variations, much in the way that fans had speculated Brian would do with his "Heroes And Villains" theme on a finished SMiLE. He draws on his rock n' roll roots by way of that plodding, idiosyncratic style he put forth on '70s tunes like "Let Us Go On This Way" in the part titled "Going Home," some of the camp of SMiLE in "California Role," the emotional intensity of Pet Sounds in "Midnight's Another Day," and pays tribute to his brothers in the closing section. There are little melodies throughout the piece that can be placed back to some of Brian's own work (like "Rio Grande," for instance) and, in "Forever She'll Be My Surfer Girl," he even nicks a riff from Three Dog Night's "Mama Told Me Not To Come." And of course, Brian's patented harmonies he developed with the Beach Boys are present throughout, rendered lovingly by his backing band.
I'm placing my bets on a big Brian Wilson U.S. tour sometime next year to promote a new studio album. This will be the one that proves he's still vital, and not simply making his living by raising old ghosts. In a sense, this is even bigger than SMiLE, but we don't really know it yet, and probably won't for another 30 years...
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Safe for crackers!
Yesterday I received a last-minute request to write an entry for jefitoblog's ongoing "Safe For Crackers" series, which honors the 21st anniversary of rap crossing over to the pop mainstream. Back in '86, Run DMC and the Beastie Boys, among others, finally ushered in the hip hop era for the white suburban masses, and as I was one of those people, I was more than happy to share some stories associated with that time.
My "Harmolodic Edition" of "Safe For Crackers" runs today, so check it out at your leisure. And, as a bonus, see if you remember this great video from the early days of Yo! MTV Raps - MC Lyte's "Lyte As A Rock."
My "Harmolodic Edition" of "Safe For Crackers" runs today, so check it out at your leisure. And, as a bonus, see if you remember this great video from the early days of Yo! MTV Raps - MC Lyte's "Lyte As A Rock."
Sunday, July 22, 2007
"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Slayer" cited on Wikipedia
Every once in a while it's fun to google your name and see what comes up. Yesterday I did just that for the first time in months, and found this little surprise:
A Wikipedia noticeboard on "reliable sources" was re-posted on a site called Thinking Australia. The first issue of debate on the noticeboard is whether citing my reference to the backwards "join us" chanting in Slayer's "Hell Awaits," as written in my "Idiot's Guide" on jefitoblog.com, in Wikipedia's Backmasking article was appropriate under Wikipedia's guidelines. The debate was whether a weblog is a "reliable source," no matter how "well-written and credible" the weblog is.
In the end, the citation stuck, as a footnote (number 39) in the backmasking article with two other sources to back it up.
And that was my giddy simple pleasure on a sunny Saturday. Giddy! My inner geek is coming out...
A Wikipedia noticeboard on "reliable sources" was re-posted on a site called Thinking Australia. The first issue of debate on the noticeboard is whether citing my reference to the backwards "join us" chanting in Slayer's "Hell Awaits," as written in my "Idiot's Guide" on jefitoblog.com, in Wikipedia's Backmasking article was appropriate under Wikipedia's guidelines. The debate was whether a weblog is a "reliable source," no matter how "well-written and credible" the weblog is.
In the end, the citation stuck, as a footnote (number 39) in the backmasking article with two other sources to back it up.
And that was my giddy simple pleasure on a sunny Saturday. Giddy! My inner geek is coming out...
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
13 excuses for the 13 day lapse
There's been a lapse here! I'd apologize but I have this gut feeling that tells me it really isn't necessary, unless I feel like being sorry for myself. Which I don't. It's the blog itself that could use some Metamucil right about now. But anyway...
Since I do feel compelled to get the literary lead out, or at least spew some text that's more indulgent than useful (useful? what's that?), let's have some fun here. Thirteen days of lapse? Let the excuses begin:
13. My band workshop was winding up, and finally wrapped with a performance last Thursday at the Red Devil Lounge. A more detailed run-down than I have the patience or time to write out at the moment can be found at my good friend and co-worker Julie's blog. Julie was also the keyboardist and one of three singers in the group, the other two being guitarist Djuna and myself. I sang lead on the Modest Mouse tune "The View" while also playing rhythm guitar parts and leads. I had never done anything like that before, so it really did make me a bit nervous. But I got through it. All those nights of practice, and the performance itself, hogged precious blogging time.
12. My grandmother died. Last Saturday, my mother called to tell me that my 85 year old Italian "Nonnie" was back in the hospital, this time with pneumonia. That night she was gone. It brought to an end five weeks of back and forth with hospitals and nursing homes since she fell and broke her hip. So Monday morning I flew out to Rhode Island, arrived that evening. The wake was Tuesday afternoon, the funeral was Wednesday morning, and by Thursday night I had arrived back in San Francisco with just enough time to eat, change, and get over to my performance. Precious blogging time hogged yet again.
11. I actually did plan on writing about four recent CDs I picked up. There was that Amy Winehouse disc, Back to Black, which just blew my mind. She sounds like she was plucked right out the '60s girl group scene, but she surely would have been banned for singing songs about not wanting to go to rehab and asking such bold questions as "what kind of fuckery is this?" And then Queens of the Stone Age's Era Vulgaris has been spinning quite a bit, along with the new McCartney album, Memory Almost Full. Not in the mood for a full review just yet, but I will say this about the latter: I feel it just might be one of Paul's all-time best albums, right up there with Ram, Band On The Run, McCartney II and Tug Of War. Call me crazy if you must. The one that is fascinating me the most right now is the recent double disc reissue of Marvin Gaye's In Our Lifetime. That one I must write about soon. But not now. Too many discs all at once, too little time!
10. Work is stressing me out. I get home and I don't want to think too hard. Writing does take some thought, you know. Right?
9. My other site, The Front Parlour, needed an update. And if you check it out, you'll see that I had another review published in the June issue of Performer Magazine. Which I didn't bother to notice until... the end of June.
8. I spend too much time reading other people's blogs. Actually, mostly I spend too much time reading the most excellent jefitoblog. Check out the new Friday feature called Chartburn, where jefito and a team of others skewer rock hits of the past with the help of some youtube videos and lots of wit to spare. I swear you'll become addicted. It's a music geek's heroin.
7. I stumbled onto Lost-In-Tyme, another most awesome music blog, and suddebly found myself indulging in super rare slices (nay, loaves!) of R&B. Somebody stop me!
6. I started reading a collection of Lester Bangs writings called Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, edited by the esteemed Greil Marcus, and realized just how shitty a writer I am. Lester Bangs was one bad motherfucker. I, on the other hand, am a clean-cut hack. Lester Bangs was the Jimi Hendrix of rock criticism. He elevated it to a literary art form. He makes me want to quit, just like how listening to John McLaughlin makes me want to put my guitar away for good. Read it and you'll understand what I'm talking about. On second thought, don't. I'm not ready to quit just yet. I think.
5. I actually took the time to read through all of If I Did It, the O.J. "confession" referenced in my previous post. What can I say? I was curious. And I can confirm for you that it's every bit as crass, arrogant and "confessional" as you already figured it would be. According to a recent AP story, the Goldman Family now owns the rights to the book and expressed a desire to release it under a new title: "Confessions Of A Double Murderer." Hoo boy!
4. Oh, guess what? There's no 1-4 because: the phone just rang, and... I GOTTA GO!
Consider this the SMiLE of my blog-posts -- unfinished, ahead of its time and too late all at once.
HA HA!
Since I do feel compelled to get the literary lead out, or at least spew some text that's more indulgent than useful (useful? what's that?), let's have some fun here. Thirteen days of lapse? Let the excuses begin:
13. My band workshop was winding up, and finally wrapped with a performance last Thursday at the Red Devil Lounge. A more detailed run-down than I have the patience or time to write out at the moment can be found at my good friend and co-worker Julie's blog. Julie was also the keyboardist and one of three singers in the group, the other two being guitarist Djuna and myself. I sang lead on the Modest Mouse tune "The View" while also playing rhythm guitar parts and leads. I had never done anything like that before, so it really did make me a bit nervous. But I got through it. All those nights of practice, and the performance itself, hogged precious blogging time.
12. My grandmother died. Last Saturday, my mother called to tell me that my 85 year old Italian "Nonnie" was back in the hospital, this time with pneumonia. That night she was gone. It brought to an end five weeks of back and forth with hospitals and nursing homes since she fell and broke her hip. So Monday morning I flew out to Rhode Island, arrived that evening. The wake was Tuesday afternoon, the funeral was Wednesday morning, and by Thursday night I had arrived back in San Francisco with just enough time to eat, change, and get over to my performance. Precious blogging time hogged yet again.
11. I actually did plan on writing about four recent CDs I picked up. There was that Amy Winehouse disc, Back to Black, which just blew my mind. She sounds like she was plucked right out the '60s girl group scene, but she surely would have been banned for singing songs about not wanting to go to rehab and asking such bold questions as "what kind of fuckery is this?" And then Queens of the Stone Age's Era Vulgaris has been spinning quite a bit, along with the new McCartney album, Memory Almost Full. Not in the mood for a full review just yet, but I will say this about the latter: I feel it just might be one of Paul's all-time best albums, right up there with Ram, Band On The Run, McCartney II and Tug Of War. Call me crazy if you must. The one that is fascinating me the most right now is the recent double disc reissue of Marvin Gaye's In Our Lifetime. That one I must write about soon. But not now. Too many discs all at once, too little time!
10. Work is stressing me out. I get home and I don't want to think too hard. Writing does take some thought, you know. Right?
9. My other site, The Front Parlour, needed an update. And if you check it out, you'll see that I had another review published in the June issue of Performer Magazine. Which I didn't bother to notice until... the end of June.
8. I spend too much time reading other people's blogs. Actually, mostly I spend too much time reading the most excellent jefitoblog. Check out the new Friday feature called Chartburn, where jefito and a team of others skewer rock hits of the past with the help of some youtube videos and lots of wit to spare. I swear you'll become addicted. It's a music geek's heroin.
7. I stumbled onto Lost-In-Tyme, another most awesome music blog, and suddebly found myself indulging in super rare slices (nay, loaves!) of R&B. Somebody stop me!
6. I started reading a collection of Lester Bangs writings called Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, edited by the esteemed Greil Marcus, and realized just how shitty a writer I am. Lester Bangs was one bad motherfucker. I, on the other hand, am a clean-cut hack. Lester Bangs was the Jimi Hendrix of rock criticism. He elevated it to a literary art form. He makes me want to quit, just like how listening to John McLaughlin makes me want to put my guitar away for good. Read it and you'll understand what I'm talking about. On second thought, don't. I'm not ready to quit just yet. I think.
5. I actually took the time to read through all of If I Did It, the O.J. "confession" referenced in my previous post. What can I say? I was curious. And I can confirm for you that it's every bit as crass, arrogant and "confessional" as you already figured it would be. According to a recent AP story, the Goldman Family now owns the rights to the book and expressed a desire to release it under a new title: "Confessions Of A Double Murderer." Hoo boy!
4. Oh, guess what? There's no 1-4 because: the phone just rang, and... I GOTTA GO!
Consider this the SMiLE of my blog-posts -- unfinished, ahead of its time and too late all at once.
HA HA!
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
An introduction, part 2
So here's the lowdown on FrontParlourblog:
Most of the posts you will read here will likely revolve around music in some form or another. And when I say music, I mean that in a very broad sense. I enjoy listening to, reading about and writing about everything from the Beatles and Bob Dylan to Prince to Ornette Coleman and Miles Davis and Juliana Hatfield and Slayer... and the list goes on.
I also enjoy playing guitar, and as I am due to start playing in a band workshop next month, I may be posting about those goings on as well.
I am taking a course in web design at AcademyX in San Francisco, and when I start really practicing the skills I am learning in earnest, I may be posting about that here. The site I mentioned in the previous post, the Front Parlour, will receive a makeover in due time to become part of my portfolio.
Whenever I have a piece of writing published somewhere, I will post about that here. Some outlets that have carried my writing include Performer Magazine, the Rasputin Manifesto, the Harbus, Ear Candy, jefitoblog, and even ucsf.edu.
And then there's the miscellaneous stuff... comments on current events, other blogs, all that good stuff... will go here.
As you see in my profile description, I am currently working as an office manager. How exactly I manage to make it work when my brain is going in so many other directions, I can't quite say. My desk is often a mess, and my brain feels that way a lot of the time too. Yet somehow it all comes together. And it must, for this job must feed my passions, as they cannot yet pay their own way. And so it goes for, I presume, at least a million or three other like-minded individuals out there. Raise your hands in solidarity!
So stick around, and think of this place as your own little front parlour, where you can kick back and relax while reading and tuning out. It's good to have you here!
Most of the posts you will read here will likely revolve around music in some form or another. And when I say music, I mean that in a very broad sense. I enjoy listening to, reading about and writing about everything from the Beatles and Bob Dylan to Prince to Ornette Coleman and Miles Davis and Juliana Hatfield and Slayer... and the list goes on.
I also enjoy playing guitar, and as I am due to start playing in a band workshop next month, I may be posting about those goings on as well.
I am taking a course in web design at AcademyX in San Francisco, and when I start really practicing the skills I am learning in earnest, I may be posting about that here. The site I mentioned in the previous post, the Front Parlour, will receive a makeover in due time to become part of my portfolio.
Whenever I have a piece of writing published somewhere, I will post about that here. Some outlets that have carried my writing include Performer Magazine, the Rasputin Manifesto, the Harbus, Ear Candy, jefitoblog, and even ucsf.edu.
And then there's the miscellaneous stuff... comments on current events, other blogs, all that good stuff... will go here.
As you see in my profile description, I am currently working as an office manager. How exactly I manage to make it work when my brain is going in so many other directions, I can't quite say. My desk is often a mess, and my brain feels that way a lot of the time too. Yet somehow it all comes together. And it must, for this job must feed my passions, as they cannot yet pay their own way. And so it goes for, I presume, at least a million or three other like-minded individuals out there. Raise your hands in solidarity!
So stick around, and think of this place as your own little front parlour, where you can kick back and relax while reading and tuning out. It's good to have you here!
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