Latest Amoeba Music shopping spree: You should all go buy these NOW! And while I love Newbury Comics, Amoeba Music is the greatest music store on the planet. Perhaps the galaxy, and likely the universe...

It snowed in Boston.  One reporter saw a guy named Noah putting snow tires on his ark.  Shoopa Shoopa.  Knowing that I was going to be spending a large amount of time outside snowblowing/shoveling/cursing my life, I used Rdio to make a lovely playlist. Here’s what was in my ears while...

So there’s all this hype and rumble around the new Elton John/Leon Russell album.  Some love it, some hate it, and most agree it could’ve been better.  I’ve been an Elton fan for a LONG time.  In fact, I’ve seen him in concert 32 times.  But the single greatest...

I love timely musical references.  Maybe it’s the radio geek in me, I dunno.  Here’s Wynton Marsalis and Sarah Vaughan performing “September Song” with the Boston Pops from the early ’80s…posted today September 1st...

I’m a fan of lists.  For no good reason I love hearing the best, worst, most likely to, or things you’d bring onto a desert island.  It’s less about what’s on the list than it is about the process of deciding what makes it and what doesn’t.  I swear I could...

For about a month now, I had been debating whether or not I should check out the “Troubadour Reunion” tour by James Taylor and Carole King. I’ve always wanted to see Carole King in concert, and she doesn’t really tour all that much — at least, she hasn’t...

Just found this, randomly.  Me interviewing Blink-182, on my birthday, in 2004 … in Paso Robles,...

When I started at Berklee, I got a job in the jazz department at Tower Records.  This was before iPods, before MySpace, and at a time when people were still asking what we had on cassette.   The jazz department was up on the third floor, and nobody wandered in there unintentionally.  As...

While I spend plenty on iTunes and AmazonMP3, there's something to be said for the experience of seeking music out in the store, looking at the cover art, and waiting 'til you get it home to open, listen, and savor the music.

…and they’re singing “Vehicle”  :) The best-est part of working in radio was being able to play amazingly topical music.  Specifically, March 15th meant the one time we got to play “Vehicle” by the Ides of March.  A personal favorite tune, it’s a...

I’m so glad you’re planning ahead.  You see, lots of people tend to wait ’til the last minute.  And at that point, I end up getting coffee mugs and gift cards.  Not that those aren’t nice, mind you, but they’re not all that inspired. Instead, I’ll make it...

So as Ian and I discussed the state of the industry, its cast of characters, and what kind of artists should be using Topspin (or Nimbit ... or Bandcamp ... or Audiolife ... ), it all became re-enforced by what I saw on the tv last night: style over substance, instant over earned, easy over challenging.

Bringing The Party Back To The People… Despite the 2000’s being soaked with celebrity deaths, unwanted wars, cowboy presidents, and the bankruptcy of the U.S.A., there was an rebirth of music as power, public praise and acceptance of guerrilla art, and, most importantly, the reemergence of...

This is a song about Alice...

“I’ll do for you now, for you nice people here, a protest song.  A protest song is defined as something, as a song you don’t hear on the radio.  And they’ll say you don’t hear it on the radio ‘cuz the guy can’t sing, or cuz the words are no good,...

Like many music industry types, I read the Lefsetz Letter.  And again, like many, I often think old Bob is just a cranky, washed-up, old-school record label type guy.  Case in point:  he recently shredded a performance by Mika.  His complaint was that under all the lights and staging, the...

Gone for nearly a decade, The Rat(hskellar) in Kenmore Square (Boston) was the dingy, local launchpad for all kinds of bands.  A couple of note:  The Police, The Talking Heads, and the Ramones.  Take a little walk down memory lane, and remember the feeling of your lungs collapsing from the...

Today would’ve been John Lennon’s 69th...

The public is a fickle lover.  One minute, it’s a blissful romance, and in the next you’re a loathed, lambasted lothario clamoring for acceptance from those who understand you.  Alliteration aside, the public has the power to make or break you.  They buy your music, come to your...

Everyone reaches their own version of a breaking point. It’s the moment when the incalculable doom of your current situation demands you to do something. Divorce attorneys are experts at exploiting that point in marriages, and music bloggers (you know who you are!) are very quick to...

Reprinted from CNN Vera Lynn, who made her name entertaining troops in World War II after recording her first song 70 years ago, has become the oldest living artist to have a number one album. The 92-year-old’s album “We’ll Meet Again — The Very Best of Vera Lynn”...

Judging from this week’s media hype, 9/09/09 is the next coming of the Beatles. The folks at Harmonix are releasing RockBand: Beatles Edition, and all things Beatle are flooding the market. I just got back from Blockbuster, where you can pick up Bealtes Monopoly, Beatles Trivial...

It’s Labor Day Weekend, so I’m taking to the high seas and/or Boston Harbor for a day of sailing.  And, naturally, that involves creating the playlist for the day’s activities.  Here’s what I’ve got so far.  Perhaps you’ll notice the theme?  Suggestions...

I’m not sure why I find this so amusing, but …. For those of you interested in playing “The Crunge” by Led Zeppelin, here’s how to count it out  (courtesy of our friends at Wikipedia, so you know it’s true …heh…) Intro measure: 1 x 9/8 Part 1: 7...

Here’re a few thoughts on classic rock tunes if they had (truly) been written by my brethren – the Chosen People: 1.  Dirty Deeds Done for a Very Reasonable Price – AC/DC 2.  Stairway to Brisket – Led Zeppelin 3.  Twist and Kvetch – The Beatles 4.  I...