lost highway

Cool interview with what seems to be a very ex-patriated, English-rusty Jim O'Rourke about his new record Sleep Like It's Winter. https://www.stereogum.com/2007352/jim-orourke-interview-2018/franchises/interview/

Sounds like a kick ass place, and yet another reason to go back to western Mass!

"Your favorite president did nothing wrong." I feel like the writers from the Simpsons cooked up that one.

They have to decide, are they Trump supporters, or Republicans. At this point you can't be both in good faith.

I keep marveling at what Republican citizens are willing to put up with, and the amount of cognitive dissonance they can hold just to faithfully back a president. When fucking Paul Ryan says that Russians meddled in the election, when former head of the CIA calls Trump's behavior treasonous, when the Feds are indicting Russians and Trump staffers .... but STILL these Republican voters are cool with it. I never thought I'd say it, but where is Ronald Reagan when you need him?

So, just a little check in from the "How does this stuff all matter in everyday life?" front: My wife works for a tiny school district. Of their 4 aging elementary schools they passed a bond to replace 3 of the buildings. As to be expected, the construction budget has been very tight. Demolishing and rebuilding several two story schools is a pretty massive undertaking. Recent trade war escalations have added one million dollars to the cost of their project (which are nearing completion). That's a million bucks they didn't have all thanks to materials skyrocketing on account of the orange man

Maybe I'm just weak sauce, but White was my favorite. It was like half way between Mel Brooks and Ingmar Bergman.

I should be, but we haven't the cable package for it.

As a teacher on summer break I'm getting to all the art house flicks I never have time for (and my wife won't watch). So far the selections have been: Days of Heaven- awesome movie. Gorgeous cinematography counters the bleak story line. The Three Colors Trilogy- this french language trilogy is considered Polish director Kieslowski's opus. So far I've watched Red (I messed up the order cause I was thinking Red, White, Blue, like an American, and it's really Blue, White, Red). Red is a concise 90 minute drama with interesting characters, a subtle twist and some great thematic stuff you can mul

Nerdy sound guy observation: This is the first time I've seen where he's played acoustic 'plugged in' in years. He'd been doing the big mic in front of the guitar thing for a while. Probably not as practical out doors in the elements.

Funny side note. There have been a few times in my life where I forgot the personnel on a favorite jazz album and heard a solo and thought, 'Whoa, that guys is pushing things a little further out, maybe even annoying the frontman.' One of those times is a couple Coltrane solos on Miles' Kind of Blue. The other is Eric Dolphy on Oliver Nelson's Blues and the Abstract Truth.

Pretty phenomenal stuff. I respect all of his work and his later stuff that was really searching is worth investigating. That said, my favorites of his (like a lot of jazz virtuosos) is the stuff that's on a knife edge between popular jazz classicism and total chaos: Giant Steps, Blue Trane, My Favorite Things. In fact, I've always found this footage to be one of my mental shorthands for artistic courage: https://youtu.be/NWYWgda5f0I It gets so fuckin heavy, and then you remember they're doing a show tune. They get so sweaty, you can literally see steam, or smoke coming off of Jimmy Garr

At least we have this: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-manafort/judge-sends-trumps-former-campaign-chief-manafort-to-jail-idUSKBN1JB12X

They're too good at constructing their own narratives. There's text messages from agents saying 'We can't let him be president', so it doesn't matter that they never did anything to affect the election. They have the crumb they need for Hannity to hang onto. Never mind that Comey's most unprofessional move really screwed Clinton.

Chez got it here: I think we should all be leary. We're dealing with mad men here, but they could be working towards something that would make everyone safer.

I hate Trump. I love where this is going so far with North Korea.

I've often argued that this song best showcases the strengths and abilities of their current longstanding lineup. It's got all of the dynamics, arrangement brilliance and nuanced playing to show what the 6 of them can do together. Maybe not my favorite song, but one of the best presentations of the art of Wilconess.

Oh man. I loved that guy. So sad.

I'm a little miffed that the super nice, double vinyl, gatefold I invested $35 in couldn't be bothered to include a download code. Thanks a lot Anti-! Both the duets are great. Ironically the "I-5" song with Mark Lanegan sounds more like he's just singing along to Neko Case in his car (which is totally fulfilling btw), but the Eric Bachman tune is a true duet with interlocking parts. Of course it turns out he's already recorded that one, but it was well worth revisiting to hear their two voices together.

While not a complete turn from where things were going with "The Worse Things Get...", she's definitely evolving. Gone are the baroque arrangements, and Good the Bad and the Ugly guitars, or Garth Hudson organ runs of Fox Confessor and Middle Cyclone. She clearly has no interest in anything "Americana" at this point. These songs are cutting, memorable, and with clean and efficient arrangements. More emphasis on rhythm hooks from the drums and the bass, almost dancey in a couple spots.

Those dang Dodgers hit their stride at the worst time and knocked the Rockies out of first in the NL west.

I just bumped into the trailer for a uplifting indie flick starring Nick Offerman called Hearts Beat Loud. He's a struggling record-store owner/single dad who decides to make a go of it playing indie-pop with his daughter. In the trailer suddenly there was the unmistakable visage of Jeff Tweedy in his current long-hair/cowboy hat mode. Didn't see his name in the credits so I don't think he did a ton of acting, but I know he and Nick are buddies, so that's cool. Looks like Offerman really got to show his non-Ron Swanson chops and use some more emotional vulnerability. Might be cool.

I love it. Reminds me of something Robert Pollard would unleash on a whim. Put those lyrics over grand production and it would be a disaster, but those throw-away lines over little beeps and strums sounds like you're right inside of a charming shrug. I don't think we're trying to convince each other of anything here, but I'm glad you brought it up. I'm sure a lot of people can agree starting a song with "I am not a poet, and I know it." Followed by "Sometimes I write, sometimes I don't" is not strong material.

Wow. This is not exactly what I expected, but I definitely like it. More thoughts to follow with repeat listens.