Welcome me back to town

I hope to post a little recap of my East Coast visit soon, but in the meantime, you may find this interesting. "Any number of crops," huh?

Also, here's more about that catastrophic Sacramento Delta levee failure that "is likely in the next 50 to 100 years," possibly during a period "of heavy and extended rainfall -- such as now." I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a peripheral canal to be built. It's more than 16 years after the Bay Bridge fell down in an earthquake that was not the Big One, and we're still driving across the old one.


FMFM: George Benson's It's Uptown, which is very unlike his 70s work for CTI or his vocals-oriented pop hits (although he does sing three standards here). It's more like a Jimmy Smith album with even more fabulous guitar. (Produced by John Hammond, who may have something to do with the unlikely Dylan reference in the liner notes.)

We are reaching a new low

I always wonder about rock bands that are overly sensitive to their own (bad) press, but I did find the Capitol Years' response to criticism amusing. (It's not real press, anyway, and judging by the author's remarks on someone named Jessica Pressler, it's from a crude mind.)

The Minutemen used a letter from their downstairs neighbor for the lyrics to "Take 5, D." Who else used "found" items for lyrics?

[Separately: Ron Villone? Oops.]

Traveling tomorrow, most likely away from this space for more than a week. Happy holidays to all. (I think that might make me part of the War on Christmas, by the way.)


FMFM: Red Clay, which might be my favorite Freddie Hubbard album yet. Groovy electric tones and far-out blasts from the horns. Sometimes Hubbard's not really even playing notes at all.

Down from the mountain

I had originally used this space yesterday to pass along a Yahoo user review of Brokeback Mountain that was full of what I thought were hilarious typos, but the page has been deleted. Instead, I'll mention that I discovered, to my surprise, that the Proulx story has been sitting on my shelf for a couple of years. (Thought I'd made it to the end of that book. Guess not.) Anyway I read it yesterday and now I just might see the film after all.

I passed that review along mostly to make fun of the person's orthography, but a little perusal of the most negative user reviews on the Yahoo page really exposes some of the deeply backward ideas some Americans still have about gay people. Most unusual is the idea that there weren't, or aren't, any gay cowboys. I mean, really. That's a much deeper denial than anyone in the movie might've been in. (Speaking of which... paging Fred Phelps....)

I think we're roughly one generation away from a major change in gay acceptance in the U.S. Sure, it's starting to happen now, but reviews like these show there's still a long, long way to go. Still, people ten or fifteen years younger than me do seem to feel differently than people did when I was in high school. I rarely give MTV credit for much, but I have to say, they have it right in their dating shows -- the gay couples are right there with the straight ones. There sure wasn't anything like that on TV twenty years ago, and I'm happy to see it there.


FMFM (Wednesday): Charles Mingus' Tijuana Moods (haven't gotten to the New part yet). I like "Ysabel's Table Dance" best, with its marvelous clacking. The whole thing evokes a Touch of Evil-like border town scene. (Also, dig Mingus's great essay from 1971, which came with Let My Children Hear Music.)

FMFM (Thursday): Jobim's Tide. I'm not sure about the flute-driven arrangements, but his compositions are really intricate. Intuitive but complex chord progressions and sweet melodies. I think I prefer The Composer Of Desafinado Plays but Tide is very easy listening.

Last meal

This is a shame. I really enjoyed Big Night.

Seriously -- the more I study the death penalty, the more it seems wrong to me. I've never felt strongly enough against it to fight for its abolition, but it does seem to me that this case undermines the argument that the death penalty is for criminals who are beyond rehabilitation. Williams simply was more valuable to society alive in prison than dead.

I don't know if a clip is available online here or not, but I did enjoy watching former M*A*S*H star Mike Farrell spar with Fox News morning anchor Juliet Huddy yesterday on this topic. Round to Farrell.

[UPDATE: It is indeed online there, and it has been transcribed (albeit with somewhat annoying commentary) here.]


FMFM: More awesome Freddie Hubbard dates, from a Blue Note twofer compilation. What a dazzling talent. I understand he lost his chops in the 70s -- at least that's one reason why he might've made those (supposedly) terrible records. Whatever happened, he sure had plenty of muscle in the early 60s. Could go toe-to-toe with Miles Davis and win, even with all the same band members.

Wave of mutilation

That last paragraph seems so casual.


FMFM: Professor Longhair's marvelous "Tipitina". (Is he singing in English?) His story is an interesting one too. I also strongly recommend Crawfish Fiesta.

Will you go to lunch?

Put that coffee down, and please enjoy this. (Meant to pass that one along a couple of weeks ago.)

It loads automatically; speakers should be turned on. The audio isn't really safe for work, if your workplace cares about that sort of thing.


FMFM: McCoy Tyner's Supertrios, a pair of relatively hectic sessions with some very lively rhythm sections underlying Tyner's curtains of sound.

Falling into the gap

I know the feeling, Michelle. But that doesn't mean you don't have to live with your choices. Besides, hasn't the music business treated you better than most?


FMFM: The Rolling Stones Now! and December's Children (And Everybody's). Not always brilliant -- had they even rehearsed "Pain In My Heart"? -- but purely enthusiastic and totally rocking.

Big uneasy

Mike Tidwell makes a case for giving up on New Orleans, primarily based on environmental factors.

Meanwhile, Karen Karbo advocates the further sanitization of Goodnight Moon (sort of), while some people want to restrict entry to movies that feature smoking. And someone paid $609 for a Holy Funyun.


FMFM: Ready for Freddie, which includes the sublime "Crisis." At 24, Hubbard is full of creativity, and receives outstanding comping from his well-recorded rhythm section. The euphonium is an unexpected nice touch, too.

I also spun his Super Blue this week, from his much-maligned 70s Columbia period. It's not nearly as inspired as his earlier work -- not even close, not even to the CTI era -- but he benefits from an all-star band, and comes up with his share of moments. I'd be totally unsatisfied if I waited a year for it, but it's not entirely bereft of ideas. Not really recommended, in the end.

He calls that religion, #2

More Kansas matters.


FMFM: McCartney, a pleasant record with several great songs among the relatively thin but always enjoyable material. I've warmed to his early post-Beatle career quite a bit lately, with Ram emerging as the true masterstroke, really as good as his contributions to the White Album. How many people did homemade records on which they played all the instruments in 1970? You could make a case that these records are direct ancestors of the lo-fi sound and style that was so popular (in certain circles, anyway) around 1995.

Additionally, the AMG writer nails it in his review of Red Rose Speedway, whose "intoxicating" flourishes include some of the strangest moments in pop music history. (Last ten seconds of "Big Barn Bed," anyone?) And don't even get me started on the audible haze lingering above the couch as Paul sings "Let 'Em In" (from Wings At The Speed of Sound, the first record I ever owned), a bizarre, lightweight masterpiece if there ever was one. "Hey, could you get the door? I'm really comfortable here right now. Besides, it could be the Everly Brothers."

Grease is the word

In Chinatown, several store basements were flooded. At the New Shanghai Enterprises gift store on Grant Avenue and Washington Street, 6-inch-deep water ruined thousands of dollars worth of suits, clothes and other merchandise, according to proprietor Linda Low.

The Chinatown flooding was caused by a "huge grease ball" from neighborhood restaurants, according to Public Utilities Commission spokesman Tony Winnicker.