Great find: Sound Opinions

Along with Yu's Mandarin noodles and Salerno's pizza, Sound Opinions radio show and podcast has been reason enough to live in Chicago. Music critics Jim DeRogatis (of The Sun-Times) and Greg Kot (Chicago Tribune), host this hour-long program. Despite their creds, what I love about this show is it's just two music nerds (sorry guys!) talking about music and interviewing great artists. they play a lot of music and have great topics. I also like the fact that they have similar tastes in general, but they alos disagree a lot - so you get a couple takes. You can listen live, listen to the stream or download the podcast. Check it out!

http://www.soundopinions.org/about.html

What's your favorite holiday music?

I'm currently putting together my favorite Christmas and holiday music. Any suggestions? What are your favorites? And while we're on the topic, what do you think about David Bowie and Bing Crosby's version of "The Little Drummer Boy"? Everyone has a strong opinion about that one.

Alejandro Escovedo - Real Animal

When I heard Alejandro's new album was going to be made up of songs inspired by his musical career and personal life I winced. "No, not Alejandro," I thought! usually reminiscing should be left to one's friends and families - or at least save it for the memoirs. When any rocker looks backwards it's usually like masturbation - fun for the doer only. Often these types of records feature lyrics stretched or squeezed to fit into awkward musical spaces and the music itself sounds soundtracky or contrived. "Real Animal" certainly falls into none of these traps. Each song is rich, melodic and the music stands alone - no back drops for lyrics or stories here. The lyrics, too, are not a bore. I think the reason is instead of just recounting his "crazy days" or regrets, or whatever, he ties his stories to bigger (or smaller) themes we can all relate to. A perfect example is the song "Chelsea Hotel '78"- I cringed when I saw this potentially pretentious title. But early in the song the lyric "..we came to live inside the myths of everything we heard" let's us know this isn't going to be an idealized 'gee, don't you wish you where there' hipster brag trip. The song goes on to name drop left and right, but it still works and connects to every situation we've all had in our lives where expectations fade and reality takes us in a different direction - and in the end it's just as it should have been. All the songs feature excellent story telling, but this album is all about the music - at once clean and deep and each songs builds in a specific, logical, but fresh direction. Very complex layers, but not showboaty or distracting. Great stuff.

My current top ten songs

Dating back to my high school days, I periodically try to make a list of my favorite songs and albums of all time. It's impossible, but fun. I'd love to hear your list or comments. Here's my most recent attempt:

1. Down by the River - Neil Young
2. Can't Get Next To You - The Temptations
3. This Must Be The Place - Talking Heads
4. Fake Plastic Trees - Radiohead
5. Know Your Rights - The Clash
6. Jesus, etc. - Wilco
7. Kentucky Cocktail - Pavement
8. Since I've Been Loving You - Led Zeppelin
9. Dead leaves and the Dirty Ground - The White Stripes
10. Search & Destroy - The Stooges

The birthdate and place of Punk rock

Some may disagree, but I believe Punk rock is one of the few movements that's birth can be pinpointed to an actual moment in time. October 20th, 1967 The Doors played a concert in front of a bunch of drunken frat boys in University of Michigan's Yost Field House in Ann Arbor. Morrison, himself so intoxicated the show had to be paused and restarted, became irritated by the attitude of the crowd who chided his long hair and "girly" hippie attire. Morrison decided to mock the crowd by singing in a false falsetto voice, and squirming in a provocative, satiracly feminine frenzy. He berrated and taunted the preps in between sets and the crowd responded by throwing objects at him and yelling insults. It became quite ugly to the delight, it seems, of two people in particular: Morrison and a high school student in the audience, James Osterberg. The boy who would be grow up to become Iggy Pop was struck at that very moment with an idea for a new possible performer-fan relationship. A relationship fueled less by envy and worship, and more on confrontation, mutual aggression, angst and violent expression. James left that concert with the wheels turning in his head and soon began experimenting with new stage personas, tactics and provocative sets. When he took these ideas to New York City, he spread a virus to all the early Punks who started the NY, London and West Coast Punk scenes. No one was doing this before Iggy, and all the early punks saw an Iggy show at one point or another. I think the simplicity, the do-it-yourself attitude and the anti-rock god elements of Punk may have been an inevitable response to the state of commercial rock at the time, but the Punk attitude may not have ever caught fire without Iggy's influence.
Thus, I can make the bold statement: Punk, like most great things, was born in Ann Arbor, MI.
DOB: October 20, 1967
Location: Yost Field House