The second season of the Amazon series Transparent traumatized me. It’s not the show’s primary theme of malleable gender identity that rattled my nerves. A straight male character named Josh Pfefferman induced unwelcome flashbacks to the years I spent as a music distribution sales rep. Josh, a self-centered weasel who intends to launch a record label, closely resembles a subset of men I once dealt with every day. Listening to entitled guys almost exactly like Josh demand that albums by developing acts like the fictional folk-pop band Fussy Puss be stocked on shelves of Wal-Mart was the bane of my existence.
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I reviewed Tech N9ne’s sold-out concert at the Midland theater.
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I reviewed Todd Rundgren’s return to the VooDoo.
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In what may most be my most subversive act of the year, I played punk rock (Radkey), jazz (Matt Villinger), rap (Tech N9ne), hip-hop (Donnie Trumpet & the Social Experiment), R&B (Jill Scott) and pop (Rihanna) during my guest appearance on the AAA station 90.9 The Bridge last week. You can stream or download a podcast version of my misbehavior here. I suppose I owe the staff and the listeners of the non-commercial radio station an apology.
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Scott Weiland died last week. I ranked the reunited Stone Temple Pilots’ headlining appearance at the 2008 edition of Rockfest as one of the best concerts of the decade. I also reviewed the first concert of Weiland’s 2009 solo tour. The buzz in advance of that show was extremely negative but Weiland was great that night.
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Four of the top five releases in No Depression’s year-end reader’s poll have black-and-white or sepia-toned album covers.
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Jon Benjamin Well, I Should Have…* is amusing for about five minutes. The premise- a comedian plays piano with a legit jazz band- gets old in a hurry. The trailer is funnier than the album.
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I’m not the least bit embarrassed to admit that I’m partial to Buckcherry’s sleaze-rock. Rock 'n' Roll is RIYL: Kiss, STDs, Aerosmith circa ‘76. Here’s ”Tight Pants”.
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The recent reissue of Gloria Ann Taylor material doesn’t live up to the hype. RIYL: psych guitar noodling, Big Brother and the Holding Company, forced vocals.
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Much of Van Hunt’s murky The Fun Rises, The Fun Sets makes even the biggest disappointments of Sly Stone and Prince seem competent.
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Archy Marshall’s A New Place 2 Drown is RIYL: Young Fathers, gloom, King Krule.
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Cam’s Untamed is acceptable mainstream country. RIYL: Miranda Lambert, Nashville, Sunny Sweeney. Here’s ”Burning House.
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The use of an accordion in an experimental jazz context sounds entirely natural to me on Old Time Musketry’s Drifter.
(Original image of Daniel Johnston-inspired graffiti by There Stands the Glass.)
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