in spanish :/

A fragment of Michael Stipe’s speech (from 12 years ago!) for Nirvana’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction that’s stuck with me for some time: Nirvana captured lightning in a bottle. And now, per the dictionary—off the Internet—in defining “lightning in a bottle” as, “Capturing something powerful and elusive, and then being able to hold it and show it to the world.” It’s that lighting in a bottle bit that gets me. Lightning striking the ground isn’t all that uncommon, happening roughly 37…

FEDERICO FELLINI IS GOING TO HELL — sign posted outside the church in Rimini, which upset Fellini’s mother. Day 8 looks set to be the shortest of all — a single shot of Marcello collecting his girlfriend. Next thing you see they’re in bed, but of course it’s still daytime, Marcello is as nocturnal as […]

I knew it was coming.I knew we were close.By the end of last year, the rumblings were getting louder.And now ... it has happened.Break out the champagne!As of today — August 13, 2026 — the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has officially certified Vince Guaraldi's 1965 soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas as sextuple platinum, meaning six million units of sales......making it the best-selling jazz album of all time: finally, officially, surpassing Miles Davis' Kind of Blue.…

My favorite birthday songs are both by Henry Purcell (1659-1695). The first is Sound the Trumpet (performed here by Alison Balsom, Iestyn Davies, and company), and the second is Now the Night is Chased Away (performed here by Lea Desandres, with Thomas Dunford's Jupiter ensemble). Lyrics of Sound the Trumpet: Sound the trumpet, sound the trumpet, sound the trumpet! Sound, sound, sound the trumpet till around You make the list'ning shores rebound. On the sprightly hautboy play All the…

(click on the image to see the full issue)

This is Never Enough, by The Cure. This appeared on a comp album they put out called Mixed Up, where they had a bunch of different artists re-imagine earlier work, and was an extended version of a new single. My roommate bought the album and I had this one track on heavy repeat back in the day. All of the current streaming versions are different than the one I remember—the one on the cassette was a little shorter and simpler, and I like that one best.

Welcome to another episode of The Von Pip Podcast. It’s been a little while, but I’m back with another hour of music, old favourites and various things I’ve stumbled across and thought, “well that’s a bit good.” This time around there’s music from Florence Road, Blood Red Shoes, Echo & the Bunnymen, Blondshell, Harmony Tividad, Bodega, Fritz and plenty more, so as usual it’s a bit of a musical lucky dip. There’s indie, alternative, pop and a few classics I’ve also got a rather good collection…

Last June I published a blog on Fatale, a new young band from my hometown of Uddingston. They had just played their first couple of gigs and released a demo of an original song called Moves You and a cover of Femme Fatale. You can still check them out here - FATALE DEMOSI fell for Fatale instantly. And then fell even further upon seeing the band live and bumping into them in person in McChuills and at gigs. Ben Robertson (vocals), Euan Corrigan (lead guitar), Christopher Jollie (guitar and…

There's a couple of artists I've mentioned already, so I'll indulge and elaborate:Yunyu's "Spiked Soul" was one of my very first purchases on Bandcamp. I really enjoyed the creepygothiness of Lenore's Song and the singer's voice. I've even sent one of the tracks to someone in lieu of, you know, just telling them how I felt. "ULTRA BLUE," by Utada Hikaru. Her, Namie Amuro, and Ayumi Hamasaki were my introduction into J-Pop– but this album got me though my First (major) Breakup: sitting at a…

I remember my first CD player having a shuffle feature. Being able to play the album in a random order was like some kind of sorcery. Since then, we've gone through the iTunes playlist years, and onto streaming, all with their own shuffle features. I'm here to tell you I don't think Spotify's shuffle is particularly good. One playlist I listen to most is my liked songs. Makes sense, I like them so I listen more often. But I do like the element of surprise so I always listen on shuffle. I have…

The Go-Betweens - Baroona Hall, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, December 6, 1983The Go-Betweens catalog always seems to drift in and out of print. But Beggars Banquet is reissuing a few of the band’s records in a couple months, so hopefully a whole new audience will find these gems. Along with the reissues, there’s also a live double LP from 1987 which (as far as I know) has previously only been available as part of one of those lavish Go-Betweens boxed sets. Good stuff!The GBs as a live act…

Funnel spider, Frick Park, 30 July 2026 (photo by Kate St.John) 13 August 2026 Late July through September is the best time of year to see funnel webs in Pittsburgh. The spiders that build these webs have been present since spring but they were so small I overlooked their webs. Late summer webs show nicely, especially in dew. Here’s a selection from 2016 to 2026. Schenley Park, 3 Aug 2016 Schenley Park, 26 Sep 2020 Frick Park, 28 Jul 2024 Shadyside, 29 Aug 2024 Greenfield, 8 Aug 2018 Frick…

Coprolith: PutrescenceOut 3rd July on Me Saco Un Ojo / Rotted Life Low effort death metal combines Incantation and Autopsy into a route one interpretation of death/doom, oscillating between slow and fast with no attempt to create tension and release as each transition is carefully prepared for. The album attempts to get by on the somewhat chasmic production, hoping that the guitar tone will fill in the blanks where riffs and identity are lacking. The riffs pivot on easy to follow signifiers,…

Women of Music Volume 23 Ann-Marget on cover tracklistAnn-Margret - Dance With Me Henry.mp3 Beti Webb - Tic Toc.mp3 Bonnie Tyler - Those Were The Days.mp3 Carmen Taylor - Ooh I.mp3 Cindy Carson - Just As I Am.mp3 Jane Morgan - Girl Named Johnny Cash.mp3 Kathy Lee - Look At Me And Smile.mp3 Mary Deloatch - The New Gospel Street.mp3 Mary Sue - Gravy.mp3 Paula Lamont - A Beatle Meets A Ladybug.mp3 Sherri Gibbs & The Quovans - Oh My Baby.mp3 Sparkley Betty Barkley - Oh Johnny.mp3

Each Thursday in the Disquiet Junto music community, a new compositional challenge is set before the group’s members, who then have five days to record and upload a track in response to the project instructions. Membership in the Junto is open: just join and participate. (A SoundCloud account is helpful but not required.) There’s no pressure to do every project. The Junto is weekly so that you know it’s there, every Thursday through Monday, when your time and interest align. Tracks are added to…

“It's My Party” by Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. What’s a song you’d want to hear on your birthday? I can almost feel my wife rolling her eyes. I am not a fan of my birthday. Not for any age related denial reason, just because I feel long past the need to have any hoopla to celebrate the day —there is likely more deep seated reasons for that, likely something about never having felt validated and seen enough— but the fact…

The three-LP box set Guitar Music from ECM, released in 1981, was conceived by ECM’s French branch as more than a sampler. Coordinated by Hans Wendl and Gérard Desfoux, it gathers seven guitarists whose six- and twelve-string vocabularies had already helped make the Munich label resistant to category. Just over a decade old, ECM had nearly sixty relevant albums from which to choose, so the six sides became an exercise in severe abundance. Each selection is both evidence and omission, a small…

Desert Brat 2026-08-13 buy young thug's music on iTunes or buy a CD

Wild shouts, barks, yelps and handclaps accompany a fierce acoustic strum. Machines strike up a big, banging mid-tempo march, and an insane, insistent accordion leads a deranged, drunken dance. Party whistles blow and it’s on. Less a boogie, and more a barely contained riot. Soundtracking a scene so exciting, it’s almost frightening. The music mad, bad and dangerous to know. The track itself sounds hammered, reeling, jumping, pogoing, and the crowd all clap and scream along. A den of dodgy…

This week’s theme: Happy Third Anniversary to the Jazz Collector Live radio show and podcast, featuring the best of something. Featured artists include John Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Curtis Fuller, Kenny Drew, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones, Miles Davis, Hank Mobley, Wynton Kelly, Jimmy Cobb, Bill Evans, Cannonball Adderley, Percy Heath, Connie Kay, Stan Getz, Duke Jordan, Jimmy Raney, Zoot Sims, Oscar Peterson, Joe Pass, Rosemary Clooney, Warren Vache, Scott Hamilton, Cal Collins, Charlie Parker,…

Hey, so, it’s Wednesday, when I try to share a couple of Boston-centric lists: One with area (mostly indie-ish, rock-ish?) shows happening in the next seven days, and another with new show announcements. So I guess I’ll do that. But first, I ramble a little about personal highlights from each… The biggie this weekend is […]

One of These Albums Changed Music Forever – The Other Didn’t

Pictures from seeing the opera Carmina Burana live in San Francisco with a full chorus. Here you go. You can watch a performance (not the one we attended, unfortunately) here if you like.

Just before starting in on the James Bond theme, the Danish Symphony Orchestra had their conductor “assassinated” live on stage. That visual, followed immediately by the opening bars of the Bond theme is just legendary.

St Colluthus was a Coptic physician who was tried and executed in 314 AD. This was part of the great persecution of Christians ordered by the emperor Diocletian. The original court record survives, more or less, preserved as a martyrdom text, and this I posted a few days ago here. This has been referenced in the literature as “Colluthus 1”. But there is another Martyrdom of St Colluthus, derived from the first, and known as “Colluthus 2”. This has been sharpened up by an editor who felt that it…

Jazzy Listenin': New Groove - Peter Beets From 1990 to 2003, my dear Grandpa presented a weekly show on the local radio station called Jazzy Listenin’. In this series, I’ll discuss his albums to honour his memory, as I listen my way through his collection. Today’s album is “New Groove” (2007) by Peter Beets. My Grandpa loved Dutch jazz, so starting with the Dutch pianist Peter Beets seemed like a fitting beginning for this series. The album features an international cast, though. It was…

Stephen Sondheim’s songs are less musical theatre numbers than intricate clockwork mechanisms. Every lyric, every rhythm and every note serves a precise dramatic purpose. Remove one tiny cog and the whole machine begins to judder. That precision makes his work endlessly rewarding, but it also makes it terrifyingly difficult to perform. That challenge sits at the heart of Miscast Sondheim, a revue from LAMDA’s musical theatre ensemble that takes familiar songs from across the Sondheim catalogue…

[1993]A lo-fi slacker rock jam that's probably mostly forgotten these days. Before burning cds from your mates became a thing I had One Sock Missing on a TDK D90 blank cassette with Archers Of Loaf's Icky Mettle on the other side. A couple of years later I saw The Grifters support Jeff Buckley at The Palais in St Kilda which I guess is a notable gig because it was dead Jeff and he became a mega star in rock history while this excellent tune has just 3436 views on youtube.Ramshackle Rolling…