Truly, this blogoverse is an amazing space. Twenty four hours ago, I did not even know there was such a musical category as ‘paganfolk’, and yet a commentor’s request concerning the translation of Japanese katakana led to a discussion of medieavalist music which led me to spend way too much time on YouTube (and too much money at Dancing Ferret)...

So now I have a request: Can anyone here tell me where I can get a copy of Faun’s DVD Ornament without ordering it from Europe?

Open scrum tonight- 80’s and 90’s edition. I open with the following:

A friend just emailed me a YouTube of “Lovely Day”; I was going go to with that and write “may the headwinds be always at your back”. But this is by far the finest Bill Withers video on the internets.

Does this after ever happen to you? You step away from American politics and political media for a few days, you forget how nuts it is, then you get back into it and feel the stupidity and possibly doom all over again, as if for the first time?

Anyway, this song has been my happy place recently.

I really wish Steve Gilliard were here today, because only he could do full justice to both Bloomberg’s victory and Corzine’s failure. And while Mr. Gilliard was, IIRC, no fan of Mayor Bloomberg, he would certainly have had some useful if excoriating advice for those goo-goos who are now shocked, shocked that a rich person could be rewarded by New York City voters for a blatant attempt to buy his way into keeping office.

Also (ergo?), Fuck The Fucking Yankees…

Fuck the fucking Yankees. In loving memory of Steve Gilliard.

The last of this summer’s paltry tomato plants are well & truly frost-withered, and the final hastily-gathered bowlful of green fruits don’t look very promising either. But next week, the weatherpodperson promises, more 60-degree days!

Happy Friday night, y’all…

You guys did such a good job with Sarahgeddon that I’d like to know why you think Karl Rove’s twitter got suspended.

Bonus non-funk 70s music footage. I don’t know why but I love this song.

The battle is joined.

I know Marvin’s lip-synching but there’s live percussion and if you can find a badder suit than that one…..

You never hear Part 2 on the radio, but it was the inspiration for the last great Jackson 5 song.

JT gets major credit for covering this, even if it’s not a great effort (EDIT: you know, it’s not bad).

Can’t sleep.

For my era, it will always be Brent. Thought about it for a while, while lying there petting the dog. Let it grow. I love the old Donna and Keith Godchaux shows, especially the Terrapins, and Hornsby and Vince did fine after him, but I loved Brent. Also, Bird Song:

And if you are just going to tell me I am a loser, or that the music sucks, just DIAF.

What part of insomnia do you not understand?

*** Update ***

At one point, I had over a thousand hours of tapes. They all got stolen when I went to basic training, but this Greek Theatre 1986 (on 22 June, my birthday) was one of my all time favorites. I think it had the best Stella Blue, ever, and it had a funny version of Weir doing Women are Smarter. A lot of the show was recorded bad, the Jack Straw was off beat, but it had a great Cassidy and Mama Tried.

At any rate, how do I download the whole show and dump it in my Itunes?

After all the music talk in last night’s threads, I thought this might amuse people:

Bob Dylan: folk-rock legend, poet-spokesman of his generation . . . and GPS voice?

Maybe. The enigmatic troubadour said on his satellite radio program that he is negotiating with two car manufacturers to be the voice of their in-car navigation systems. Insert your own Dylan-lyric pun here about “no direction home” or “there must be some way out of here” or “how many roads . . . .”

The wonder of this might not be that Dylan is selling out—he has already done that by appearing in ads for Victoria’s Secret, Pepsi, Cadillac and others, and he’ll be singing “Here Comes Santa Claus” on a forthcoming Christmas album—but that his famously raspy and mumbly voice would be suited for directions-challenged drivers.

Bad Horse’s Filly linked to this earlier, but it deserves top-of-the-page status:

Boyfriend with Health Benefits

I see you checkin’ me
Out on the dance floor
I know you want me boy, but you got something I want more
See, these are troubled times
A bad economy
I got some health issues, and medicine, well it ain’t free

Aaa-oooh! How much is your deductible / How much is your deductible / How much…
Want some acupuncture baby? How ‘bout podiatry? I’ll get you braces, girl…

Thanks, BHF —the Spousal Unit and I both laughed so hard we almost injured ourselves!

Speaking of NPR, I heard a big band tune, a very famous one, at 4pm, and I have no clue what it is called and it is driving me insane. I’ve looked everywhere to find it on the NPR site, but it is not one of the songs listed in today’s All Things Considered. It was just a liner track they played while going into the 4 o’clock headlines, and it is killing me.

This is one of those super-known big band tunes- any ideas what it might be? Or did any of you hear it?

It isn’t string of pearls or moonglow or anything like that, but I know every one of you has heard it. Very brassy.

*** Update ***

Apparently all I need to do was say in the comments that it went “Bah, bah bap ba bada,” and then several of you knew exactly what it was- Duke Ellington:

Thanks, by the way. That was driving me mad.

I’m still awake, and I’ve cycled through through a lot of music, listening to Little Feat (there is nothing better, ever), Smashing Pumpkins-Siamese Dreams, a little bit of Allman Brothers, a lot of Dire Straits, some James Brown, a touch of Alice in Chains, and who knows what else, but then I found this:

I actually own this on dvd, and was surprised to see it skipped the copyright laws and made it on youtube. The copy here sucks, but this is actually one of my favorite DVD’s- I love the lighting and sound. Also, BACKUP SINGERS (I wonder wonder wonder- I would love it if everything I said that was profound was reiterated by backup singers)!

I’ve really just had a great day. Spent some good time with my brother, who is really one of the coolest and smartest people I know, then the day with my parents, then the Capitol Fourth and then the Boston Pops, and I realize just how good it all really is.

Why does it have to be so short?

When I was 14, my aunt gave me a tape of “Thriller” for my confirmation. I know every song on the record and still think that “Billie Jean” may be the best pop R&B song ever, a perfect mix of bravado, anxiety, and danceability. Ta-Nehisi Coates had a great post about Michael Jackson last week with some great video.

When you listen to innocence of the early Jackson 5 stuff and think of how oddly his life ended up, it’s pretty sad.

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