I consider myself very lucky to have picked up a copy of Ghetto Dub for pennies back in the early 90s. At the time I was obsessively Hoover-ing up everything I could find that was On-U Sound related, from London stores such as Daddy Kool, Reckless, and The Vinyl & Tape Exchange. To be honest, […]

"Music, as a subject, occurs infrequently in my new novel, My Lover, the Rabbi, but the book’s method is musical:  questions of tone, rhythm, pitch, and volume drive the unnamed first-person narrator’s torrential, obsessive voice."

The New Pornographers “Votive” Back in 2007 it felt like a big swerve when The New Pornographers’ fourth album Challengers was about 55% ballads. Up to that point, the band specialized in up-tempo bops. I saw shows early in their career which ended with a third of the audience dancing on stage with them. Even […]

I really dug the math rock performance by French band duo Angine de Poitrine (Full Performance Live on KEXP on YouTube↗︎) – the (new to me) style of instrumental microtonal music here as played on a double neck guitar and bass instrument with bare feet switching pedals into a loop station and drums set in […]

A screen cap from the video of Thibaut Garcia & Antoine Morinière playing Bach together with tremendous groove. Brian “Ponch” Rivera writes a lot about the OODA loop, learned from his experience as a fighter pilot. His latest post dives into the OODA Loop basketball and Constraints Led Approaches to coaching in sport. I like most of what he writes about but one thing kind of sticks in my craw is his use of the word “harmony.” I’ll quote him here: Before we go anywhere, we need to kill a commo...

Alright, my brain is buzzing, and I should probably crank out this weekly Wednesday Boston-area shows post before my lunch break ends and I get distracted by something that I actually get paid for. So here it is… a run-down of local shows I’m hoping to check out (or that you might be into) in […]

*You’ll get over it, Sven

This week’s theme: Jazz vocals with verses included. Featured artists include: Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nancy Lamott, Anita O’Day, Chet Baker, Stacey Kent, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Rosemary Clooney, Karrin Alysson, Carmen McRae, Scott Hamilton, Clifford Brown, Paul Quinichette, Warren Vache, Ed Bickert, Roy Haynes, Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Quincy Jones, Russ Freeman, Mundell Lowe. The post Podcast: The Great American Versebook first appeared on jazzcollector.com.

Being one of the OG Japanese shoegaze bands AND hailing from Osaka, I was obviously keen to post some Honeydip but what do you know – I already shared their one and only video last year to celebrate their return to active duty and the remaster and reissue of their last two albums (although apparently […] The post Honeydip @ Koenji High, Tokyo – February 2025 appeared first on Space Echo.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rhein-Neckar-Halle, Eppelheim, West Germany, March 18, 1976Neil Young & Crazy Horse (barely) made it out of Japan in the spring of 1976. Soon, they were rampaging across Europe, getting even looser and hazier and louder than usual. Fifty years ago tonight saw the quartet in Eppelheim, West Germany — and thanks to a toasty AUD, we can listen in. The bier-fueled crowd (which might include a lot of American GIs) is rowdier than the Japanese audiences; the acoustic set ...

Music To Build Agents By I don't have this problem, because I don't use a mouse. Press play, then start reading: Want to learn how to think about agent policy? Start with Goethe’s Der Zauberlehrling. So come along, you old broomstick! Dress yourself in rotten rags! You’ve long been a servant; Obey my orders now! When I talk to customers and teams around me about agents and agent policy, and the work we’re doing on AgentCore Policy (now GA) and Strands Steering, I hear a lot of folk...

If I were one of those cool, smart types, I’d open a code editor or a prompt and build myself a plugin to publish a special post-type on my blogs to share the songs I’m listening to, love, find inspiring, or that are just sticking with me at any given moment. I’ve shared this kind […]

Sebastian Fluent Enchanted Enchanted is the la...

With all my complaining about no marching bands at Henderson’s St. Patrick’s Day parade last Saturday, David and I attended the Las Vegas Brass Band Concert on Sunday at the Clark County Library Theater, and we got our share of brass!

Marilyn CrispellAnders JorminMemento Marilyn Crispell pianoAnders Jormin double bassRecorded July 2025Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, LuganoEngineer: Stefano AmerioCover photo: Thomas WunschProduced by Manfred EicherRelease date: March 20, 2026 Memento arrives with quiet poetry, the kind that settles into the human heart of its own volition. In this first duo encounter between Marilyn Crispell and Anders Jormin, collaboration feels secondary […]

Around this time last year, Mysticisms released a dubplate of tracks cherry-picked and remixed from Dougie “Conscious Sounds” Waldrop and Chris “Love Grocer” Petter’s 90s Dub Specialists project. The imprint now have a follow-up containing 4, fresh reggae / house hybrids. Label co-founder Chuggy is back, editing Heavy Dub, which pits Ijahman Levi samples against […]

"OK, I can’t I say I recommend this as traditional playlist in the style of old mix tapes where you listen to ‘em all the way through— unless you’re down with some serious genre hopping!"

There is a wealth of information on the internet and is fun when people have their own websites. I have my own website and if you are reading this blog...

When I was learning guitar, I did a lot of studying and memorizing chord progressions. I did even more thinking about chords when I was learning to play jazz. When I shifted over to mainly producing electronic music, all my focus went to thinking about groove and timbre and I stopped thinking about chords completely. … Continue reading "A unified theory of rock harmony in one sentence"

Two instrumental tunes in honor of St Patrick's Day

The VitalsRelease date: 5 August 1966UK chart peak: #1Running time: 35:01Singles: Yellow Submarine/Eleanor Rigby (#1) Revolver also proved popular across the world, hitting the top spot in Australia, Finland, Germany, Sweden & the USA (Billboard 200), as well as reaching the top twenty in France (#5) & Norway (#14). Crooners & film soundtracks stood side-by-side […]

Alicia Hall Moran is one of the most uncompromising artists I know. Her albums may be few and far between, but they twist the very center of our emotional response into a flower of contrasting textures, wordplay, and urban hymnody. The world is a better place for her voice (on all levels thereof). Click on […]

The Soul Sisters were an American soul duet consisting of Thresia Cleveland-Fitch and Ann Gissendanner, who recorded for Sue Records. They first toured Britain in 1964 and then returned in 1965 followed by three tours between late 1966 and late 1967. Record Retailer and Music Industry News’ 3 September 1964 issue reports that Sue recording … Continue reading The Soul Sisters’ British tours in the 1960s →