Arlo Guthrie, Unexpected Republican
Deborah Solomon had this interesting exchange with folksinger Arlo Guthrie in this weekend’s New York Times Magazine: Where are you politically these days? I became a registered Republican about five or six years ago because to have a successful democracy you have to have at least two parties, and one of them was failing miserably….
What’s New With Auto-Tune The News?
Mother Jones has an enlightening interview with Michael and Evan Gregory of Auto-Tune the News. Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) is only the second-best auto-tuned vocalist in the sixth and most recent edition (below), which runs Congressional and TV-news debates on climate change, Sarah Palin’s gubernatorial resignation, Michael Jackson’s pill problem, and more through the Auto-Tuners’…
Timberlake Opens Eco-Friendly Golf Course
The nation’s first golf course to be certified by the Audobon Classic Sanctuary Program opened July 25 in Millington, TN, just north of Memphis. The course, called Mirimichi, is owned by singer-dancer-actor-golfer-lover Justin “Cry Me a Water Hazard” Timberlake, a Tennessee native. He purchased the property in 2007 to prevent commercial development and invested about…
‘Death & Taxes’: Where Does The Money Go?
President Obama has requested $1.421 trillion in discretionary spending in his proposed 2010 budget (13% more than 2009’s). Where’s all your money going? WallStats breaks it down in a handy 24″ x 36″ poster form representing more than 500 programs and departments receiving more than $200 million apiece next year. “Death & Taxes” includes upward…
UNODC Issues Annual ‘World Drug Report’
It’s that special time of year again, when the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime issues its World Drug Report, a roundup of drug seizures, prices, consumption, crime, and legal status around the world. It’s a remarkable document, and the BBC has an executive summary in chart form here. The report begins, predictably or…
Interview: Assembly of Dust’s Reid Genauer
As Assembly of Dust founder-songwriter-frontperson Reid Genauer points out in our email exchange below, the band’s new album, Some Assembly Required, is a collection of collaborations that sounds remarkably unforced. Neoclassic rock at its finest, Some Assembly Required finds guest such as Richie Havens, Mike Gordon, Keller Williams, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, etc., etc., adding…
Jackson Browne Schools John McCain, GOP
What is it with Republican candidates and Democrat musicians? Ever since Ronald Reagan tried to co-opt Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” for his 1984 election, GOP candidates have been repeatedly bitten for using songs against the wishes of their composers. Yesterday, according to The Associated Press, Jackson Browne settled a lawsuit with the Republican…
Tiny Tim’s Ode To Climate Change
The inimitable Tiny Tim sings “The Other Side” to an audience of little kids in this mildly disturbing clip from a late-sixties Austalian TV special. “The ice caps are melting, the tide is rushing in,” he sings. “All the world is drowning, to wash away the sin.” The tune, prescient for its time, is from…
John ‘Marmaduke’ Dawson 1945-2009
The New Riders of the Purple Sage co-founder died in Mexico, where he’d been living for several years. Dawson wrote “I Don’t Know You,” “Portland Woman,” “Glendale Train,” and everything else on the group’s eponymous 1971 debut album, a dusty gem of post-Summer of Love country-rock with a Bakersfield bent. He also co-wrote “Friend of…
Pink Floyd Flies You To The Moon
On July 20, 1969, Pink Floyd jammed out am atmospheric psychedelic blues as live soundtrack to the first lunar landing. The music was for an episode of the Beeb’s “Omnibus” series titled “But What If It’s Made of Green Cheese?” The program aired before, during, and after coverage of the moon landing itself, and it…