"Deportees (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos)" by Pete Seeger Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. A song that you like in multiple versions Deportees (Plane Wreck At Los Gatos) was one of the last songs Woody Guthrie ever recorded before he entered the hospital for his long and slow decline from Huntington's disease. It's the story that stresses the dehumanization of immigrant workers. Woody was pretty damn prescient. The song is about current events just as much as...

Regular listeners to Trackside may recognize the title as being a variation of what Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee have been saying about available seats for the Indianapolis 500. For the last couple of years, seats have been filling up by late February or early March. When that has happened, the co-hosts on Trackside frequently […]

On Colada Talk, Crespi Drum Syndicate, the Miami-based duo of Jonathan Trujillo and Pablo Arrangoiz, invite us into a 10 track ceremony. A percussion-driven ritual that begins with Tropichomp borrowing from Rastafarian Nyabinghi, and mixing grounation with Buchla growls and buzzing circuitry. Machines kicking in synergy with circling hand drums. Synths singing like ancient reeds. […]

On reflection… Quote of the Day ”Courage is a banal consequence of a lack of imagination”. André Malraux Vintage example of French cynicism. Musical alternative to the morning’s radio news Paul Desmond and the Dave Brubeck Quartet | Take Five … Continue reading →

Two tunes to help appreciate the significance of a trip to the Moon

Cruel Force: HanedaOut 27th March on Shadow Kingdom Sits at the playful end of German thrash, emphasising the melodic elements of Destruction circa ‘Mad Butcher’. On the basis of this material there is a clear effort to align with the rough and tumble of 80s thrash via the period correct mix and throaty vocals, but... Continue Reading →

"As a memoirist excavating my life, I needed a solid pier to anchor the boat. To write incisively about events that happened forty to fifty years ago, finding music to evoke those times was key."

The finest early album of the down-homiest picker among modern jazz guitarists.   [row-start] [half] [/half] [half] Personnel Herb Ellis (guitar), Jimmy Giuffre (tenor saxophone, arranger), Richie Kamuca (tenor saxophone), Art Pepper, Bud Shank (alto saxophone), Jim Hall (rhythm guitar), Lou Levy (piano), Joe Mondragon (bass), Stan Levey (drums) Recorded on March 26, 1959 atRead more

I had a musical Easter weekend. We watched Wayne’s World for pizza night on Friday, my band practiced for 4 hours on Saturday, and I spent most of Sunday afternoon making a new mixtape: April is often a melancholy month for me. Last April I made an “April Showers” mix that I described as a […]

As part of their 50th anniversary celebrations the record label Rough Trade are reissuing 50 curated albums taken from every year of their existence. The record chosen for 1992 is a reissue of Aphex Twin’s classic album Selected Ambient Works 85-92. The reissue comes in a picture disc format spread across two LPs ,with newContinue reading "Selected Ambient Works 85-92 reissue"

Cosmic Music: The Life, Art and Transcendence of Alice Coltrane | In Conversation with Andy BetaOver on Aquarium Drunkard today, you can read my chat with the great author/critic Andy Beta about Cosmic Music, his new, highly recommended Alice Coltrane biography. Andy’s book is fascinating from start to finish, going deep into the journey that this awe-inspiring woman went on, from Detroit to NYC to India to LA … and into far less terrestrial territory, of course. As I told Andy, on pretty muc...

In the last year or so I've read about many people moving from streaming services, like Apple Music and Spotify, to their own music library. To support these local libraries, many seem to be getting themselves a music player, such as the Fiio Echo Mini. While moving to a local library is something that I've thought about many times1, I don't understand why people are buying these little music players. The big selling points generally seem to be: Bluetooth connectivity so...

About ten years ago I sat down in front of a camera and recorded eleven videos showing how I play mandolin for contra dances. I've now done something similar with piano, this time with thirteen videos. This is not a high quality effort: I didn't write any scripts or even plan what I was going to say. Think of it as if we spent half an hour together, with me showing you how I play. Also keep in mind that I'm self taught, and my particular style that isn't for everyone. And my keybo...

less on social media, more in places I control

As a fan of the Pets since watching them play West End Girls on Top of the Pops, then getting Please on vinyl in 1986, having the chance to see them play an intimate show at the Electric Ballroom in Camden was a #lifegoals moment last night.For these five Obscure shows, they’re only playing B-sides and album tracks. I’m more of an old school 1980s PSB fan, so it was a total delight to hear three tracks from Please, a couple from Actually as well as Introspective and Behaviour.They’ve...

"Battle Hymn of the Republic" by US Army Band and Chorus Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. Which lyric always gives you goosebumps Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; / He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; / He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword: / His truth is marching on. - This has actually been a top 40 hit twice in its history, for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Andy Wil...

These days, music I'm not familiar with rarely hits me like a ton of bricks. Rarely, but not never.

Best Record of 2001: Day 12 Daft Punk- Discovery (Note: this first appeared here as part of out Top 100 records series) The origin story of Daft Punk is now firmly cemented in pop music lore. Three guys, Thomas Bangalter, Guy-Manuel de Homen-Christo, and Laurent Brancowitz, get together to make some records under the name […]

I’m struggling with how much a really like AI-generated music. A lot of time, I just have music on in the background while I work., Instrumentals are great for this. Lately, I’ve been listening to “Spy Jazz” which is some moody stuff that sounds like it’s from the 60s. It’s… mindless. It just plays in the background, like the soundtrack to “Oceans 12,” and I don’t think about it much. But then I found Eddie Dalton. And this has me a little worried. Eddie doesn’t exist, clearly. You can tel...

It’s sort of amazing to think that Bill Frisell, despite being as prolific as he is, also has so much unrecorded music sitting around that he can hand enough to constitute a concert-length program to another ensemble, here the Westerlies, and on top of it, that program introduces a new album that is apparently, per […]

I finally gave in to those "free CD" Instagram Reels and it might be the most analogue music discovery I've made in years.

Taroug -“Cicada” James Holden – “Common Land” Rare DM – “Compliment” The post Visual Velcro 49 first appeared on Palms Out Sounds.