Optional soundtrack for the post: Big storm coming in off the Gulf of Mexico today. It has tropical components, so I’m having a bad hair day but my orchid (the sole bit of flora I am responsible for on the property) is loving it. *** I finally got a chance to read the much-discussed NYT …
Music
Late Night Respite Open Thread: Dolly Parton, Rock Star
This post is in: Excellent Links, Music, Something Good Open Thread
Dolly Parton on the Most Prolific and Invigorating Music of Her Career “My songs are like my kids and I expect them to support me when I’m old.” #DollyParton https://t.co/HVHvjd5WmJ — Lindsay Kusiak (@lindsay_kusiak) November 27, 2023 It’s hard to choose extracts, cuz this whole interview is so good! From NYMag, “Dolly Parton on the …
Late Night Respite Open Thread: Dolly Parton, Rock StarPost + Comments (48)
I realized in my teenage years how seriously I was taking myself as a songwriter. “My Tennessee Mountain Home” was one of my first big songs early on in my country-music career. But, I mean, they’re all important to me. My songs are like my kids, and I expect them to support me when I’m old — and some of them are. I feel that way about it because when I write a song, I’ve left something in the world today that wasn’t there yesterday. It’s something that will live on…
Album you sacrificed the most to make
That would have to be New Harvest … First Gathering. It was the first album I did after I left The Porter Wagoner Show, and I had such a struggle trying to get to a place where I was actually out on my own and doing my own thing. I wrote my song of deliverance the day I finally departed the show for good. When I left Porter’s office on my way back to my house, I started writing “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” in the car. It just meant a new day was coming, and the album was my first gathering of songs of my own. I thought New Harvest … First Gathering was a perfect title for that. I had been dying to get to work on my own albums, produce, and get involved in having the freedom to be on my own. It took longer because I savored every minute of it and I wanted it to be good. That’s my album of deliverance and sacrifice, and I’m very proud of it…Most ambitious thing you have left to do
I’m doing my life story as a musical on Broadway. I’ve written all the songs, and we have the script. We’re hoping to be on Broadway in 2025. That’s very ambitious because there’s about 30 or 40 pieces of music in it. I’ve been involved in writing the book as well as choosing all the songs. I’ve been working really hard on it — about ten years’ worth of work. I’ve really buckled down over the past two years, and we’ve got it pegged down. We’ve just been in the studio recording the music. Once we get it on its feet, we’ll have to cut and change some things and whatnot. I’m so ready for it.
In a new interview, Dolly Parton discusses collaborating with the “great girl rock and rollers,” writing her latest album, and finding light in collective love. https://t.co/xlBT01tWOs pic.twitter.com/m9TuT7lBsg
— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) December 3, 2023
From the New Yorker, “Dolly Parton Salutes Rock and Roll”:
… When we spoke last month, Parton—done up in nylon and lace, and seated before a glittery silver star—discussed gender and tradition, and characteristically sidestepped politics. She explained how “Rockstar,” which comprises nine original compositions and twenty-one high-voltage covers, pushed her to grow as a writer and a vocalist. It was clear that she also approached the rock genre as a fan. She collaborates with several male artists, including Elton John and Paul McCartney, and just as many women. Brandi Carlile and Pink (not Mick Jagger) join her on the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”; she sings “What’s Up?” with Linda Perry, of 4 Non Blondes, and “Magic Man” with Heart’s Ann Wilson. The album, in this way, dovetails with recent feminist historiographies of popular music, such as the NPR series “Turning the Tables” (less so with efforts to recover the role of Black women in music, although Parton had hoped to team up with Tina Turner prior to the singer’s passing, and Lizzo plays flute on Parton’s cover of “Stairway to Heaven”). Yes, Parton is a singular icon. But our conversation, which has been edited and condensed for clarity, reveals that she also sees herself as part of a collective: a foremother of, and a sister to, other ostentatiously ambitious and experimental women in music.
During our first conversation, in 2020, you said something that has stayed with me: that it’s not true that you’ve never been afraid, that you do experience fear, but your desire to do something has always been greater than your fear. What, if anything, scared you about this project?
Well, if you’re gonna take on a thing like this, you gotta make sure that you’re gonna do it good. Just making the decision to do a rock album was made easier when they decided to go ahead and put me in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I didn’t feel like I had earned it, but they told me that I had. That’s when I thought, Well, I’m going to have to at least have something to say now that I’m in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I had thought years ago that I might one day do a rock album, and it’d be more like a Linda Ronstadt-type album, with some girls singing great rock songs. But this [project] just opened up every window and every door in the world for me to call on some of these great artists who are in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I wanted the rock people to be proud of me. I don’t want them to say, “Did you hear Dolly’s rock album? It’s O.K. She did O.K.” I wanted them to say, “Did you hear Dolly’s rock album? Man, she killed it.” So I went through those kind of emotions more than a deep fear. I was determined I was going to do it. And I thought, I’ll cover up any fear I might have by bringing on some of these great people who I know will make it great…Do you feel like you can be a little freer to take those risks now, at this stage in your career? Like, you might not have gone for it in the studio however many years ago, but you’re willing to do it now?
Yeah, I think there’s a whole lot of freedom that comes with getting older. And, when you’ve done everything, you don’t have to answer to other people. It’s, like, why wouldn’t I be allowed to do this? You know, at my age—I’m seventy-seven years old, and I’m a rock star. I get a kick out of it. The title of the album—it was a little tongue-in-cheek. I thought, What am I going to call this album? Well, I’m going to call it “Rockstar,” duh. Anyway, the whole thing was just kind of fun for me. I took the music serious. I take my work serious, but at the same time I enjoy it.Remember when I said earlier that I had often thought of doing a rock album? But, as the years went by, I thought, Nobody’s going to take me serious now, you know, getting older. But then it was just laid right in my hands when they put me in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. And I am not one to miss timing. Timing means everything. And I always think [with] these things that a higher wisdom is speaking to me, saying, “Just do it. You got your chance. If you ever had a thought about doing it, do it now.”…
Saturday Evening Open Thread: Time‘s Person of the Year Has All the Right Enemies
This post is in: Music, Open Threads, Popular Culture, Proud To Be A Democrat!, Republican Stupidity
When you lost the culture war so hard that you cannot comprehend mainstream culture without resorting to conspiracy theories pic.twitter.com/1IaChFMVLl — vocational politics appreciation account (@Convolutedname) December 7, 2023 Taylor Swift, proud Democrat! She had a tour so large it was cited by the chairman of the Federal Reserve as meaningfully impacting GDP. Of the …
Of course, no way the other leg of the horseshoe is letting the right wing out-crazy them…
We've gone from "Joe Biden could force a ceasefire with the stroke of a pen" to "Taylor Swift could force a ceasefire with the stroke of an Instagram post". https://t.co/smBtNpb3tC
— That Unhinged Biden Guy (@What46HasDone) December 6, 2023
these people have no principles only enemies
— Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li (@perdricof) December 7, 2023
I was totally buying into Stephen Miller’s Taylor Swift conspiracy. Now I’m getting confronted with the fact that it could be an even more complex psyop to dupe people like Miller to produce the desired reaction to trigger the Swifties. Either one works for me really. pic.twitter.com/UUIcj7eyoH
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 7, 2023
If the rights to Taylor's old music was owned by Sorrrossssss, shouldn't she be a Republican hero for rerecording all her old music to screw the owners of her masters out of royalty money? https://t.co/rSM33zjN32
— That Unhinged Biden Guy (@What46HasDone) December 6, 2023
The funny part about their paranoia is that they are in part correct that Taylor Swift will go all out for Biden because she is a Democrat who has been publicly supporting Democrats for years. Not sure how this is an "Op" in the world of Jack Probosiec and Charlie Kirk https://t.co/EvGkFqW19t
— Patrick (@QuadCityPat) December 9, 2023
#TBT Time Person of the Year has always been our ally, no matter if you like her music or her as an artist or not. pic.twitter.com/e3UpQkIvMq
— KAMALA NATION (@KamalaNation) December 7, 2023
Sunday Morning Open Thread: Everybody Gird Their Loins
This post is in: Biden Administration in Action, Foreign Affairs, GOP Death Cult, Music, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat
Watch the "@AmericanaFest 22nd Annual Honors" on @acltv! You can stream the "Americana 22nd Annual Honors" online at https://t.co/c4c8BwCK8z beginning Sunday, November 26 at 9am CT. pic.twitter.com/NcamrQzq5U — Bonnie Raitt (@TheBonnieRaitt) November 25, 2023 Here’s a pleasant hour’s listening, from Austin City Limits — Ms. Raitt was given a Lifetime Achievement Award. (When I clicked …
Sunday Morning Open Thread: Everybody Gird Their LoinsPost + Comments (215)
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has said the “best way” to ensure GOP support for Ukraine is for Biden and Democrats to accept border policy changes that would limit the flow of migrants across the border with Mexico.
“It’s connected,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press.
To that end, a core group of senators, Republicans and Democrats, have been meeting privately to come up with a border policy solution that both parties could support, unlocking GOP votes for the Ukraine aid.
On the table are asylum law changes pushed by the Republicans that would make it more difficult for migrants to enter the United States, even if they claim they are in danger, and reduce their release on parole while awaiting judicial proceedings. Republicans also want to resume construction of the border wall.
Democrats call these essentially nonstarters, and the border security talks are going slowly. Those who have worked on immigration-related issues for years see a political disaster in the making for all sides — Ukraine included…
Overall, half the $113 billion Congress has approved for Ukraine since the war began in February 2022 has gone to the Defense Department, according to the Congressional Research Service. The dollars are being spent to build Ukraine’s armed forces, largely by providing U.S. military weapons and equipment, and replenish U.S. stockpiles.
Much of the rest goes to emergency and humanitarian aid and to support the government of Ukraine through the World Bank.
National security experts have watched the Ukrainian forces repurpose outdated American equipment that was headed for decommissioning and use it to obliterate aspects of the Russian armed forces. McConnell has noted that much of the spending stays in the U.S., flowing to defense production in states across the nation…
At least the AP (mostly) acknowledges where the problem is — with the GOP Death Cultists, not ‘Congress’ or ‘legislators’!
I personally agree with the following message:
immigrants make america great you bitch ass fuckhead go move to Europe if you want homogeneity. you're following the wrong civic religion for America
— knife-wielding hemophiliac (@NickTagliaferro) November 25, 2023
Medium Cool – Song Lyrics!
This post is in: Medium Cool, Music, Open Threads, Popular Culture, Culture as a Hedge Against This Soul-Sucking Political Miasma We're Living In
Medium Cool is a weekly series related to popular culture, mostly film, TV, and books, with some music and games thrown in. We hope it’s a welcome break from the anger, hate, and idiocy we see almost daily from the other side in the political sphere. Arguments welcomed, opinions respected, fools un-suffered. We’re here every Sunday …
How About a Friday Night Music Thread?
This post is in: Music, Open Threads
How about a Friday night music thread? brendancalling made us a Metal playlist to start us off! It’s the long-promised, long-awaited, perhaps long-dreaded metal playlist! I’ve been a metal fan pretty much all my life, beginning with when I learned about AC/DC (more hard rock than metal, and not included in this playlist) and, soon …
How About a Friday Night Music Thread?Post + Comments (118)
And, with that thought in mind, I started this playlist off with some songs by the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix that you could call “pre-metal” or “metal adjacent.” If you’re hesitant to call a “Helter Skelter” metal, well—1980s hair-metal band Motley Crüe had a huge hit with their rendition, spending 4 weeks in the top 40 after its release.
Black Sabbath. Their first four albums were majestic—one thing to listen for is drummer Bill Ward, who brings his jazz sensibility to the endeavor. Also, guitarist Tony Iommi has rubber fingers on his fretting hand, after losing two of ‘em in a factory accident and being told he’d never play again. These guys grew up in England in the aftermath of WW2, which is probably behind one of my favorite descriptions of the band, by their singer Ozzy (paraphrased because I can’t find the exact quote): “Everyone around us was all peace and love, and we just wanted to be scary.” And Black Sabbath brought it—although the critical reader will find their themes are often very Christian and against evil.
Ozzy got kicked out of Sabbath in the 1980s, and went on to forge a hugely successful career as anyone who’s watched reality TV can attest. But before my one Ozzy track, I dropped in some Van Halen, which is not entirely a metal band but is certainly metal adjacent. Their guitar player, Eddie Van Halen was in his heyday then—the man revolutionized rock guitar in so many ways, and everyone was aping his schtick and production. Ozzy’s first guitar player, Randy Rhoades, died in a tragic accident, but when you listen to the cut, do note the similarity in production between good-time party boys Van Halen and scary Ozzy. That slickl production, helped the genre first cross over into pop. Sure, your mom and dad freaked out about his album covers, but he was making the sounds the big rock stations liked—so there he was, in regular rotation. Even after he ate the bat!
Next up, the legend Ronnie James Dio, who got his start in the 1950s as a doo wop singer in the Ronnie and the Red Caps. Dio, in particular, had a real obsession with occult themes—they show up constantly in his lyrics. At least I think so—you see, while nothing at all personally like the Idiot from Alaska, Dio’s lyrics can only be described as “Palinesque word-salads.” I rarely have any idea what he’s talking about. Regardless, “Last in Line” and “Stand Up and Shout” are rockers, with powerful themes of self-identity and self-empowerment. “You’ve got desire/so let it out/you’ve got the power/stand up and shout.” The backbeat in both songs is relentless.
I included two early cuts by one of my favorite bands, Judas Priest. One of them is a Joan Baez cover. The other is their classic, “Breaking the Law.” Judas Priest is a fascinating band. On their earliest albums, the Queen/Freddie Mercury influence is extremely strong, before they adopted the black leather and metal studs that came to define the band’s look. So maybe it’s not all that surprising that their singer, Rob Halford, came out as gay in the early 1990s. [A funny aside is that the story prompted gasps from the media and worry that the fans wouldn’t accept him, and the fans responded “yeah, we kinda figured this out years ago.” Metalheads can be very accepting.] Halford has an exceptional vocal range: check out the falsetto in “The Ripper.”
Today, Rob Halford isn’t just the “Metal God” as he’s been called (more like metal grandpa with the Santa beard he sports these days). He’s also a queer icon and a role model for weirdo kids everywhere. He’s released two metal Christmas albums, and just this year put out a single with Dolly Parton. Also—Judas Priest is DEFINITELY one of the models for Spinal Tap, and if you haven’t seen that movie, you should.
Speaking of vocal range, as well as sheer instrumental virtuosity, Iron Maiden’s singer Bruce Dickinson may be THE sound of 1980s metal, backed by the twin guitars of Dave Murray and Adrian Smith. Their bass player, Steve Harris, is a legend—he’s not playing with a pick. That’s all fingers. Maiden usually pursued historical and literary themes—I didn’t include it, but their 13:38 minute epic version of Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” really needs to be heard, because it’s fucking amazing. And check out the intro to “Alexander the Great,” nearly two minutes of steadily building harmonized guitars before the singing even begins. Same with “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner,” based on the novel of the same title. As a runner, this is one of my favorites. I mean, those lyrics: “I’ve got to keep running the course/I’ve got to keep running and win at all costs/I’ve got to keep going, be strong/Must be so determined and push myself on…”
And now we get to the heavier stuff. I’m gonna start y’all off with Motörhead, whose singer Lemmy Kilmister (Praise upon his name) always described the band as rock-n-roll. Which… yeah, but they were always metal as hell. First of all, you need to know Lemmy supposedly saw the Beatles. He was a roadie for Hendrix. He played bass for Hawkwind, a lesser known but hugely influential space-rock/psychedelic band. After getting kicked out—Hawkwind was all about the acid, while Lemmy was a speedfreak—he started Motörhead, a band of which he told the media ““If Motörhead moved in next door to you, your lawn would die.”
I never saw Motörhead, and it’s one of my biggest regrets because I love everything about the band. I love how ugly they are, I love how there’s not a drop of glamor about the band, and the lyrical content is great. I’ve included three songs here: “Ace of Spades,” their only real “hit”; “Orgasmatron,” an indictment of the world; and “1916,” which is not at all what you’d expect—a truly heartbreaking song about the child soldiers of WW2. Honestly, I could write about Lemmy and Motörhead all day. There’s a lot to say. In many ways, Lemmy is a hero to all of us metalheads: “Born to lose, live to win.”
A lot of you have probably heard (or heard of) Metallica. They had a big hit in the early 1990s with “Enter Sandman,” which personally I think is crap. Their heyday was their first three albums, when Cliff Burton played bass and kept them from getting cheesy. So I included “Disposable Heroes” (an anti-war song) and “Fade to Black,” about suicide. Heavy stuff—like I said, when punk and metal fused together, things got interesting.
Metallica really changed everything when those second two albums—”Ride the Lightning” and “Master of Puppets”—came out. Metal wasn’t stupid anymore. The lyrics were relevant. But also the intensity was ratcheted up exponentially, and the talent was undeniable. You’ll notice there’s an emphasis on rhythm and odd time signatures—it’s really tight, precise music. I think my favorite example is Testament, and of course, Anthrax, who teamed up with politically conscious hip-hop heroes Public Enemy to do a crossover version of that band’s underground hit, “Bring the Noise.”
And finally, a lot of these bands are made up of white guys (although there are a lot of Latinos playing metal as well). And it’s true—there aren’t tons of black people forming metal bands, which is why I’m always psyched to showcase Ice T, who many of you may know from TV’s “Law and Order: SVU.” Ice T made his career in hip-hop—some of you may remember the hysteria over “Cop Killer”—and has never been shy about sharing his political opinions. A lot of folks don’t know he’s also a freak about metal. His band Body Count released “No Lives Matter” in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests, and it is so angry and so honest it hurts. That whole album is a banger. “Black Hoodie” will break your heart: “All these people out here tripping off police brutality/Like this shit is something new/Give me a fucking break/I’ve been talking about this shit for over 20 years/And now you can kill a motherfucker just because of how he’s dressed/Are you fucking serious?”
That’s probably enough for now. But I wanted to end with one extreme bands, even though I promised not to: Vektor, who Wikipedia describes as “heavily themed around scientific, philosophical, futuristic and astronomical topics.” “Tetrastructural Minds” is the perfect example of the band’s ferocious technical expertise. Yeah, it’s an acquired taste (as I warned), but I don’t think there’s one standard time signature in the whole danged song. Worth a listen even if it’s not your taste—and yes, they pull it off live. They used to live in Philly (not sure if they still do) and I’d sometimes hear them practicing from outside the house where they presumably lived.
Boy, this has been a long blurb. I feel like Leonard Bernstein on his old TV show explaining classical music. So with that… let’s go!
Postcards & Music Thread
by WaterGirl| 50 Comments
This post is in: Music, Open Threads, Political Action
It’s postcards and music time! If you’re writing postcards for Virginia or for Issue 1 in Ohio, please mail them by Tuesday, October 31. (or sooner) If you want to write for Ohio Issue 1, I have addresses from the Ohio peeps who wrote for us with Voces addresses for the Wisconsin Spring Election! Time to …
- « Go to Previous Page
- Go to page 1
- Go to page 2
- Go to page 3
- Go to page 4
- Go to page 5
- Interim pages omitted …
- Go to page 169
- Go to Next Page »