I unexpectedly attended Bob Dylan’s performance at the ExploreAsheville.com Arena in my hometown of Asheville, NC last night. I am fortunate to be covering the 2024 Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN this coming weekend (watch this space for my day-after reviews), so did not think that I would have the opportunity to take inContinue reading “Bob Dylan in Asheville, NC – March 21, 2024”
Author Archives: Recliner Notes
2024 Big Ears Preview
The Big Ears Festival returns once again March 21 – March 24, 2024, bringing together an impressive diversity of musical artists and bands to Knoxville, TN, that rivals any other festival in the country. That it is presented indoors without any requirement to camp in a pasture or a desert with hundreds of other festival-goers,Continue reading “2024 Big Ears Preview”
LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends”
On February 29, 2024, I participated in the storytelling series Listen To This: Stories and More on Stage. The theme for the show was “That Night a DJ Saved My Life” – true tales of times when music made a difference. Below is the full version of the piece I told onstage. I want toContinue reading “LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends””
Occapella
This piece was written in 2015 for a now-defunct arts publication. It starts with bass and drums. Three notes on the bass and then repeated with the same three notes. The drums are in lock-step with the bass. The first five seconds of the song could be looped for a 15 minute song resulting inContinue reading “Occapella”
Interview with Elizabeth Nelson of The Paranoid Style
Elizabeth Nelson is the lead singer and songwriter of The Paranoid Style. In addition to serving her duties as a bandleader, she writes about music for publications such as The Ringer, Oxford American, Lawyers Guns & Money, and Pitchfork (including a recent piece on Dylan’s Desire) as well as operating an iconic Twitter account madeContinue reading “Interview with Elizabeth Nelson of The Paranoid Style”
Dylan’s 1966 “Royal Albert Hall” Performance: Two Interpretations by Cat Power and Robyn Hitchcock
Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concertwas recently released, documenting Cat Power’s take on the now infamous recording of Bob Dylan’s performance at the Manchester Free Trade Hall on May 17, 1966, which was mistakenly attributed to his performance at the Royal Albert Hall nine days later. As all Dylan obsessives know,Continue reading “Dylan’s 1966 “Royal Albert Hall” Performance: Two Interpretations by Cat Power and Robyn Hitchcock”
“Beat Bop”: Hip-Hop and World-Building in 1980s Downtown New York
Listening to the 1983 hip-hop single “Beat Bop” 40 years after its recording is an act of retroactive discovery. It feels like climbing to the top of a mountain and seeing the future from the perspective of the future. “Beat Bop” features solid representation of early hip-hop rhymes courtesy of a then 15-year old battleContinue reading ““Beat Bop”: Hip-Hop and World-Building in 1980s Downtown New York”
Interview with Anne Margaret Daniel on Bob Dylan: Mixing Up the Medicine
Bob Dylan: Mixing Up the Medicine is a new book by Mark Davidson and Parker Fishel, which marks the first official publication by the Bob Dylan Center. Located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Center serves as the public face for the Bob Dylan Archive, which houses a lifetime’s worth of Dylan’s lyric drafts, notebooks, photographs, videos,Continue reading “Interview with Anne Margaret Daniel on Bob Dylan: Mixing Up the Medicine”
The Eerie in Dirty Three’s “Some Summers They Drop Like Flies”
“The sensation of the eerie occurs either when there is something present where there should be nothing, or there is nothing present when there should be something.” Mark Fisher, The Weird and the Eerie The opening track of Whatever You Love, You Are, the fifth studio album by the Australian band Dirty Three, is theContinue reading “The Eerie in Dirty Three’s “Some Summers They Drop Like Flies””
“I Have Loved You So Long”: Neil Young, Leonard Cohen & “Greensleeves”
In 1974, at the height of their songwriting powers, both Leonard Cohen and Neil Young recorded their own versions of “Greensleeves,” each with new lyrics to the folk song standard. Their draw to the song is understandable as its words of lost love and beguiling melody have been played and recorded hundreds of times. TheContinue reading ““I Have Loved You So Long”: Neil Young, Leonard Cohen & “Greensleeves””
Recliner Notes 