When Stephen Malkmus made the rounds and talked to journalists about his 2018 album with the Jicks called Sparkle Hard, he routinely made reference to a solo, keyboard-centric album that he had in the can. In fact, he revealed in a 2018 Washington Post interview that he had submitted this album to his label MatadorContinue reading “Stephen Malkmus Series: “Forget Your Place””
Tag Archives: LCD Soundsystem
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””
“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″
747
At the age of 33, Bill Callahan — still releasing music under the name Smog — recorded “Permanent Smile” as the last song on the 2000 album Dongs of Sevotion: It’s a gorgeous song, propelled by loud, intermittent drums and a tinkling piano that is reminiscent of the irregular Philip Glass-y piano on “All MyContinue reading “747”
Universal Applicant
Apocalypse, Bill Callahan’s 2011 album, begins with two songs, “Drover” and “Baby’s Breath” (explored previously on Recliner Notes), that can’t help be read as extended metaphors about the founding and settling of the American West. Those two songs are followed by “America!”, a hilarious accounting of reasons why to love the United States. The humor,Continue reading “Universal Applicant”
Recliner Notes 