How does a lanky Welsh kid become the most soulful and sought-after bass player in modern music? I’m still asking the question. I still don’t know. He doesn’t read music. It’s all “feel.” And it’s all professional network-driven respect. He’s a long-standing friend and fellow contributor to projects Questlove’s been on, including D’Angelo’s Voodoo (one … Continue reading Podcast Of The Week: Pino Palladino On Questlove Supreme
Category: music
Sunday Music: Alvvays’ “Very Online Guy”
Today in Canadian indie-pop I can’t get out of my head - Alvvays’ song, “Very Online Guy.” Somewhere in between the out-of-time synths and shoe-gazingly fuzzed-out guitars, there’s a commentary on life and relationships in the 2020s. The meta-awareness of what we project, of who we are in private, and how any of us are … Continue reading Sunday Music: Alvvays’ “Very Online Guy”
Sunday Music: Militarie Gun
I don’t know what they were going through when they wrote this, but I know what it feels like they were going through: I've waited long enoughThe plans are offAin't nothin' to do in the dayAin't nothin' to do but waitFind myself just sitting aroundPush me up, push me outWaste my time, waste my lifeAs … Continue reading Sunday Music: Militarie Gun
Sunday Music: Damn Right I’m Somebody
Fred Wesley plays the trombone. It’s not a sexy instrument. So it’s not the type of instrument you typically see a band leader holding. But it’s a wild instrument. An audacious instrument. A who-even-came-up-with-the-idea-for-this instrument. Like a fretless bass meets a trumpet. It can just do things other brass instruments can’t do. Which means there … Continue reading Sunday Music: Damn Right I’m Somebody
Sunday Music: Sampha’s “Lahai” And Tiny Desk Concert
My wife and I were catching up on the last month (or three’s) of Tiny Desk Concerts last weekend. Sampha’s came on. He’s been on my radar a long time but apart from his guest spots with Kendrick and a few tracks off the last album, I haven’t caught the same bug that’s caught so … Continue reading Sunday Music: Sampha’s “Lahai” And Tiny Desk Concert
Sunday Music: Goin’ Down with The Mystery Lights
There’s something about the gravitational pull of a vamp… The Mystery Lights do the Daptone thing. Deftly restrained, kind of soft without being quiet. Pulsing and funky. “Goin’ Down” is about the resistance to getting pulled down. The restraint of being restrained. The looseness of the eventual loss. It’s a collision of sounds, feelings, and … Continue reading Sunday Music: Goin’ Down with The Mystery Lights
Sunday Music: Can’t Mute MEUTE
The benefits of having family living in other countries include being introduced to things from other countries. MEUTE - hailing from Germany - is like a marching band that plays electronic music. But not electronically, they do it acoustically, and they do it with the instrumentation of an actual marching band. You have to hear … Continue reading Sunday Music: Can’t Mute MEUTE
Saturday Morning Media: Dick Cavett’s Oscar Peterson Interview
Entertainment value AND educational value is determined by presentation. Here’s Dick Cavett interviewing one of the all-time great jazz pianists, Oscar Peterson, back in 1979. They start with Peterson playing some music. This sets the stage. Literally and figuratively - if you don’t know his work, the performance is intended to show the audience we’re … Continue reading Saturday Morning Media: Dick Cavett’s Oscar Peterson Interview
Sunday Music: Be Real Black For Me
Is it possible to have a chord progression following you around in life? Asking for a friend. By which I mean I’m asking for me. I have friends who see repeating numbers. I have friends who see eagles. I have friends who I see in repeating numbers and bald eagles in my own life. But … Continue reading Sunday Music: Be Real Black For Me
Sunday Music: Iggy Pop Making Punk From Country
Inspiration can come from anywhere. And a 3% change confers ownership (h/t Virgil Abloh). Iggy Pop will explain it to you now, as only he can - It started as the first two chords. Like most Stooges songs, we were stoned on our smoke and jamming, and Ron came up with the two chords over … Continue reading Sunday Music: Iggy Pop Making Punk From Country