From the category archives:

Vocal

Love Hangover:
April Smith & The Great Picture Show / Fanfarlo
Great American Music Hall, 2/22/10

February 23, 2010

I love to see a new act come into town and make new friends. April Smith & The Great Picture Show opened up for Fanfarlo last night, and by the end of the set had the crowd won over and clapping along (for more than a few seconds, which is some kind of San Francisco [...]

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Today’s Vegetable:
The One Who Adores You, Whose Heart Is Beating For You

February 19, 2010

There’s been a lot of cool new music this year, but you know what? New and cool only get you so far, Sally. What we really need right now is:

respect for the past
some frickin pizazz

Fortunately, there’s April Smith & The Great Picture Show.
“Stop Wondering”

If you want in on this good-time cabaret action too, you can [...]

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Friday Flashback:
If You Listen You Will Hear…

December 4, 2009

Scrappy Chillingworth – Shells from The Don Ho Show
first posted August 6, 2007
[pic from Scrappyland]

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Today’s Vegetable:
It’s Gonna Get Easier

November 24, 2009

I have to get to a lot of shows wicked early to get a spot to sit, so I get to see about a million opening bands. I enjoy opening bands, even the just-OK kind, but sometimes you go through a rough patch of way-sub-OK, as I did these last couple of months.
But without fail, [...]

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Wish You’da Known Her, We Were Quite A Pair [video]

November 11, 2009

I’ve got a bad back and broken feet, but it could be worse.
Tom Waits: Bad Liver and a Broken Heart (West Germany, 1977)

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Today’s Vegetable:
One Is My Treasure, And One Is My Treat

August 26, 2009

Every time I hear the honeyed tones of Lou Rawls I wonder why he didn’t get even more famous than he did. Who sounds like that? Seriously–that dude was in the sweet spot.
And he could sing anything. I’m about to take a dive into his jazz and gospel recordings  — but while I’m in the [...]

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Got To Go, And I Know You’ll Understand [video]

August 9, 2009

As long as we’re discussing diamonds, here’s a sweet treat Ren Dizzle sent all the way from the desert.
Neil Diamond: “Shilo”

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Alors Je T’ai Accompagnée, On a Chanté, On a Dansé

July 27, 2009

Big shoutout to Alberto Contador for being superhuman.
I’d also like to note how righteous and civilized it is when racers spend the final day of a three-week bicycle race riding slowly along, smiling, chatting, and sipping Champagne with their rivals.
Watching the final stage of the Tour de France yesterday, I could not get this song [...]

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Singing Lullabies To All The Saints And All We’ve Lost

July 21, 2009

What do you think’s going on in New York? It’s almost as if there’s some secret colony built around a magic pool of musical prodigies, occasionally releasing one into the pop universe.
Oh, there is one? It’s called Juilliard?
Anyways, I’m always down to hear a pop record from someone with serious musical training. At the very [...]

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We’re History Baby — Read It In A Book

June 8, 2009

Blues rarely came in the Chicago style during my childhood, so my first exposure to Koko Taylor was in Wild At Heart, David Lynch’s film of what the inside of my head looked like when I was 20. Her scene and this song (written by Lynch with Angelo Badalamenti) were the first things I thought [...]

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