jff

Not really a so far since it hasn't come out yet, but I'm very excited for Cate Le Bon's new record, Mug Museum, which comes out next month.

I'll Be Your Mirror

The New Monkees

What is NM?

I suggest going to bars that don't have Taylor Swift on the jukebox.

I have noticed that music critics tend to me a creepy lot. Why is that?

I'm not interested enough in your opinion to make a list.

It's well known that there are bands that "serious music fans" are "supposed to like" and we all know who they are. Stop being difficult.

I don't know these days. This used to happen all the time when I was younger, though. When I first got my Cure Staring at the Sea tape it took me forever to make it past the first song (Killing an Arab), then I added the second song (Boys Don't Cry) and listened to just those two over and over, then the same with the third song (Jumping Someone Else's Train).

Whew, that's a relief. Now I don't have to come up with the $1,000 prize I was going to give to the winner.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/eric-clapton-wows-audience-with-even-slower-versio,34325/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_campaign=LinkPreview:1:Default

I don't know, but as I said before, Muswell Hillbillies was a turning point that they never recovered from (although there were significant stylistic, more arena friendly shifts in their sound occurring before that, particularly on Arthur and Lola). What year was their first tour of the states after the ban?

"I like it okay" is probably how I would put it. If it were a one-off record by a forgotten band, I might think it was a lost masterpiece. But as a piece of work by the Kinks, it falls flat against most of what trhey did up to that point. I wouldn't be surprised if it clicks with me at some point, though.

Probably has a lot to do with them being banned from the USA during their creative peak.

I love the Kinks. They're one of my favorite bands ever, but Muswell Hillbillies has never connected with me. I think it's a significant misstep and they were never able to recover from it. I don't understand why it is held up as one of their great albums.

That's an excellent example. I've loved Nels since I first saw him with Mike Watt in the mid '90s, but a lot of things he's played on (mostly the formless improvised stuff) do nothing for me.

I like Clapton's entire Gibson period and the first year or so of his Strat period. Layla and his first solo record. Slowhand has some good playing, too, if I recall (The Core). I don't want to sound like I can't stand the guy, but he's definitely received decades of the highest possible acclaim based on only a few short years of notable contributions.

I wish I was you. Oh what a wonderful world it would be if that were so.

I would agree with this. Eric Clapton is why we now have a world full of Joe Bonamassas. Thanks Eric.

I would place Clapton below the median amongst professional lead guitarists.

You're joking, right? The greatest of all time? I'm not saying he's terrible, but nobody could convincingly argue that he's the greatest of all time, or even close. Hell, just about the entire lineup of any of his own Crossroads Festivals is stacked with better guitarists.

I forgot I had mentioned Joe Bonamassa twice. He's coming to Atlanta soon and his show is being billed as "The Guitar Event of the Year." I've read a couple interviews with him and tried to watch his PBS special. Between the two, he comes across as a massive douche. He's a moderately good guitar player in the most generic way possible. He has a hell of a guitar and amp collection, though*, and that appeals to lawyers and executives who collect guitars as a hobby. I think someone did mention Clapton. If anyoe deserves to be in this thread, it's him. *Which makes me wonder why it'

We should all pretend to like things we don't just so other people will think we're cool. Haven't you learned that yet?

I don't know if anyone other than guitar magazine employees think Joe Bonamassa is respectable, but the fact is, he is the Dick Cheney of the guitar.

I remember seeing them on whatever the late night show was that John Stewart hosted. Long before the inflatable ball and santa claus costume gimmickery. I thought it was a pretty great performance.