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K. Bourdaghs homepage
For the “What I’m Listening To”
log for 2004, click here.
For the “What I’m Listening To” log for 2005, click here.
Posted 12/29/03:
Hank Williams--I
just acquired a four-CD boxed set which has given me my first opportunity to
give his music a serious listen. Yeah, I know: Bourdaghs comes
charging forward boldly into the 1950s. What strikes me immediately is
the sense of humor in many of the songs. I am also trying to work my way
through the many CDs I was given for Christmas, including lots of punk and
grunge (R.E.M., Replacements, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Weezer). I'm not in
much of a hard rock frame of mind these days, so it's slow going. I kind
of missed the whole Seattle thing back in the 1990s, when I was in grad school
and too busy to keep up with music. So now I retroactively try to figure
it out. I'll always remember, though, the way Time magazine
described the death of Kurt Cobain back then: they wrote that he was
"the John Lennon of his generation," a statement that told one a
great deal about Time magazine and its readership, and very little about
Cobain.
Posted 12/6/03:
Sister Rosetta
Tharpe, the great gospel/blues singer-guitarist. I saw a brief snippet of
her in performance on the recent PBS "Blues" series and was blown
away: a black-and-white television appearance from the late 1950s or
early 1960s, she was standing up there testifying in her church robes, in front
of a full choir, with her electric guitar strapped on--and then she cuts loose
with a solo that's somewhere in between Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix.
Holy moley, Batman! So, I order the four CD set, The Original Soul
Sister, covering her recordings from the late 1930s through the late 1940s,
back when she was appearing at the Cotton Club and on the "Spirituals to
Swing" concerts, and it's just great. She's still playing mainly
acoustic guitar on these songs, but she's lightyears ahead of her time. I
find myself spontaneously bursting into her theme song, "This Train,"
when I'm walking down the street or sitting at my desk.
Posted 11/6/03:
Stew's
new CD, Something
Deeper Than These Changes. The lyrics, as always are clever and
attractive, and he has a wonderful voice. But musically, many of the
songs aren't up to his usual wonderful standard: they lack the breaks and
bridges, the layering of melodies and harmonies, that mark his best work,
either on his earlier solo CDs (The Naked Dutch Painter....and other songs
and Guest Host) or in his work with his band, The Negro Problem.
The production here sounds a little too plain, as if these were recorded and
released in a hurry--and the hidden song trick has pretty much worn out its
welcome. He's still just about my favorite contemporary
singer/songwriter, but this isn't his strongest work.
Posted 10/25/03:
Shiina Ringo's Karuki
Zamen Kurinohana (or, if you trust the romanized versions given on the CD
cover itself, Sheena Rinngo's Kalk Samen Kuri no Hana), a striking piece
of work. Bjork is the closest comparison I can think of, but Shiina (who
has just completed what was by all accounts an extraordinary series of concerts
at the Budokan in Tokyo) is much more commercial and pop-oriented than her
Icelandic counterpart. Solid J-POP songs given remarkable performances,
all over the map in terms of style.
Posted 10/8/03:
Lots of jazz, especially piano-based jazz. It's been quite
crazy around here since the academic year started, and jazz just seems to
soothe my jangled nerves these days. For the past week, I've had
Theolonius Monk's Alone in San Francisco in my portable CD player.
Posted 9/13/03:
Mostly Johnny Cash these days, not surprisingly--especially Live
at San Quenton Prison. It's such a shame he didn't win the MTV Video
of the Year Award, but he still went out in great style. At any rate,
what a week! We lose both Johnny Cash and Warren Zevon. I hope that
all the living other musical legends out there are taking extra special care of
themselves, because we sure don't need to lose anymore voices for a good long
while....
Posted 8/28/03:
Although I don't own any of their CDs yet, I've been falling in
love with the LA-based hiphop group, Black Eyed Peas lately. Mainly, I've
been playing the videos available on their website -- especially
"Where is the Love?" from their latest CD and "Joints &
Jams," an older song of theirs. Kinda what Marvin Gaye would sound
like if he were around today, I think. The reviewer of the new CD, Elephunk,
for Rolling Stone didn't like it much because it is too cross-over, but
that's the trouble with purists....
Posted 8/19/03:
Through no choice of my own (part of the price of fatherhood), I
have been listening a great deal lately to Weird Al Yankovich's new CD, Poodle
Hat. The last song on it, "Genius in France," is in fact a
rather touching tribute to Frank Zappa--and, I learned upon reading the liner
notes, the opening guitar solo in it is played by Dweezil Zappa. And
Weird Al was quoted in a Philadelphia newspaper a few weeks ago as saying Ray
Davies was one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Hmmm....
Posted 7/26/03:
In a classical mood as of late: have been listening to
Pierre Boulez conduct Stravinsky's "Petrouchka" and "Le Sacre du
Printemps (Rites of Spring)" in a reissue of late 60s/early 70s recordings
with the New York Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra. I thought we
might go see "Petrouchka" performed last Thursday at the Hollywood
Bowl, but we didn't quite get there--and yet the music remains in the CD
player. Quite lovely and startling.
Posted 7/12/03:
Radiohead's Hail to the Thief. It's nice to hear a
complex, demanding piece of pop music, one that requires (and rewards) careful
listening. And some of it is just great. But I can't get over the
feeling that Radiohead's popularity is a sign of what's wrong with the younger
generation these days.... Passive victimhood as leit motif; Pink Floyd
for a new decade of dropouts. Blur's Thinktank is better, I think,
although less interesting--if that makes any sense.
Posted 7/5/03:
The Number Girls's Sappukei. A student introduced me
to this band, one of Japan's most popular alternative rock bands. It's
really starting to grow on me, the way the Clash's London Calling did
way back when (and it sounds a bit like the Clash in its use of dub). The
best drumming sound (both playing and recording technique) I've heard from a
Japanese band.
Posted 6/28/03:
Fountains of Wayne's new CD, Welcome Interstate Managers.
I don't think it's quite as good as Utopia Parkway, their last CD, but
with catchy pop-rock like this, you just have to wait and see how far the tunes
sink into your bones. Whatever the case, it's quite good.
For a list of all my recent CD acquisitions, see here.