40 Watt Gigolo

from the album Darling Arithmetic (2015) Last night, I broke out my secret strawberry daiquiri recipe.  It is likely not that different than a thousand other recipes, but this one is mine and it is a secret.  That counts for something. I took my dogs and walked down to a floating dock on a secluded southern lake.  I sat there as the late evening turned to night.  Drinking and thinking about the past eighteen months while my dogs patrolled the dock waiting for the sweeping bats to get close enough to die. I thought about how everything derailed for me over those months.  But somehow, I stuck it thru and just might have come out the other side.  I think of the friends I've lost along the way.  Some forever, others hopefully not. Then I started thinking about this blog.  Thinking about how last August I all but shut it down only to find I could not walk away.  I also thought about the promises I made to myself to find my way back into the world of music. It feels like I'

from the album Fly Right (2015) Nothing like an 89-second metal explosion to keep an insomniac from going back to sleep.  That and too much sugar in the margarita mix. Anyhow, great job naming a band The Blind Shake!  It sure got me to check them out. And I'm glad it did.  This song has an almost surf guitar sensibility in its metal wrapper.  You hear it in the drumming, the descending chord progression, and the central riff.  In fact, during the intro, I almost expected them to break into The Munster's theme song.  I dig it. Click Here to listen to The Blind Shake perform Holy Road .

from the album The Embers Of Time (2015) This morning, I heard the song Some Days I'm Golden All Night by Josh Rouse for the first time and I can't stop digging it. This song has a city-boy-crossing-the-country-on-a-greyhound sensibility that reminds me of Harry Nilsson singing Everybody's Talkin' (even though the Midnight Cowboy metaphor is reversed). Some Days I'm Golden All Night shares many of the finest attributes with the Harry Nilsson classic.  Of course, this starts with the songwriting.  A simple, rambling melody with a vocal line that is easy to sing along with the exception of some higher-register notes that are fun to try hitting.  The lyrics provide gentle visual imagery that matches the vibe.  The vocals are delivered pure and clean.  The arrangement rises and falls, carrying the listener along the journey. But my favorite part of this song is the drumming.  The galloping beat from the brushes on a snare is perfect for the rambling vibe.  I

from the album A Fool To Care (2015) Whispering Pines is a wonderfully spacious ballad that was written by Richard Manual and Robbie Robertson.  It first appeared in 1969 on The Band's second album, The Band . This week, the song was released on Boz Scaggs' latest album as a duet with the splendid Lucinda Williams.  Her vulnerable, whiskey-soaked vocals leads off the track, backed a five piece band featuring rich accordion tones and a haunting keyboard track.  Listening to these two instruments play off each other is spellbinding. I particularly enjoy how the accordion leads during Lucinda Williams' vocals and then takes a backseat to the keyboard during the Boz Scaggs verse. Oddly, I do not like it so much during the parts when they are both singing.  Perhaps it is because their voices are each so captivating that they distract from one another.  It is a curious thing. The other thing I really dig about this song is how it takes me back to that sophomore album