It’s hard to say that “Walls (Circus)” is a Tom Petty deep cut — it’s the lead song on an album, it’s in a movie — but it feels like a deep cut. No one seems to know it. You never hear it on the radio. I won’t say it’s my favorite Tom Petty song,Continue reading “Some Things Go On”
Category Archives: Music
A Night with Roy Orbison
Earlier in the year WITF, during one of their pledge drives, showed Roy Orbison: A Black & White Night, a concert film shot, obviously, in black and white, that was filmed in September 1987. Orbison’s backing band that night consisted of Elvis’ backing band, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, and Bruce Springsteen, while his backing singersContinue reading “A Night with Roy Orbison”
Coldplay: Kaleidoscope
I’m underwhelmed by Coldplay’s new Kaleidoscope EP. A companion, I suppose, to A Head Full of Dreams, Kaleidoscope comprises five songs that feel like odds and ends the band had around, rather than a proper album. The opening track, “All I Can Think About Is You,” is pretty good, though it seems to have beenContinue reading “Coldplay: Kaleidoscope”
A Legend to Last a Teatime
Magnificent
Elbow’s video for their single “Magnificent (She Says)” makes me think of Gandalf’s final line in The Lord of the Rings: “I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are evil.” (Page 1007 in my single-volume hardcover edition.) The song itself is gorgeous, and I have listened to it many times sinceContinue reading “Magnificent”
Fugitive Motel
I could count the number of times I’ve heard Elbow on the radio in the car on one hand. I’m talking actual music tracks, not interviews on NPR or somesuch. Imagine my surprise, then, when I heard “Fugitive Motel” on the radio when I was leaving the grocery store this evening. I was skipping throughContinue reading “Fugitive Motel”
The Beatles Christmas Records
This afternoon at work I listened to the Beatles’ Christmas records. These have never been officially released, so I had to resort to bootleg mp3s. (They’re also on Youtube.) These Christmas records were produced for the official Beatles fan club, and they were issued between 1963 and 1969. Each record ran about six minutes long,Continue reading “The Beatles Christmas Records”
Classical Music and the Personal Need for Culture
Sunday afternoon I listened to the Philadelphia Orchestra on Temple University’s WRTI. (They have a repeater here in York, and overnight it’s a jazz radio station instead of classical.) I sat in my living room, my Christmas tree plugged in, a cup of tea in hand, and listened to a number of Tchaikovsky pieces, concludingContinue reading “Classical Music and the Personal Need for Culture”
A Day at the Celtic Craic
Friday afternoon I decided to attend the Celtic Craic Music Fest in Harrisburg on Saturday. The last few weeks at work have been nothing but Crunch, and the next few look to be nothing but Crunch, and you can make the argument that work in general into the distant past is nothing but Crunch andContinue reading “A Day at the Celtic Craic”
On the Eve of Garrison Keillor’s Final Prairie Home Companion
Tonight, Garrison Keillor is recording his final A Prairie Home Companion, to be broadcast tomorrow night in its regular time slot. There’s a certain sadness to this. My parents have listened to A Prairie Home Companion for decades, and I seem to recall that they went to a live show in the early 90s. IContinue reading “On the Eve of Garrison Keillor’s Final Prairie Home Companion”