the frig blig

Some interesting music has come my way lately.

Iran’s CD Dissolver is great — I can’t get enough of it. I hadn’t heard of this NY-based band until they were booked at a recent KEXP concert.

Speaking of NY bands, I first ran into Gogol Bordello while visiting a friend in Tallahassee last December but didn’t get around to listening to his tunes until now. Very funny, lively and a little crazy!

And for something completely different — 70’s Texas tunesmith Townes Van Zandt died in 1997 but not before writing lots of classic songs made famous by other bands’s covers (e.g. ‘If I Needed You’, ‘Pancho and Lefty’, and ‘Who Do You Love’). Country musician Steve Earle recently released an album of Van Zandt covers, which prompted me to listen to the original again in the form of the double CD Live at the Old Quarter, Houston, Texas recorded in 1973 but not released until 1977. Some mighty fine songs, yup.

Strange Maps

I’m trying to understand why the U.S. finds it “unacceptable” (Secretary of State Clinton as quoted by the BBC) for North Korea to develop nuclear weapons, when the U.S. itself has literally thousands of nuclear weapons ready to launch at a moment’s notice. If it’s good enough for America, why shouldn’t the Koreans — or any other country — have the same opportunity to play with nukes? I mean, if you examine the historical record, the U.S. has invaded more countries than North Korea, and AFAIK the U.S. is the only country to have actually used nukes against another country. So arguably we’re the more dangerous country. The moral high ground Clinton sounds like she thinks she’s standing on is fairly blood-soaked.

Add an entry to /etc/email-addresses. Thank you Martin Geisler!

Was present at the most excellent performance of Sunship at Res Audio. One of the cooler moments of my year to date.