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”
Category Archives: One-Offs
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””
“Born in the U.S.A.”: Suicide in Paris, January 20, 1987
On January 20, 1987, the band Suicide played a concert at La Locomotive in Paris, France. With the concert well under way, lead singer Alan Vega announces to the French audience: “This is a little song for Bruce Springsteen.” The crowd jeers in response with a few boos and claps mixed in as well. VegaContinue reading ““Born in the U.S.A.”: Suicide in Paris, January 20, 1987″
Flat Handed and on the Wing
Over the years, I’ve wondered why the bands Calexico and Brokeback both released a song called “Flat Handed and on the Wing.” Calexico’s version first appeared in 2000 on Travelall, a tour-only release. The Brokeback rendition came a few months later as the second track on their 2001 album Morse Code in the Modern Age:Continue reading “Flat Handed and on the Wing”
Recliner Notes 