Plumplechook

I'm not a fan of the Foo Fighters but Taylor Hawkins seemed like a great guy and obviously a very good drummer. Only 50. Quite a shock.

Damn - this feels like a watershed moment for boomers like me. Charlie may have been unwell recently - but he was 80. A trickle that unfortunately will turn into a flood over the next few years. Whenever I made party tapes in the '70s and 80s I always included loads of Stones songs because that's what got people up dancing. Most of that was down to Charlie and his irresistible swing.

Khruangbin : Mordechai

Just saw this note from Susan Miller Tweedy on the Shot in the Arm Facebook group. "Hiiiiiiiii. Guys, there will probably be no Tweedy Shows next week. Unfortunately, Sammy has tested positive for Covid. He's feeling totally fine so far and hopefully will stay that way. The rest of us were advised to get tested on Wednesday, so that is what we are going to do. Since singing is one of the top ways to transmit Covid, there will be no shows. Oh.....hold on.....UPDATE.....we just discussed maybe doing a quarantined show where Jeff will sing from the basement with the phone on a tripod.

Lyric obviously directed at a certain leader and his enablers. "As crazy as a king, as bent as a snake There are some things they will never ever say And people will tell you whatever you want Whatever you want to keep you in your place Hear the lying every day, I see the same expressions on them How they long to speak their mind But something always stops them dead Should be shouting from the mountain At their top of their voice “this is not right, this man is a fake” But they will follow him down to the edge of the cliff And

Wilco connection, produced by Pat Sansone, and he plays a lot of the instruments. Beautiful album.

Damn. This one hurts. Justin Townes Earle was such a talent. Saw him a bunch of times and he always delivered. An engaging performer but always sensed the sadness and fragility there.

OK let me calm down.

Nick Lowe with Los Straightjackets (last night in fact).

Half Man Half Biscuit : "I'll wipe my snot on the arm of your chair, Because you've got a Roger Dean poster on the wall"

Only 50 - so sad. Saw him a number of times with Ryan Adams and the Cardinals and he was fantastic, terrific guitarist and great harmony vocalist. He really shone on the Dead-inspired stuff from Cold Roses. https://youtu.be/VmGEZDAgtHQ

I've ripped my CD collection to a hard drive as FLAC files and use JRiver Media Center on a laptop linked to my sound system. Works well for me. The added bonus is there's a complementary app JRemote you can use on your cell phone (IOS or Android) that allows you to stream your music collection to your phone. So it's your own streaming service that's never going to be messed with by the likes of Apple Music or Spotify. I have friends who had curated playlists on earlier streaming services that disappeared when the services died. Also, the big streaming services will routinely remove album

A full length concert video compiled from the '7 Worlds Collide' shows in Auckland in Jan 2009 has just been released on iTunes. Features Jeff, John, Glenn and Pat performing with a bunch of other artists including Johnny Marr, Neil Finn, Ed O'Brian, Phil Selway, Lisa Germano etc. Found out about this via a Twitter post today from a guy called Jason Knox. The iTunes link includes a trailer - with a very sweaty looking Jeff and Glenn. "Over the past five years I’ve worked on an exciting creative project / jigsaw puzzle for ⁦‪@NeilFinn⁩. Thank you, Neil, for the opportunity and for being s

I see Ryan Adams current band members are now starting to speak out, with guitarist Todd Wisenbaker calling Adam's a 'monster' on an Instagram posting today and saying he is 'actively afraid for the safety of my family' for speaking out. https://www.instagram.com/totally_tod/p/BuB6cGJhhmb/ I feel bad for cutting this guy so much slack over the years, putting up with his temper tantrums and ranting at concerts on the grounds he was some sort of troubled genius. The truth was always there in plain sight - he's just an asshole.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra

Neil Finn - Out of Silence The Bats - The Deep Set War on Drugs - A Deeper Understanding Real Estate - In Mind Queens of the Stone Age - Villains Justin Town Earle - Kids in the Street Spoon - Hot Thoughts Rhiannon Giddens - Freedom Highway The National - Sleep Well Beast Pond - The Weather

Son Volt - in Sydney, last night. Great. The last night of their first ever tour of Australia.

RIP Glenn. The passing of a legend. A genuine triple-threat - terrific vocalist, performer - and amazing guitar player. Love this clip of Gentle On My Mind, with a bunch of fellow country legends in awe at Glenn's guitar solo. https://www.youtube.com/embed/ETkzK9pXMio

On a lighter note, The B Street Band, America’s No. 1 Springsteen tribute band, have agreed to play Trump inaugural ball:

Gone Dead Train - Randy Newman (from the soundtrack of Performance)

Beck Real Estate The National Neil Finn - believe he's been working on an album with his son Liam

'Girls Talk' by Dave Edmunds before I heard Elvis Costello's original. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HT0cwGYwUzA

'This Flight Tonight' by Nazereth before I heard Joni Mitchell's origninal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx7flBWrdSw