It's All Saints' Day, but really, it's the Day of the Innocents, to honor dead children and infants (Mexico). That's all part of the Day of the Dead, which seems to be three days - October 31 through November 2. November 2 is the more traditional Day of the Dead in Mexico. With the popularity of Halloween, it has grown to three days.
Well, we're supposed to "Fall Back" today. I may not change my clocks and just live in my own time zone - Patrick Daylight Time. Sure, I'll be an hour ahead of everyone, but I can adjust to the change. It's just time. Does it really matter what time it is (Does anybody really care)? Let's all protest this change in time. Join me, won't you?
On this week's podcast, let's keep in time with Porcupine Tree, Faith No More, Gil Scott-Heron, Jerry Douglas with Alison Krauss, Ike & Tina Turner, The Marvelettes, Alison Moyet, Big Joe Turner, Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five, Jon Hendricks, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Michel LeGrand, All We Are, Howard Jones, The Undertones, The Soft Boys, and the Troggs.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. All previous podcasts are still available on the website as well. Listen, download, leave comments and suggestions, and share with others. Thank you.
An unusually warm late October and early November had me thinking. I remember that it was very warm in October of 1979, as I went swimming in the ocean on my birthday (the water was still very cold). So it happens, just not with any frequency. I also remember snow on my birthday, and last year there was a snowstorm in early November.
So individual weather patterns can change year-to-year, but overall climate change is real, and it is caused by humans. What I just wrote shouldn't be controversial, but there are still "climate deniers" who don't believe that there is a climate adjustment or that humans are the cause. The story that Exxon scientists knew about climate change and that Exxon suppressed the research should help those who believe in climate change - wonder if it will. I think that people should acknowledge what the science is saying, but that they can then question whether the predictions of doom and gloom that accompany the statements are too much. Shifting that debate would be a good place to start. And we should also look to reduce our carbon footprint to reduce the crap we put into the air. Let's be reasonable.
I'm not sure that climate change is discussed by any of the acts in today's podcast, but I'm sure they care deeply. Take a breath of fresh air with Deerhunter, !!!, Neon Indian, The Nuns, Stone the Crows, Bobby Whitlock, Los Lobos, The Waitresses, The Stranglers, Marshall Crenshaw, Elvis Costello, Siouxsie & the Banshees, The Beautiful South, and Kate Bush.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. All previous podcasts are still available on the website as well. Listen, download, leave comments and suggestions, and share with others. Thank you.
Time to dip into the jazz stacks and put another jazzcast together. There are a bunch of new tunes (2015 releases) today as well as a couple of new to me releases, along with a couple of favorites.
The Smoke Sessions label continues to release great jazz records - I feature three of their 2015 releases today. I also play a tune from the expanded edition of Erroll Garner's Concert by the Sea album - I've had the original for years. There's a new set, a ballads set, a trombone leaders set, and a final two tunes set.
So let's listen to The John Garner Quartet, Christian McBride, Orrin Evans, McCoy Tyner, Scott Hamilton, Stanley Turrentine, Steve Davis, Steve Turre, J. J. Johnson, Erroll Garner, and Zoot Sims.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. All previous podcasts are still available on the website as well. Listen, download, leave comments and suggestions, and share with others. Thank you.
I'm beyond figuring out how the world works, or why there were attacks on France (and Lebanon). I'll let wiser minds than mine figure out who to kill in retaliation (that will surely stop the violence). I had a very good weekend.
Friday night my wife and I visited our son, where we ate a great little restaurant (Strip-T's in Watertown - voted best burgers in Boston in 2015) before going to Boston to see Dana Gould perform at Great Scott's. We found out about things happening in France while waiting to get in - very sad. We laughed ourselves silly at Dana and the opening act Joe List (I think). Good to get my mind in the right frame of reference - laughter. On Saturday we had brunch at the Russell House Tavern, wandered around Harvard Square a bit, and caught the new exhibit at the Boston MFA (we're members). Another great day.
So let's forget about the weight of the world for a while and listen to this week's podcast, which includes The Supremes, The Who, T. Rex, Fleetwood Mac, Brenton Wood, James and Bobby Purify, Barbara Lewis, Major Lance, Doris Troy, Portishead, Tindersticks, P.J. Harvey, Camera Obscura, Colin Blunstone, R.E.M., and the Pretenders.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. All previous podcasts are still available on the website as well. Listen, download, leave comments and suggestions, and share with others. Thank you.
Refugee:a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster. When did America turn into a scared nation? Most look at 9/11/2001 as the date, and we certainly have shown ourselves to be frightened little children since then, but there has always been a yellow streak when it comes to the USA.
We have always been afraid of the other: we have been anti-immigrant right after the landing of the Mayflower. For all of the "religious liberty" the founding of our country was built on, for a long period of time Catholics were barred from office, either de facto legally or because Catholics "all take their orders from Rome." We interned Americans during World War II - yes, AMERICANS, because of the color of their skin. They lost their businesses and livelihoods because...hell, I don't have a good explanation.
Edward R. Murrow, in his take down of Joseph McCarthy, said, "We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep into our own history and our doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes which were for the moment unpopular." I think that we are now hoped to be ruled by fearful men, and that we have become a country of fearful men. I certainly hope that cooler heads will prevail and we will start letting in these refugees. France is letting in refugees - the attacks were not done by refugees. Let's be proud and brave in America, and not fearful.
Let's show our pride by listening to The Breeders, Liz Phair, Squeeze, Dave Edmunds, Reverend Horton Heat, Southern Culture on the Skids, Jason and the Scorchers, Rank & File, The Smiths, Alex Chilton, The Kinks, The Loud Family, The Hombres, New Order, Blur, and Devotchka on today's podcast.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. All previous podcasts are still available on the website as well. Listen, download, leave comments and suggestions, and share with others. Thank you.
Lots of things happened in 1990.Lech Walesa became President of Poland, Nelson Mandela was release from prison, the Berlin Wall cam down, and it was the first year the Simpsons aired on Fox. Heady times (was it really that late that Nelson Mandela was released form prison?). It was also the year that I started working at the University of New Hampshire.
There was also music in the air. Today's podcast features the music of twenty-five years ago. You'll not be hearing from Paula Abdul and MC Skat Cat ("Opposites Attract") or Billy Joel ("We Didn't Start the Fire" - remember the joke "a list is not a song" about it?) or Wilson Phillips.
Instead, I'll focus on the music I liked from that year. Today's podcast isn't meant to be comprehensive (No Public Enemy or Cocteau Twins, both with great releases in 1990), but an hour's worth of great music from that year. I was hesitant to try to put together a show from 1990 - did I have enough music from that year? - but as usual, so much ended up not being included.
Let's listen to 1990, which included Concrete Blonde, Bob Dylan, The Beautiful South, The Replacements, The La's, Sonic Youth, The Pixies, Jane's Addiction, Sinead O'Connor, Brian Eno & John Cale, Depeche Mode, Sisters of Mercy, World Party, Dave Edmunds, Happy Mondays, and They Might Be Giants.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. All previous podcasts are still available on the website as well. Listen, download, leave comments and suggestions, and share with others. Thank you.
We're not getting any younger. I spent yesterday morning at a remembrance for someone who died recently - it's becoming more and more regular among people I know. As we get older, we start to lose our parents, aunts and uncles, and then co-workers and friends. At first, losing friends can be a surprise, but then we get older and it stops being entirely uncommon. People still get cancer that can sometimes be slowed down but never seems to be incurable.
While we can't prevent the aging process, we can stop to celebrate our friends and relatives that are around. During this Thanksgiving weekend, make sure you appreciate the good people in your lives. I'd like to thank everyone I've met through the years and who may read these posts. You are all special to me and I am thankful to have known you. I hope that I'll be around for a long time, and that you won't soon hear of my passing, and that I won't hear of yours. Good health to all.
And one way to stay healthy is to listen to my podcast. Spend awhile with Lee Michaels, The Smithereens, The Clash, Joe Jackson, English Beat, Bad Manners, The New Pornographers, Pigbag, Beth Orton, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Love, the Kazenetz/Katz Super Circus, Tommy James, Crazy Elephant, and the Turtles.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. All previous podcasts are still available on the website as well. Listen, download, leave comments and suggestions, and share with others. Thank you.
Do you put up Christmas decorations? Have you had them up since Thanksgiving (or worse, before)? I'm not a Christmas decorations person - the Snoopy doghouse effect is beyond me. What's worse is the blow ups (at least tell me you don't have blow-up decorations). What is Santa in the bathtub supposed to represent - that he's stopping at your house to bathe outside in the wintertime?
The reason for the season - lights that outline your house - "here's my roofline" - lights on bare trees - they always look like an outline of a sombrero to me. oh, there are some tasteful decorations - very nice wreaths and subtle lights, but the Snoopy doghouse seems to win out a lot more.
Let us stay easy on the eyes with The Smiths, The Go-Go's, J.J. Cale, Bert Jansch, Laura Nyro, Charlie Rich, Sam Phillips, Martin Courtney, Esther Phillips, Larry Williams & Johnny "Guitar" Watson, The Small Faces, The Yardbirds, Grace Jones, Chaka Khan, and the Ohio Players.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. All previous podcasts are still available on the website as well. Listen, download, leave comments and suggestions, and share with others. Thank you.
I know that I'm supposed to be the leader on the War on Christmas (seriously - consumerism isn't the reason for the season - I'm definitely anti-shopping), but I say "Merry Christmas" to people. I say it for one good reason - December 25. On my calendar it says that December 25 is Christmas, and most people have that day off, so why not have a good day - a Merry one, in fact?
Who cares what other holidays are celebrated by others (or not celebrated by all?) - until we decide that December 25 isn't Christmas anymore I'll be wishing people a Merry Christmas (and a Happy New Year). Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go to Target before heading down to see my son today (seriously). War on Christmas takes a break today.
As you do your holiday shopping, why not listen to Barrence Whitfield and the Savages, Big Joe Turner, Carole King, The English Beat, Elvis Costello, Foo Fighters, Killing Joke, Lou Reed, Frederick Knight, Tower of Power, Shakespear's Sister, Neil Young, Jo Spencer Blues Explosion, Little Feat, and Allen Toussaint.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. All previous podcasts are still available on the website as well. Listen, download, leave comments and suggestions, and share with others. Thank you.
As I was going through my 2015 music, I saw that I had a lot of jazz that had not made it onto a podcast this year, so I hastily put this last jazzcast for 2015 together. Some of these albums made it to many "Best of 2015" lists for the year, but this is just not an attempt at a list of best albums for the year - just a review of recent purchases by me.
Overall I thought it was a strong year for jazz - The Kamasi Washington triple CD The Epic is on many lists - and not just jazz lists (featured on my May 13 2015 Jazzcast). Christian Scott, featured today, is a bit similar in that his influences go beyond jazz - I think that's the concept of his Stretch Jazz album.
So let's listen to today's jazzcast that with Erik Friedlander, Miho Hazama, The Enrico Rava Quartet, Pat Metheny et. al., Matthew Halsall & the Gondwana Orchestra, Nat Birchall, The Heads of State, Christian Scott, Oliver Lake and William Parker, and Maria Schneider.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. All previous podcasts are still available on the website as well. Listen, download, leave comments and suggestions, and share with others. Thank you.
Martin Shkreli, Pharma Bro, was arrested earlier this week on securities fraud charges, and he has since resigned as CEO from Turing Pharmaceuticals, where he had increased the cost of Daraprim from $13.50 (still not cheap) to $750 a pill. Justice! Doesn't happen often enough, but did here. Although, the new acting CEO did not exactly say that they'd be rolling back the price of the drug - stay tuned.
After he was released from jail, he tweeted "Thanks for the support." No one is supporting him. Other evil people have even backed off of their support. All I can say is that maybe there is a Santa Claus after all.
Lots of great music on today's podcast. Please find a way to spend an hour with Talking Heads, The Del Fuegos, Steve Wynn, The Lee Robinson Machine, The Action, Ellen McIlwaine, Lee Michaels, T. Rex, The Cardigans, Garbage, Elastica, Texas, Gram Parsons, Aretha Franklin, Willie Nelson, and Patsy Cline.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. All previous podcasts are still available on the website as well. Listen, download, leave comments and suggestions, and share with others. Thank you.
If things go as planned, I am in Costa Rica right now. My wife and I decided to take a vacation during Christmas week, and we decided on Costa Rica (with an assist from my son). This means that the Wi-Fi in Costa Rica is sufficient enough that I can post from afar, and that I can cut and paste to spread the news on Facebook.
This podcast is the first of two year-end 2015 podcasts. It's not a best-of, as I don't make lists that way. I do read all of the other best of lists, and can violently disagree with their choices. Of course, there is a ton of stuff that I don't listen to as well. I will say that Courtney Barnett's album is probably the strongest I heard this year.
So join me on this post-Christmas podcast and listen to Courtney Barnett, Father John Misty, All We Are, Deerhunter, Rose Windows, Lower Dens, Tame Impala, Julia Holter, Neon Indian, !!!, Sleater-Kinney, Daughn Gibson, Torres, Matthew E. White, and Martin Courtney.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. All previous podcasts are still available on the website as well. Listen, download, leave comments and suggestions, and share with others. Thank you.
Hope you had a Happy New Year - my wife and I spent New Year's Day traveling back to the U.S. from Costa Rica. I'll add more about the trip to Costa Rica later - we loved it there, though (and will return - a possible retirement destination as well). I'm going to post his quickly as I get re-integrated to the cold New England winter (I spent yesterday shoveling the ice in the driveway).
Today's podcast is part 2 of the year-end look at 2015. There are a few new artists here, but he focus is more on the old fellers who released music this year. I didn't expect that I'd like the Bob Dylan album as much as I have - it's really good. For the new, Mbongwana Star (an African band) has really been climbing the play charts on my house - it's pretty amazing. So let's sit back and listen to these artists on the podcast today: Bob Dylan, Dwight Yoakam, Shelby Lynne, FFS, Florence and the Machines, Wire, Ducktails, Mbongwana Star, Shemekia Copeland, Ryley Walker, Phil and Dave Alvin, Belle & Sebastian, The Mavericks, and Neil Young.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. All previous podcasts are still available on the website as well. Listen, download, leave comments and suggestions, and share with others. Thank you.
For a special Christmas treat my wife and I went to Costa Rica. We were there from Christmas through New Year's Day. It was fantastic - every day was sunny and 90 - with many days having a nice breeze to keep the temperature pleasant. I normally don't care for hot temperatures, but I adapted very well. We stayed in Tamarindo, a tourist town on the Pacific side of the country. The town only has one paved road, and many side roads are close to impassable (if you have a Toyota Yaris, as we did). They also spray the roads with a mixture that includes molasses to keep down the road dust. My wife noticed that the street we stayed on smelled like molasses, and felt vindicated when we read that they use a mixture that includes molasses on the roads.The beaches were beautiful and not real crowded (compared to the New England beaches in the summer). We were in Tamarindo during the busiest week of the year, but it didn't seem overcrowded (but very busy). The food was excellent - lots of fresh fruit and vegetables all at reasonable prices.
I suggest that everyone go to Costa Rica for a visit - we're actually thinking about retiring down there - that's how much we loved it (and real estate prices are pretty reasonable, too).
Today's podcast is not informed by the Costa Rican visit (lots of bad EDM and "beach music" down there), but lots of great tunes to start the new year with Grimes, Patti Smith, Dennis Wilson, Ten Years After, The Moody Blues, Hot Tuna, Buddy Holly, The New York Dolls, Lou Ann Barton, Heart, Marshall Crenshaw, The Byrds, Gene Clark, and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. Thank you for taking the time to stream or download this podcast, or any of the other podcasts, all of which are still available at brennick.net. Please leave comments and suggestions at the site (I do read the comments), and share this with other like-minded friends. Thank you.
I woke up on Monday morning to see that David Bowie had died. It came as a shock - I had just purchased his new album on Friday, and did not know that he was sick (he did not disclose his illness to many people). The suddenness of his passing just days after his birthday and new release multiplied the surprise, and I found it hard to process.
It caused me to listen to his new album, Blackstar, more closely. The songs, which didn't seem that focused when I listened to it over the weekend, now became more requiem-like. I found a new depth in many of the tunes (but I will never like "'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore"). I spent the rest of the week listening to my favorite Bowie albums, as I'm sure many of you did.
His death also altered this podcast. I intended to play one of his songs from the new one, but I ended up scrapping the first set for a Bowie-centric set before returning to the rest of the show's songs. We need to stop these sudden deaths of admirable people (RIP Alan Rickman). So let's sadly listen to David Bowie, Adrian Belew, Mott the Hoople, Iggy Pop, Roger McGuinn, The Clash, Carter USM, Black Grape, Willy Deville, Professor Longhair, Slim Harpo, Irma Thomas, Andra Day, Pastor RL Barrett, and David Bowie.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. Thank you for taking the time to stream or download this podcast, or any of the other podcasts, all of which are still available at brennick.net. Please leave comments and suggestions at the site (I do read the comments), and share this with other like-minded friends. Thank you.
Sarah Palin endorsed Donald Trump in Iowa this week. That wasn't surprising, as Trump has been pushing his outsider status to a group of voters that would appeal to Palin. What was surprising, however, was the"speech" Palin gave endorsing Trump. It was long, rambling and incoherent.
It sounded extemporaneous, but I've heard that she actually wrote down what she was going to say. Either way, the word salad made no sense as she rambled through a greatest hits of her cliches. Does she still have any credibility among the fans of hers? Could any of them articulate what she was saying? I'm not a Palin fan, although I do see why she has a following. Lately, though, she has made less and less sense in what she is saying. She doesn't come off as folksy anymore, just confused and ill-informed (more so than usual). Trump's not my guy, anyway, but he had to have been embarrassed by what she was saying. It was difficult trying to understand what he was thinking during the speech. A lot of the time it looked like he was thinking, "Let's hurry this up, babe. I've gotten my photo op. Wrap it up."
Let's leave politics behind and listen to great music instead. Very little political overtones in today's choices from The Jam, Love & Rockets, The Cure, David Bromberg, Echo & the Bunnymen, Cocteau Twins, the Mighty Lemon Drops, Michael Penn, Lou Reed, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Harvey Scales & the Seven Sounds, Roomful of Blues, Tom Dickie & the Desires, ans Phil Manzanera.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. Thank you for taking the time to stream or download this podcast, or any of the other podcasts, all of which are still available at brennick.net. Please leave comments and suggestions at the site (I do read the comments), and share this with other like-minded friends. Thank you.
How strange - my post got eaten. I may try to re-write this later - or not. Not sure that I really had much to say, anyway.
So let's listen to today's podcast, which starts with the set that got bumped by Bowie. Tune into Robbie Robertson, The Band, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Rolling Stones, Pere Ubu, Brian Protheroe, The Neighborhoods, The Yardbirds, Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians, Alejandro Escovido, Syd Straw, The Grateful Dead, The Cars, The Golden Palominos, and Gorillaz.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. Thank you for taking the time to stream or download this podcast, or any of the other podcasts, all of which are still available at brennick.net. Please leave comments and suggestions at the site (I do read the comments), and share this with other like-minded friends. Thank you.
Dropping a jazz podcast today - a week late. I've been very behind lately, and need to catch up quickly. Today's jazz podcast is an overview of classic jazz - players and tunes. These are touchstone pieces - jazz I listen to often, even if they're now part of the canon. But that's because they're so good, and so worthy of listening to over and over. So please listen along as I play Charles Mingus, McCoy Tyner, Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Herbie Hancock.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. Thank you for taking the time to stream or download this podcast, or any of the other podcasts, all of which are still available at brennick.net. Please leave comments and suggestions at the site (I do read the comments), and share this with other like-minded friends. Thank you.
I was sick on Friday - the achy, can't focus kind of sick. I don't often get feverish when I get the flu (or some other general sickness), but I wasn't doing well. I was rallying on Saturday (so I thought) - shoveled us out, felt like I'd be fine on Sunday. I woke up at 3:30 AM on Sunday morning, though, and my kidneys were pounding. I drifted in an out of sleep until 6:30, when my body disposed of Saturday's supper through irregular means. Oh, I am sick again, Kidneys are killing me, I am sore, and do not feel like taking anything orally (including coffee or tea). Another lost day.
Fortunately, while I was felling better yesterday, I was able to finish this week's podcast. As you will hear, I am still mourning the losses of people who have died this year. Seems like a never-ending stream now. We'll be getting to more in future weeks (goodbye, Maurice White). So tune in and listen to David Bowie, The Blow Monkeys, Bananarama, Tower of Power, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Taj Mahal, Fleetwood Mac, Blue Oyster Cult, ZZ Top, and Beck. Forgive any misspellings - my typing is worse than usual this week.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. Thank you for taking the time to stream or download this podcast, or any of the other podcasts, all of which are still available at brennick.net. Please leave comments and suggestions at the site (I do read the comments), and share this with other like-minded friends. Thank you.
It finally happened - it's cold. And I mean cold. The temperature outside is -10 Fahrenheit, with the windchill bringing it down to -25. That's winter. It's supposed to get all the way up to 9 degrees today. It's about time. We've had an extremely mild winter (which is supposed to return on Tuesday, with temperatures in the 50's). The whole weather pattern is weird - last year we were dumped on with snow, and this year we have a little bit of snow. As a hearty New Englander, I am finally finding it difficult to enjoy the winter weather patterns. I never used to care about snow, or the cold, but now I am beginning to long for warm days year-round. I must be getting older. Time to see what it's like outside.
Enjoy the cold with this week's batch of songs on my podcast, which includes Fishbone, Junior Walker & the All-Stars, Stevie Wonder, Santana, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Jimmy Reed, Earl King, Joan Armatrading, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Moby Grape, Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks, Sly and the Family Stone, David Byrne & Brian Eno, Al Green, and Earth, Wind and Fire. We need artists to stop dying. It's getting ridiculous.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. Thank you for taking the time to stream or download this podcast, or any of the other podcasts, all of which are still available at brennick.net. Please leave comments and suggestions at the site (I do read the comments), and share this with other like-minded friends. Thank you.
When I think of 1986, I think of the Iran-Contra affair (look it up, kids). Another despicable move by the U.S. Government. Let's not go back to the Reagan era, shall we?
This podcast looks back 30 years at the music makers from 1986. It was the first year the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame had an induction ceremony (it was already passe) - and the Smiths broke up that December. This started when I read a post on Dangerous Minds about the first song on the podcast - "West End Girls" by the Pet Shop Boys ("feel old?" was the point of the post). I went from there to put together a bunch of tunes from that year for all to enjoy. So listen up "keenly while I play for you some brand new musical biscuits" (that's actually from 1987) from the Pet Shop Boys, the Art of Noise with Max Headroom, New Order, the Smiths, Sade, Albert Collins, Laurie Anderson, Husker Du, R.E.M., XTC, Elvis Costello, Dwight Yoakam, Lyle Lovett, Iggy Pop, Smithereens, and They Might Be Giants.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. Thank you for taking the time to stream or download this podcast, or any of the other podcasts, all of which are still available at brennick.net. Please leave comments and suggestions at the site (I do read the comments), and share this with other like-minded friends. Thank you.
I was thinking about telephones the other day, and the history of the telephone in my lifetime. When we moved to Farmington Falls in 1967 one of the features of the old farmhouse we moved into that my mother really liked was the old-fashioned crank telephone. What she soon learned was that antique was less than one year removed from active service, and that many people in the area still used crank telephones with a real live operator (like in Vienna, Maine). In fact, there were not enough "private" telephone lines in the Farmington Falls area, so we were part of a party line for a few years. The good thing about that was that many of us did not use the telephone to talk to people a lot - it was for emergencies and information. Long distance calls were quite expensive back in the day.
Bryant Pond, Maine was one of the last towns in America to change over from crank telephones in 1982, and many people there didn't want to change over. One summer I worked going to many schools in the area and stopped by Bryant Pond, so I knew that they still had the "old-fashioned" telephones - this was probably in 1979. I graduated from college in 1981 - so these phones were still being used after I left college - not so long ago (well, maybe it is long ago - 35 years).
Since then, the telephone revolution has exploded. Many people do not have land lines at all, and cell phones now rule the world. We still have a landline - my wife is slow to change (although I don't think that she ever used a crank phone as I had). I've been told that there is more technology in a cell phone than there was on Apollo 11 (1969). I know that I listen to music and podcasts on my phone - if that counts.
Today's podcast doesn't touch on telephone technology, but many of the songs were done while Bryant Pond was talking to an operator for an outside line. Remember the past with the Spinners, the Five Stairsteps, Eddie Floyd, Otis Redding, XTC, the Pretty Things, the Move, the Friends of Distinction, the Sisters of Mercy, the Teardrop Explodes, Caterwaul, Wayne County, Cass McCombs, Matthew Sweet, and Hawkwind.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. Thank you for taking the time to stream or download this podcast, or any of the other podcasts, all of which are still available at brennick.net. Please leave comments and suggestions at the site (I do read the comments), and share this with other like-minded friends. Thank you.
It's a lazy Sunday today. Oh, sure, there's laundry to be done, marinade to be made, and vegetables to be chopped, but other than that my chores are done. In this post-NFL world there are no games on today to watch (and my NBA team played yesterday and won't play again until Monday), so I only need to do things that my wife wants to do. We'll go out and do something today - who knows what. That's ok - I'm pretty easy going, so beyond finding some time to read my book (currently: The Cartel by Don Winslow), I'm flexible. Life is good (and slow - I like slow).
Another thing I'll be doing is listening to music - won't you join me please? On today' pod we'll hear Villagers, Savages, Eleamor Friedberger, Field Music, Lucinda Williams, Tindersticks, DIIV, Camera Obscura, the Delgados, World Party, Faces, the Black Keys, Howlin' Wolf, and the Ramones.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. Thank you for taking the time to stream or download this podcast, or any of the other podcasts, all of which are still available at brennick.net. Please leave comments and suggestions at the site (I do read the comments), and share this with other like-minded friends. Thank you.
Well, it's that time of year - caucuses and primaries in the United States. Perhaps your state has already voiced its choice. If so, I hope that you participated. If not, go out and vote (or caucus, or whatever). I think that it's important, in this republic, to exercise your right. I voted in my primary. The primaries may be a better time to vote than the general election, as there are more choices for whom to vote - it's generally easier to find a candidate who shares your views. What I don't like is people who aren't voting, and especially those who seem proud of it.
Oh, I understand. The best candidates don't always make it to the final elections, and in truth, many of their views are not different from each other (or different enough). There's too much money in politics, and the big corporations and money influencers control too much of the election. Yet there are important differences, differences that will affect your life that make it important for everyone to vote. In fact, I think that low voter turnout may be a strategy for some politicians - "let's not have an informed electorate find out about the issues and show up to vote - let's have the few voters (who agree with me) make up the majority of votes cast."
When your favorite candidate loses in the primaries, don't become disengaged and not vote - not only have I read articles about not voting at all, but many that have stated that when their candidate loses, the supporter doesn't like the other candidate, and so won't vote in the general election. Well, there are also congress people and local elections (and many states have referendum questions) that also are a part of the general election, and are important as well (if not more). Find out what's going on and vote. Our state will be voting in an important Senate race - I like neither of the front runners, but will find a way to vote for one of them (or maybe a third-party candidate).
So get informed and vote, and find a way to line up behind the primary winners and vote in the general election. A well-informed electorate will help get the country moving forward. And please, vote for my podcast. Lots of great music to be heard this week. Listen to A.R. Kane, Alejandro Escovido, Single Bullet Theory, Madness, Traffic, Every Mother's Son, The Mama's and the Papa's, Donovan, The Shangri-La's, Orange Juice, Al Green, The New York Dolls, Bobby Patterson, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Little Milton, Johnny Winter, and Muddy Waters. Thank you for your support.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. Thank you for taking the time to stream or download this podcast, or any of the other podcasts, all of which are still available at at the site. Please leave comments and suggestions at the site (I do read the comments), and share this with other like-minded friends. Thank you.
I forgot - this morning we sprang forward (springed? - we've been changing verb tenses at a rapid pace. This old-timer remembers the irregular tenses). It was talked about enough, but that doesn't mean that it remained in my memory. My mind isn't springing forward the way it used to. I suppose that it's a sign of age that I'm not as sharp as I was (but that could be a faulty memory, too). I'm not sure it matters all that much, though. I seem to retain most important things, but I will walk into a room and forget what I was going to do just seconds after I forming the thought of what I would do once I got to that room. Sound familiar? I hope it does. I'd hate to think that I'm alone in losing my faculties.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and change all of the clocks in my house, if I remember that once I get to the kitchen.
Helping me to remember on this week's podcast are The Four Tops, Hot Chocolate, The Temptations, The Supremes, Steve Mason, Wild Nothing, Harper & Rowe, Brinsley Schwarz, Sonny Boy Williamson I, Sonny Boy Williamson II, Buddy Guy, Otis Spann, Hugh Masekela, Yaz, and Treat Her Right.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. Thank you for taking the time to stream or download this podcast, or any of the other podcasts, all of which are still available at at the site. Please leave comments and suggestions at the site (I do read the comments), and share this with other like-minded friends. Thank you.
Where were you in 1966? Were you in 1966? I was, and I am remembering it more and more since I began this podcast. I was in Madawaska, Maine that year, and lots of things happened, including the beginning of visits to the principal's office (what a good 1st grader I was!). Music took a leap forward in 1966 - rock bands were beginning to explore what could be done in the studio, and albums took on a new significance. It was the year of Pet Sounds and Revolver - still considered by most as among the best albums of all-time. Aftermath was the first Rolling Stones album with all-original material, and the double album made its debut with Freak Out and Blonde on Blonde.
So set the time machine back 50 years and listen to the Yardbirds, the Count Five, the Rolling Stones, the Byrds, the Beatles, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Buffalo Springfield,the Left Banke, Simon & Garfunkel, the Beach Boys, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Lou Rawls, the Bobby Fuller Four, Bob Dylan, Cream, the Who, and the Kinks.
This podcast is available to stream or download at brennick.net. Thank you for taking the time to stream or download this podcast, or any of the other podcasts, all of which are still available at the site. Please leave comments and suggestions at the site (I do read the comments), and share this with other like-minded friends. Thank you.
Comments
This podcast is the first of two year-end 2015 podcasts. It's not a best-of, as I don't make lists that way. I do read all of the other best of lists, and can violently disagree with their choices. Of course, there is a ton of stuff that I don't listen to as well. I will say that Courtney Barnett's album is probably the strongest I heard this year.
So join me on this post-Christmas podcast and listen to Courtney Barnett, Father John Misty, All We Are, Deerhunter, Rose Windows, Lower Dens, Tame Impala, Julia Holter, Neon Indian, !!!, Sleater-Kinney, Daughn Gibson, Torres, Matthew E. White, and Martin Courtney.
Drengerøv !
- Sorry, I couldn't resist . . .