Freddy Cannon, best known for such songs as "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans," "Palisades Park," and "Action," died on July 17, 2026, at the age of 89. He also appeared on Svengoolie and wrote the songs "Svengoolie Stomp" and "Hey, Svengoolie" for the show.Freddy Cannon was born Frederick Anthony Picariello, Jr. on December 4, 1936, in Revere, Massachusetts. He grew up in Lynn, Massachusetts. His father was a truck driver, but also sang and played the trumpet in local bands. Exposed to music…
The sampler collaborations between Musica Jazz and ECM Records grew from a partnership woven into European jazz history. Founded in 1945, Musica Jazz is the world’s second-longest-running jazz magazine, and since November 1981, it has included an exclusive record or CD with every monthly issue. These releases extend the magazine’s criticism into sound, giving its features a parallel musical life. Producer Manfred Eicher has often helped curate these issue-specific compilations, each one a…
Here in New England, we got some serious smoke from the Canadian wildfires. How does it compare to other places? Interplanetary Smoke On 2026-Jul-15, smoke from some extensive Canadian wildfires blew down into the US, creating some surreal atmospheric color. (Also surreal: Trump, being an idiot, decided it was because Canadians didn’t properly rake leaves in their forests, and vowed to impose 50% punitive tariffs.) Californians are used to such things, but in New England that much smoke is very…
Hey, so yeah, kinda busy again. Obligations just about every night this week, and another demanding workload, which has me on the verge of just skipping this weekly shows update thing. But I’ve finally got a spare moment so let’s see what I can crank out. If you’re seeing this for the first time: Once […]
Ahead of their final show next month, Tokyo dreampoppers AprilBlue have released their final single, 『ヴァージンノイズ』, which translates to “Virgin Noise” and in the words of singer Haruki Funasoko: “These are the lyrics I wrote while questioning the meaning of standing on stage with this band. I’m glad I was able to leave them behind. […] The post AprilBlue -『ヴァージンノイズ』 appeared first on Space Echo.
Styrofoam Winos :: The Aquarium Drunkard InterviewEarlier this summer, I chatted with Joe Kenkel, Trevor Nikrant and Lou Turner — AKA Styrofoam Winos! And now, you can read the (condensed) results of our talk over on Aquarium Drunkard. I’ve loved the Winos since I first heard ‘em a few years back, and the Nashville-based trio just seems to be getting better and better. In my AD intro, I call their latest LP Any River a masterpiece — and I stand by that! But “masterpiece” as a word does feel a…
I did two more podcast episodes about odd meter, about septuple and nonuple respectively, enjoy. Seven mysteries by Dr. Ethan Hein Read on Substack Nine he gave to mortal men, proud and great, and so ensnared them by Dr. Ethan Hein Read on Substack This is going to be it for odd meters, unless there’s an unexpected groundswell in favor of 11/8.
Dudley Laufman passed away last week at the age of 95. He's best known for his extensive contribution to the 1970s contra dance revival, and especially for fostering live music. Twenty years ago [1] I attended one of the "Wind in the Timothy" dances that he and his wife Jacqueline would host at their house in NH on fifth Saturdays, and it was clear he really enjoyed what he was doing. As part of my project on understanding attitudes towards live music I thought I would read some of his own…
Editor's Note In this series, readers showcase what they carry in their backpacks on a daily basis. Check out the other backpacks that have been published and submit yours — the this series depends on you. I’m Keli Vasconcelos (she/her), journalist, freelance writer, and postgraduate in Public History, 44 years old, living in São Paulo (SP), in the far reaches of the east side (S. Miguel Paulista). I write about Occupational Health and Safety and the Environment, I’ve published two books, and…
The Rebellers in the 1968 Milby High Valentines Varieties show, from that year’s yearbook. From left (please correct if these IDs are wrong): John Manlove, David Rodriguez, James Manlove and Jeff Gray The Rebellers came from the Houston, Texas metro area, recording James Manlove’s original song “The New Generation” for Orbit Records 1114 in the summer of 1967. Members included: James Manlove – lead vocals, rhythm guitar John Manlove – keyboards and vocals Jeff Gray – bass guitar and vocals…
Monolake were Berlin-based duo Gerhard Behles and Robert Henke. Between 1996 and 1997 they released 3 singles and 1 album on Basic Channel’s Chain Reaction imprint. Then in `99 pair produced one final long-player together, before Behles moved on to concentrate on developing music software for Ableton, the company that they both founded. Leaving Henke to continue as Monolake alone. Titled “Interstate”, as its pedigree suggests, the album is a dub techno-derived adventure. An exploration of the…
Music With 58 Musicians may be the ultimate ECM compilation because it reveals the hidden principle that gave the label’s catalogue coherence from the very beginning. Released in 1980 and curated by Robert Hurwitz and Steve Lake, it arrived just after ECM entered its second decade, when its identity was recognizable yet fluid enough to resist canonization. Lake’s introductory note rebukes “less-informed critics” who interpreted ECM’s unusual personnel combinations as arbitrary whimsy, when in…
It has been another long, hot day and I don't feel up to a full-fledged post today. I plan to eulogize Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon tomorrow. He died on July 17, 2026 at the age of 89 after a brief fight with cancer. I've enjoyed his songs since childhood, when I would hear them on oldies programs and oldies radio stations. More recently, I enjoyed his appearances on Svengoolie, for which he wrote the songs "Hey Svengoolie" and "The Svengoolie Stomp." What was so wonderful about Freddy Cannon's…
St Vincent’s music doesn’t always hit with me, but when it does, it hits hard. Actor is one of my top 10 favorite albums, even though I don’t particularly like half of the tracks on it. A huge part of that comes from Annie Clark treating it like a concept album, a bunch of songs loosely related around the idea of a fairy tale gone wrong. It’s more explicit on some tracks than others, but there’s a consistent theme of darkness roiling beneath the peaceful, idyllic surface. And more interesting…
Drinkin Spo-Dee-O-Dee(McGhee)Vocal by Les GuthrieWestern MagicHit Parades Tunes1949A cover of the Sticks McGhee song. Not listed in Second Hand Songs A subsidiary of the Swing Records Manufacturing Company, from Paris, Texas, operated by Jimmy Mercer.. In all likehood the Western Magic was a short-lived budget label.At least two other records were issued by this label. See 45cat Les and His Western Playboys are not related (Ohio family group led by Les Haven)Interesting information about Jimmy…
DIY Festivals, Coast to Coast :: Ghost Canyon, Fly Around Fest & Open MelodyWhen we think of music festivals these days, it’s often the big ones that come to mind — your Coachellas, Lollapaloozas or Bonnaroos. Sweltering heat, fields full of fans, lineups that feel increasingly algorithmic and boring. Such events can be fun, of course, but hardly anyone would argue that they’re really about music.But for those of us in search of a more sonically fulfilling experience, a number of homegrown…
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book. Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Hanif Abdurraqib, Andrew Sean Greer, Roxane Gay, and many others. Emmalea Russo’s novel The Moon Papers is one of the year’s most thought-provoking novels. Foreword Reviews wrote of the book: “A surprising science fiction novel . . . beguiling.” In her own…
Picked this up last month on vinyl at a local record store for about $10, and it was worth every penny. All 1000 of them. This jam session differs from Pablo's other recordings in that it includes the great English tenor Ronnie Scott along with the regular all-star personnel (vibraphonist Milt Jackson, flugehornist Clark Terry, guitarist Joe Pass, pianist Oscar Peterson, bassist Niels Pedersen and drummer Bobby Durham). Source: AllMusic 💿 Stream
On Sunday, I published Side One of my album on Bandcamp. The name of the album is also “Side One.” It is instrumental music with roots in Soundtrack, hip-hop, funk, jazz, 19th Century Romantic classical, ambient, electronic, and art rock. You might wonder if those divergent genres belong together, but the proof is in the listening.For complicated reasons, I haven’t composed, produced, and released music since the late 1980s, back in the multi-track reel-to-reel and early MIDI days! A few months…
On Sunday, a HUGE free festival in Twickenham.I'll be in the Eel Pie pub at 1 p.m. with an unusual band line-up that includes the fabulous, unique Lester Square on guitar, Ruth Tidmarsh on bass and vocals, and Karina Townsend (sax, melodica and vocals). Please come! We'd love you to hear us
This is my entry into this month's Bear Blog Carnival, which I am hosting! Go check out the main post to read submissions from others. When I had just turned 19, I moved to Tokyo to begin my year of study abroad. Not two months before then, I had just become a parent. My life was fundamentally changed in a way that I now realise I was not at all equipped to handle. In the midst of a long mental health crisis that had begun earlier that year, I had concluded that the best thing for my baby's…
Here’s the playlist for my radio show this week: Amilie Lens – Our Frequency Snooper – Recess Water From Your Eyes – Playing Classics Icona Pop – Dance to This Monobloc – City Boy Harsher – Jeans Til Tuesday –...
"Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" by Shania Twain Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. Post one of your favorite country songs. I think this song is a classic. It's got a good hook and the classic "oh, you think you're all that" line. View Mandaris's Crucial Tracks profile Listen to my Apple Music playlist
Even now, when things on my latest list of the good things in life suddenly seem to connect together naturally, it is such a glorious feeling. Plus, there’s the added bonus of a sense of having joined the dots without any help. Perhaps, to counter this, one should sometimes question why it took so long to do so, but then life’s not perfect. Far from it sometimes. With this particular adventure the link turned out to be the Efficient Space label of Melbourne whose activities tied together a…
Members of the Grapes of Wrath group play music worthy of putting on a record. The SPHS students are (left to right) Brian Magnan, Bill Lichty, Ralph Sias, Danny Morrow and William Doheny., San Pedro News-Pilot, May 17, 1967. The Grapes of Wrath cut one 45, “For Every Year” / “Cause it Was Her”, both written by Ralph Sias. The group came from San Pedro, California, in the South Bay of Los Angeles. Members were: Brian Magnan – lead vocals Bill Lichty – drums Ralph Sias – guitar Danny Morrow –…
“Dub Souljah” is the first 12 on Sotofett’s new label, Resonance Of Dub. Those of us in Japan were lucky enough to pick up promos of the inaugural 7 last November, when the Norwegian DJ / producer was handing them out while on tour. Here, the sleeve bears the legend “Dub blew my mind the first time I heard it, and that explosion is still ringing in my ears”, and his passion, understanding and talent for the technique / genre really shows. The release consists of 3 songs, collaborations between…
Meant to be televised in 1969 but withheld for decades because the Stones were afraid of The Who – and for good reason, the latter’s version of “A Quick One” is the greatest performance in any rock doc I’ve seen lately. Staged inside a circus tent with acrobats and stuff in between music acts, passing through a wild Lennon/Ono act and culminating in a decently good Stones set. Of the bands I didn’t already know, Taj Mahal’s amped-up bar band > Jethro Tull’s flutey rock > Marianne Faithfull’s…
Scribed by Sandre the Giant Released: 26th May 1986 There are times when I’m writing about music, and metal, when I wonder just how I got to this point of writing about the fortieth anniversary of one of rock music’s most infamous songs and the album it came from, but this is a lesson of self discovery and of not pre-judging anything. Because despite the mega-hit nature of ‘The Final Countdown’ (number one song in 25 countries, including the UK), I had never listened to Europe at all other than…
The Contaminazioni Contemporanee, or Contemporary Contaminations, series emerged in Bergamo, Italy, as a multi-year festival devoted to ECM Records’ eclectic sound world. Its title treats contamination as a creative principle: one tradition entering another and subtly rearranging its inner architecture. Its scope embraces sacred music alongside Mediterranean traditions, with Eastern and Western vocabularies meeting throughout. It is also a rare New Series-dominant ECM sampler. Appropriately, it…
July 17 was Vince Guaraldi’s 98th birthday, and — since his first publicized gig was an April 1951 booking at San Francisco’s Cable Car Village, as a member of tenor saxman Chuck Travis’ quartet — this year marks the 75th anniversary of Vince’s professional career.That was two excellent excuses for the sensational all-Guaraldi set presented Sunday evening, July 19, by pianist Jim Martinez’s Quartet, accompanied by his son, James Martinez, on guitar; Kerry Kashiwagi, on bass; and Scott Gordon,…
