NY Times Piece on Music and Marketing

Interesting article on music in marketing by Jon Pareles in today's Times. Nothing groundbreaking; even Jon seems unable to offer anything conclusive.

Magnet Magazine Mention

Nice to see some other sites picking up on the Cover of the Week project. Bradley's Almanac had an early post about it. Magnet Magazine takes notice here.

Juliana Hatfield Responds to Post

If I had a dollar for every time a girl/woman told me it's not me it's her...

Our friend from way back, Juliana, graciously offers her version/explanation of the events described in my Dreaming post.

Bill, it's not you; it's me. Don't take it personally that I said I would sing on "Dreaming" and then I took off. You see, I suffer from a sometimes crippling disorder called "Rock Club-itis". It is a phobia; a fear of being in any rock club for even one second longer than I absolutely have to, in order to do my work.

Like an alcoholic develops a sick liver after years of tippling, a touring indie musician can develop an intensely strong physical aversion to being in rock clubs. A drunk is affected, over time, by too many drinks, too many hangovers; I have been damaged by too many hours hanging out in the darkness, sitting on too many dirty, beer-stained, puke-scented couches in cramped, freezing-cold and stifling-hot backstage kennels. I guess you could call this affliction a kind of post-traumatic stress disorder. Or post-rock stress disorder. PRSD. The inevitable result of all my years on the club circuit; years of forced exposure (work; touring) to that stifling, harsh (everything always so LOUD! Too loud! Hurts my ears!), unsanitary and uncomfortable environment. (I won't even get into how a gig schedule screws up one's circadian rhythms.)

This is how bad it is: When I'm walking down a street and I spot rock club in the distance, I get queasy and nail-bitey and I have to cross the street in order to avoid passing too closely to the venue lest my growing anxiety (proportionate to how close I am to the club) overwhelm me and, like, throw me into a fit of hysterics or something.

And that is my explanation for bailing before you guys played "Dreaming". I wanted to sing with you, I really did, but as I stood waiting for the song to come up in your set list, I started to feel that old familiar nauseous/frightened feeling and the flashbacks started happening and the walls started closing in on me and I knew then that I had to flee the venue, for sanity's sake. I had hoped that I could stick it out until "Dreaming" rolled around but I failed. I failed you, Buffalo Tom, and I failed myself. I am weak.

Plus, I am really shy. Jumping up on stage with a band during their show always SOUNDS like a good idea in theory, but when showtime rolls around and my guest appearance looms, I sometimes chicken out. I can't speak for Westerberg, but maybe he experienced something similar.

Oh, and FYI- I did actually play guitar in the first incarnation of the Blake Babies; you were correct about that. We were originally a quartet, with Seth White on bass, myself on rhythm guitar, and John Strohm on lead (Freda on drums). I later switched to bass, when Seth quit the band. From then on, the Blake Babies were known as a trio.

Regretfully,

Juliana Hatfield

Another, Younger Janovitz

This is my brother, Tom. I was 16 when he was born. That makes him, lemme see...12.

Lovely voice, lovely guitar. Sort of Ry Cooder meets John Fahey.

Congratulations Bandini, Low Anthem, Ed V., Billy B and so many others.....

I want to say, hey, congratulations to my brother, Scott, and his band, the Great Bandini, for winning best local song, "One and One." Also, I recall loving Wait Until Spring, Bandini, from John Fante, back when I read it close to 20 years back.

Also, I have to say you should check out The Low Anthem, who won best new act. I picked up their record, What the Crow Brings, which is delicious. But I really look forward to the new collection, which can be previewed at their myspace: very pretty songs. This is especially recommended for people that liked the Show People CD from Chris Toppin, me, Phil, Dean, Paul, Mike, et. al. But if you like Waits, Dylan, the new kids with all that string band stuff, etc., I think you might like some of their songs a great deal.


http://www.lowanthem.com

http://www.myspace.com/lowanthem

Are You Excited for the Faces Reunion?

Further on Kenney Jones

Requests

Thanks to everyone for their feedback. I have gotten some good requests, many of which I already had on my short list. So look for future versions of, among other things, Slip Slidin' Away (I have played this out at least once), Dreaming (BT has been doing this since 1987), He's Gone (oh no, the Grateful Dead!), and some others. I will look back.

The deal is not an auction for top bidder. You are an honest enough bunch that I will trust you to make a donation to a charity. I am leaning towards the Foundation to be Named Later, since I am already affiliated with it a bit and since they do such fine work. I will try to do it by next week, so that those of you who need one can have a tax deduction!

Great Soul Site

And an appropriate lost classic

Tears of Rage, Tears of Grief

My New Mid-Century Homes Page

On my real estate web page:

http://modernmass.com

I've just started to outline the history of Lexington MA's significant mid-century homes at the above page. This includes the Moon Hill and Five Fields neighborhoods, both started by The Architects Collaborative, and Peacock Farm, designed and developed by Walter Pierce and Danforth Compton. Techbuilt, Carl Koch, Gropius, and other subjects are covered as well. Includes photos. In the near future, I will link to articles and scans with some history.

The Road - Little Bits of Haiku for the Apocalypse

I'm a little late to this book. It sat there in my pile of things to read, CDs listen to, bills to pay, songs to finish, laundry to fold...meanwhile I find 15 minutes to slap up blog posts. I did not come to this book as a huge fan of Cormac McCarthy, though I feel this might change a bit. I've only read 1 or 2 other books and I am aware that this is a departure from earlier work.

But I'm glad I waited. This book hit me at just the right time, it seems. I'm not 100% certain of what I mean by that; maybe any time I chose to read it would have felt like the right time. But this book spoke to me on a fundamental level and has heightened certain essential components of my consciousness.

I read it last week in a matter of a night or two. The last thing I expected was a page-turner. But I gather this is the reaction of many people who have read it. It compels readers for various reasons, some feeling that they are even responsible for helping the characters along, which is a notion that is both absurd and deeply true of any book. Like the tree that falls in the forest, e.g. I don't let myself get overexposed to reviews and criticism of books or movies. I don't want a story spoiled in advance, but more importantly, I don't my own perception clouded by judgments made by others. After forming my own opinion, I seek out those same reviews, at least in channels I trust. I want to compare notes.

I am being elliptical. I think all of this preface is just me avoiding the real topic, that is how profoundly moving I found The Road. Certainly being a father has a lot to do with my extreme reaction. But I have not shaken the effects of having read this now 4 days after the fact. But more significantly is that I don't think I will ever forget it. I think the emotions will become less acute, but the overarching theme, the poetry of the prose, the philosophy behind the story, the allegories and the story itself...

I am torn between re-reading it immediately and trying to move on. Seriously. It was a physical involvement, reading it. I don't know that I can recommend it to everyone who reads this site. I guess I'm more eager to hear from others who have read it.

Nina

RIP, Mitch

Mitch Mitchell, July 9, 1947 – November 12, 2008

Further on the Faces

Faces reunion?

Well, the link is dead, but the Faces are reuniting for a tour.