This morning I got an e-mail from a colleague who’s working with the American Dream Movement. Said friend is all-in with the goals and values of the project, but is stepping cautiously where Van Jones, the movement’s leader, is concerned. It’s nothing against Jones personally, I don’t think – my friend seems to admire him a great deal and thinks
Read moreIf you’re like me, you appreciate it when musicians work to innovate, to come up with cool new sounds and things that we haven’t heard before. But there’s that old saying: “there is nothing new under the sun,” and that goes double for music. Even the best and most creative artists are really just synthesizing old influences in novel ways,
Read moreToday we offer a nod to the music of America by paying tribute to our past and to our future. First, Woody Guthrie reminds us: this land is your land, too.
Read moreA few weeks ago SVR featured some of the top CDs of the year to date, and I suggested that maybe I’d be back with some more of the best so far. And what do you know, here I am, just in time to help you put together your holiday weekend cookout playlist. So without further ado… I’ve mentioned Baron
Read moreHeading down to the First Friday event in the Highlands Gallery District here in a bit, and am very much looking forward to seeing mentalswitch’s eyePhone show at Sports Optical. You’ve seen some of his iPhone art here before, in fact, and tonight – lots more. Head this way, Denver folks. Meanwhile, I’m ramping up for the evening with some
Read moreE Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons is dead at 69. You will be missed, Big Man.
Read moreA variety of things have been calling me back to the great rock of my youth today, so I thought I’d share. First off, fellow scrogue Dr. Jim Booth reminded us this morning via Facebook that today is the birthday of Sir Paul McCartney. As I noted on my own FB page, I have often been critical of Paul’s post-Beatles
Read moreAnd so we arrive at the last day of 30-Day Song Challenge, the Sequel, which followed hot on the heels of the original Challenge – so 60 songs in slightly more than a couple of months (actually, given my cheating, it was quite a bit more than 60 songs, wasn’t it?) I wanted to end The Sequel with a nod
Read moreI really enjoyed the original 30-Day Song Challenge and my hat’s off to whoever created it. But it seemed a little obvious to me in places, so when I set out to create the sequel I wanted to tackle some ideas that we may not think about as often as we might. Today, one of the big ones. We here
Read moreI seem to discover lots of news bands that I like every year, and since this particular day of the challenge doesn’t ask me to pick my favorite – just a band I like – let’s keep it simple and pick one without overthinking it. Because if I start thinking about this one I’ll be here all night. Two-Door Cinema
Read moreIt seems that America now officially believes in torture as a primary tool of investigation. And back in 2008, I did a little story on how, believe it or not, we are using music as an implement of torture. So I suppose today’s challenge has a dark side, huh? Mercifully for those suspected terrorists in captivity, DJ EIT (Enhanced Interrogation
Read moreEach year I write my annual Best CDs series and along the way I usually have an article or two about some of the bands that turn up on that list. Today I want to acknowledge a few of the year’s best releases to date. This isn’t comprehensive, by any stretch, but if you’re looking for some new tunes to
Read moreWe’re going in a slightly different direction today. I mean, for a variety of artistic and intellectual reasons I’d love to have dinner with the greatest bands ever – The Fabs, The Stones, The Who, Zep, Floyd, U2, REM, Van Morrison, and a bunch of others. Then there’s this class of really cool, past and present indie artists from then
Read moreWhen it comes to exercise I’ve always been a team sports guy. Hoops, baseball, soccer – if there’s a ball to hit, throw, kick, dribble or shoot I could go all freakin’ day in just about any conditions you can imagine. But running for the sake of running? Hate it. Weights? I do it because I need to, but I
Read moreSo much of popular music is about sex and nothing else, and we have seen more sexcess than we probably know how to process. Perhaps so much that we occasionally grow numb to it. I can think of dozens of really sexy women in music, but since it seems like sexy is a prerequisite to even get in the door,
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lullaby pit 