40 Watt Gigolo

from the album Bhangra Pirates (2017) Weddings are the most joyous ritual in almost any culture.  They bring families and communities together to celebrate their mutual continuation.  Could there be a happier event?  I have had the privilege of attending Christian, Hindu, and Jewish ceremonies - big and small - from giant mafia weddings to quiet justice of the peace affairs.  All are beautiful.  All are fun. I think about that Jewish wedding, a few thousand years ago, when someone said, "Jesus Christ, there is no alcohol at this shindig," to which everyone's favorite radical cleric converted the water into wine.  People must have been psyched beyond belief. Red Baraat are a marvelous party band from Brooklyn.  Their name combines the most festive of colors with the Hindu ritual of the baraat, in which the groom leads a large processional of family, friends, dancers, musicians, and even fireworks to the wedding venue while riding a mare.  What a way to kick off a pa

from the EP  Music For Presence (2017) When I was in college, I called home to my parents every Sunday evening.  My mother would tell me how much she loved me.  My father would interrogate me about my studies, persistently reinforcing his insistence that I keep my nose to the grindstone. One Sunday, I was telling him about a Philosophy course I was enjoying.  Logic.  Saint Thomas Aquinas.  Socrates.  Great stuff.  I then suggested that I might switch out of the engineering school to study philosophy.  He smacked me in the head from nearly a thousand miles away. Now, many moons later, I find myself a more avid aficionado of the great philosophers than ever before.  In my Walter Mitty moments, I am that sage man on the mountaintop espousing wisdom to the throngs of humanity that gather to listen. Over the years, Arthur Schopenhauer has emerged as my favorite philosopher.  In the early-to-mid 1800s, he offered an expanded view of philosophy, extending beyond the puritanical viewp

Last week marked the fifth anniversary of the 40 Watt Gigolo blog !!!  That is longer than many of my friend's marriages have lasted. It all started with a few sentences on a song called The Bronx by Booker T. Jones, featuring a guest vocal by Lou Reed.  Since then, I have had the pleasure to share my thoughts on over 700 songs that I really dig. To celebrate this milestone (and help keep up with the tech), I have modernized the blog format slightly to improve its navigation and social media interconnectivity.  I have also added "subscribe" and "search" widgets.  I hope you like the new additions.  Please let me know what you think. I want to say "thanks" to three of my funky, music loving friends - Righteous T, Jaba B, and Richie Beans - for continuing to visit this site for all these years.  It is great to be connected with you this way.  Also, sending many thanks to The Fuzz Factory with Brett Callero , an internet radio program on SCAD Atlan

from the album Salutations (2017) St. Dymphna's is a small bar in NYC's East Village.  It is on St. Mark's Place between First Avenue and Avenue A, half a block from Thompkins Square Park.  It is a blue collar, bohemian joint that you would be proud to drink in. In his song Till St. Dymphna Kicks Us Out , Conor Oberst writes an ode to those souls who habitually head down to the local bar to have a pint, a puff, and talk about their tribulations.  He treats these patrons with love and sympathy, making this song touchingly human.  In some ways, he considers them inflicted. Oh, you don't have to lie, say you're alright We're just happy that you're here But if you yell and tell me to go to hell Well at least you'd sound sincere Oh, you know it's all a spectacle When you go to take a bow You always did get nervous in a crowd But if you need some company I'll gladly stick around And we can keep drinking till St. Dymphnus kicks us out

from the album What In The Natural World (2017) Poulan is a small town in south-central Georgia with a population under 1,000.  Agriculture is the central industry with farmers primarily growing peanuts, watermelon, and soybeans.  However, Poulan is better known as a notorious speed trap.  Local police haul in roughly a million dollars a year (or $1,000 per resident) nabbing speeders along Highway 82. Jimmy Lee Williams was born in Poulan in 1925.  For nearly seventy years, he never travelled too far from home, mostly working the farmland.  Jimmy Lee was also a gifted blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist.  In 1977 - and again in 1982 - Jimmy Lee Williams was recorded by George Mitchell, a revered musicologist who travelled the backroads of the American South documenting the region's music.  These recordings are captured on the album Hoot Your Belly , a rough and ramble collection of songs that drip with authenticity. One of those songs -  Have You Ever Seen Peaches Growin

from the album The Night Land (2017) Talaboman is an music collaboration between two independently successful electronic artists - John Talabot and Axel Boman - who practice their craft in places like Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Barcelona. I dig their music because I think I get what they are trying to accomplish: achieving beauty in electronica and creating humanness through the tension and connectedness of collaboration.  Together, it is quite a beautiful dance. Their song Safe Changes has really caught my fancy.  The straight, simple beat might be considered unsophisticated if not for its hollowness, evoking an african drum.  The music is equally simple and straight, not focused on impressing the audience, but rather on creating beauty.  You can close your eyes and imagine them at their synths, crafting sound and texture with purity and love. I can't get enough. Click Here to listen to Safe Changes on SoundCloud.

from the album Setting The World On Fire (2017) One of my favorite pool party playlists consists of reggae versions of great songs from the 60's and 70's.  Many were recorded back in the 70's as reggae artists attempted to cross over to British and American audiences. These renditions did not have the "cruise ship" vibe that came into fashion in the 90s, but rather in Jamaican ska and roots reggae styles.  Some of my favorites include: --> Sugar Sugar - Bob Marley & The Wailers --> Suspicious Minds - The Heptones --> Here Comes The Sun - Peter Tosh --> Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da - Joyce Bond --> Black Magic Woman - Dennis Brown This week, Sleepy Wonder released Setting The World On Fire , an album of new material.  My favorite track is Behind Closed Doors , a cover of the 1973 country classic by Charlie Rich.  I really dig it when great country tunes get covered in reggae.  These songs have a naturally slower tempo and often simpler

from the album Pistas de Fuego (2017) In the lexicon of modern music, I struggle with the term "garage." When I think of "garage rock", my head fills with the romantic notion of young, amateur musicians assembling in a makeshift rehearsal space - be it a garage, or the back of a barber shop - and creating something organic.  What the music lacks in fidelity, it makes up for in raw energy and fresh perspective. The Ramones literally started in a garage. Today, I know a lot of forty-or-fifty something guys - some of whom signed indie record deals back in the 90's - who call themselves "garage" rockers.  They are fledgling professional musicians who obsess over reverb and fuzzbox settings, criticize any music from outside their tightly-defined genre, and insist on playing records by The Zombies at pool parties while they sit in the shade and mumble. Which of these is garage rock?  I'm not sure.  Many of the garage bands of the 60's were

from the album The Last Rider (2017) Mellow and melodious, Ron Sexsmith is a singer-songwriter who applies precision to his craft.  You hear it in his vocals, his arrangements, his guitar playing, and the production of his records. The results are stunning.  His music beautifully evoking comparisons to some of the great singer-songwriters of the 1970's, including Paul McCartney. On his latest release, I've been digging the song Who We Are Right Now .  Over many years, I've learned not to listen to artists like Ron Sexsmith through the perspective of genre or commerciality, but rather to close my eyes and simply let the music carry me away. This song's melody and the lushness of its the tones are the perfect remedy for a hectic life.  This afternoon, I escaped the drudgery for a few minutes by sitting in the yard and feeling the warmth of the sun.  I found myself singing this song in my head.  I closed my eyes and let the melody consume me.  It was a brief momen

from the album Fink's Sunday Night Blues Club, Vol. 1 (2017) Fink, a.k.a. Fin Greenall, is an English singer-songwriter and producer who splits his time between London and Berlin.  After spending the better part of two years immersing himself in the blues, he has emerged with a fantastic album that is as notable for its technique as it is for its tone, texture, and vibe. Fink's Sunday Night Blues Club, Vol. 1  was recorded at Greenall's studio in Berlin.  The recording was made "live" - typically in a single take - with each track using a single vintage microphone and a single vintage amplifier.  The resulting vibe is electrifying and timeless.  You feel like you are in some dark backroom from another era.  And, in essence, you are. The album is co-produced by Greenall and Flood.  Flood is notable for his early work as an engineer on some of my favorite records, including Movement by New Order, Wonderland by Erasure, and The Joshua Tree by U2.  He later

from the EP Til The Goin' Gets Gone (2017) Lindi Ortega is a singer-songwriter of the first order. She has a highly developed sense of the tempo, rhythms, and space required to create country and americana soundscapes.  She matches this with a lyrical ability to create visual imagery that play to honest, raw, and romantic truths.  When it all comes together, few songwriters can match her talent. What A Girls Gotta Do is a beautifully stripped down acoustic song that uses minimal piano and lap steel accompaniment create a tender and quiet mood.  From here, she sings a supportive lyric to a woman trying to make her way in the world. Come on baby dance Come on baby here's your big chance Give a little twirl They all came to see a girl Honey don't be shy Though it might make your daddy cry You know a girls gotta do What a girls gotta do to survive Her songs tell stories, create moments, and touch.  Simply the best. This song has not yet been posted on socia

Chuck Berry died yesterday.  He was 90. With accolades rolling in from world leaders and music icons, there is little more for me to add, except this: I think they are getting it wrong . People speak of Chuck Berry as the seed from which Rock and Roll was born.  I see him differently, as a man who stood at the confluence of many great streams of American music and transformed them into a larger collective truth that represented the times and attitudes of his own era.  And unlike others who accomplished this before (and after) him, his "truth" united black and white music in a way that had never been done before, making its result more powerful and more lasting. As music flowed north up the delta, it picked up more influences along the way.  Being from St. Louis, he was exposed to a broader range of music than those from places like New Orleans, Mississippi, or Memphis. You can't have Chuck Berry without having T-Bone Walker first.  I urge you to go back and watch

James Cotton was born in Mississippi, living in the villages around Memphis - like West Helena, Arkansas - before rising to prominence as a harmonica player in Howlin' Wolf's early 1950's line-up. Mentored as a harmonica player by the great Sonny Boy Williamson II, his standout live performances caught the attention of Muddy Waters, who recruited Cotton to become a member of his touring band replacing Little Walter, whose own solo career was taking off. James Cotton became the bandleader of the Muddy Waters band, perhaps the greatest assemblage of blues musicians ever collected.  If you listen to those 1960's recordings, you hear absolute masters at every instrument playing their parts with perfection.  There is nothing else like it. James Cotton then embarked on a glorious solo career that resulted in Grammy awards and global acclaim.  After being stricken with throat cancer in the mid-1990's, he continued to write, record, and perform. I have seen him perf

from the album Harmonies (2017) As of late, I have been obsessing on the sound of a needle in the groove.  In particular, those few seconds between when the needle drops and the music starts.  Why do I love it so?  Is it the warmth of an analog noise floor running through the tubes and out the speakers?  Or, is it the anticipation of the song that is about to play? How do millennials feel about that sound?  Do they get that same rush that I do?  Do they feel anything at all? I want to believe that it is more than a romantic notion.  After all, I've been feeling it since I was fifteen years old. Last night, I found myself holding an old vinyl copy of Upstairs At Eric's by Yaz.  I could hear the sound of the needle in the groove right before the synths explode into Don't Go .  Analog warmth in a 64-bit digital age leaves a sheen that magnificently dates the art.  No different than 35mm slides or old polaroids.   Goodbye Seventies . This gets me to the song Whoa! T

from the album Chills & Fever (2017) When Barbara Lewis began gigging around the Detroit music scene with her father in the early 1960's, she took note of how people in the clubs would come up to her dad and say, "Hey Stranger.  It's been a long time."  She turned this into the #1 R&B hit " Hello Stranger " where she is backed up by The Dells, who's harmonizing line " It seems like a mighty long time " would create one of the most enduring moments in soul. Just the mention of Barbara Lewis' original 1963 version of Hello Stranger gives me chills. Every single time. Yesterday, I came across a Samantha Fish cover version of this classic song.  Apprehensively, I gave it a listen, concerned that the Kansas City blues singer-guitarist would fall short. But there it was, the lush textures, the magical groove, the alluring sustain of the organ, the bubbling accents of the horns, and some very tasty guitar.  This record gets the &

from the album Graveyard Whistling (2017) Thank God for Irish Whiskey Thank the devil for pretty girls Make a mess of all of us lucky boys Happy Saint Patrick's Day from Gigolo-land !!! What a better way to celebrate the day than with this new song by Old '97's?  The galloping beat, the ecstatic fiddle, the whiskey-soaked vocals, and a message to " turn it up, make a little noise ." And as my Irish mother always says, "March the 17th.  Sleep the 18th." Click Here to listen to Irish Whiskey Pretty Girls .

from the album Garden Of Ashes (2017) Duke Garwood is a multi-instrumentalist and musical wizard from London.  He has played on a wide variety of recordings from diverse artists.  I particularly dig that he plays clarinet on Savages incredible debut album Silence Yourself . Taking center stage on his own solo debut, I have been listening to his song Coldblooded for the past two months.  As you might expect, all of the instruments sound great.  The guitar tone lays down a swampy vibe that is accentuated by the "oohs" of the background vocals.  This is the type of song you will undoubtably hear when binge-watching some future show on Netflix. But what I enjoy most about this song are the lead vocals.  Duke Garwood's voice is richly textured with deep, smokey, mellow tones.  Kind of like a good bottle of whiskey or wine. Click Here to watch the official video to Coldblooded .

from their album Last Place (2017) Grandaddy are a band of indie-rockers from Modesto, California.  Formed in 1992, they made great music and great records until a lack of commercial (financial) success resulted in their 2006 breakup. Frontman Jason Lytle then embarked on a memorable solo career. Ten years later, they have reunited and recorded a new album, Last Place .  The record picks up right where they left off, both musically and lyrically. I'm digging the tune Way We Won't , a medium tempo, easy to consume song that you could imagine hearing on a thousand radio stations. The visual imagery of the song is precious: a homeless couple living on the roof of a big-box retail store looking down on the "consumers." Click Here to watch the official video to Way We Won't .

from the album Americana (2017) People all over the world are empty.  Their numbers have reached a tipping point.  Nigel Farage.  Donald Trump. Marine Le Pen.  Where does it go from here? Enter a voice from the past, Ray Davies.  On his forthcoming album - Americana - our sage hero reflects on his fifty-year relationship with America through his own, unabashed prism. His backing band are The Jayhawks.  The record includes spoken word pieces and excepts from his memoirs.  I can't wait to hear it all. The pre-released single is titled Poetry .  It offers a critical view of American's obsession with materialism and suggests that our emptiness ought be filled with poetry, art, and beauty.  I couldn't agree more. Here are the lyrics: I just got back from a walk Down the square, to the local Kentucky To see what was cookin' down there I looked around at the store And the signs and the queues  lining up For that 21st century fare I kneel down and say grace

from the album Sleeping Through the War (2017) All Them Witches are a bluesy-psychedelic band from Nashville.  On their latest album, the song I am particularly digging is Alabaster . The central hook - for me - is the drumming of Robby Staebler.  Everything in this song builds off his incredible beat that churns and chops like a North Atlantic winter storm.  The toms.  The ride cymbal.   It is incredible. I also dig the psychedelic guitar, the Jim Morrison-ness of the vocals, the lift provided by the understated backing vocals, the way the song goes from soft groove to heavy throw-down, and how the bass guitar lurks in the shadows. Brett Callero needs to play this song on The Fuzz Factory !!! Click Here to listen to Alabaster.

from the album Memories Are Now (2017) Many successful songwriters build their songs in layers, much the way a great artist works with oils. Less common is the songwriter who deconstructs the cacophony of sound leaving only the most essential elements, much the way a sculptor does. On the song Memories Are Now , indie-folkster Jesca Hoop works like a sculptor to create a truly fantastic song. The beat and groove - boom, boom boom - is stripped down to the sound of a heartbeat that pulses through the song, giving life and purpose to the song's central instrument: Jesca Hoop's voice. The song also layers in multiple tracks of vocals intended to strike emotive chords.  This technique gives the song an almost-classical vibe.  The results are magnificent. Click Here to watch the official video to Memories Are Now .

from the album Spades & Roses (2017) I'm just passing through In a lonely beaten night Just need somewhere to crash Where I can turn off all the nights Put five hundred miles on my sweet old ride And I'm pulling in the Hotel Amarillo With a bottle of wine I've been playing shows out west With no guarantee That anybody's ever gonna give A damn about me I made enough last night To fill that tank up one more time And I pull on in the Hotel Amarillo With a bottle of wine This is one of those songs that I cannot stop listening to.  Fifty-six times at last count. Songs that do this to me can always be summed up with a single word: honesty.   Honesty in the songwriting.  Honesty in the vocal.  Honesty in the performance and production. This song about the dark side of being a troubadour is blameless and sincere in its depiction, allowing for a more universal understanding that - in some ways - we are all troubadours, doing our thing, rolling from to

from the album The Tourist (2017) Fireproof by Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah is one of my favorite songs of 2017 (thus far) for late night "altered" listening. What gets me going with this song are the bass and drums.  They are actually playing the same part, and - best yet - a part with lots of stops and rests.  I am not certain I have heard this done before.  I dig it. As the song progresses, percussion is added from a simple shaker.  It is fun to hear how impactful the shaker track is in a song devoid of a traditional rhythm arrangement. Once you are locked into bass, drum, and shaker, let your mind run wild through the tonally exquisite soundscape and vocals. I find the guitar playing and tones to be delicious. I like listening to this tune most between midnight and four AM.  I wonder if my neighbors do? Click Here to listen to Fireproof .

from the album Freedom Is Free (2017) Chicano Batman are a Los Angeles-based four piece band that creates a great vibes.  Their unique and eclectic sound intertwines tripped-out early psychedelia, Curtis Mayfield inspired soul, and varied latin stylings ranging from Argentina to Mexico.  It all comes together quite well. On their new album - Freedom Is Free - they add Summer of Love lyrical themes with great effect. My favorite tune (thus far) is Friendship (Is A Small Boat In A Storm) .  The "space echo" of the synthesizer track trades jabs with glorious falsetto and background vocals over a tight rhythm section.  The guitar leads also stands out for its classic '70s tones. Chicano Batman is a fun band.  I hope to catch a live show soon. Click Here to watch the official video for Friendship (Is A Small Boat In A Storm) .

from the album Sick Scenes (2017) At first listen, 5 Flucloxacillan by Los Campesinos! is a catchy, eclectic, indie-alternative song that contains some clever pharmaceutical-related lyrics.  However, when you dig in a bit, this song hits on some pretty deep themes centered on the generational friction between the millennial and the almost-boomer set. It is the subject matter that fascinates me about this song. Most of the cross-generational sniping I hear comes from the older contingent, grousing about know-it-all slackers and their sense of entitlement.  But on  5 Flucloxacillan,  we here the flip-side of the argument, with millennials chastising a generation that is more worried about getting their retirement paid for than fixing the mess they have made of our planet. I particularly dig the use of visual imagery and metaphors from bicycle racing to exemplify the point of view.  Check out this lyric: A peloton of OAPs cycling up behind me Shouting, "Step up your pace

from the album Goths (2017) I grew up in the suburbs of NYC.  In many ways, it was an idyllic place to grow up safe, make friends, and discover my identity. After graduating high school, we largely scattered off the various colleges and returned four or five years later.  Soon after, some of us left our ancestral homes forever for the lights of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta, and a host of other places.  There we came of age, forged new friendships. and - in our own ways-  contributed towards making those cities better. Over the past decade, thanks largely to social technology, that connectedness has been renewed.  Those decades old relationships endure in a way never before possible. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if these virtual relationships once again became physical.  What if we all moved back to our ancestral hometown?  How fun would it be?  No doubt, the experiences we've amassed would help make it a better place. Then I think about how odd

from the album Yours Conditionally (2017) Tennis - the Denver-based married couple of Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley - have established themselves as masters of an enviable, bouncing, indie-pop groove that carries with it a tinge of cheeky satire that makes their music hard to stay away from. Such is the case with the song Ladies Don't Play Guitar , which features Alaina Moore cooing about how the music does not really matter to her, just the love of her man and answering her calling to help her man fulfill his hopes and ambitions.  Note to all those sexist guitarists out there, this is sarcasm . I dig this song for its vibe, the down-tempo disco-ness of the groove, the vocals, and - most of all - its point of view. Click Here to listen to Ladies Don't Play Guitar .

from the album Don't Get Lost (2017) I am really digging the new Brian Jonestown Massacre album - Don't Get Lost - losing myself in its lo-fi experimentation in texture, tone, and vibe.  The record is captivating while never having that stand-out song or exemplary moment.  It is, essentially, about losing yourself in the music and its creation. This spirit of experimentation is best captured on the song Fact 67 .  It starts with looping beats and percussion that sound like they were thrown together in Garage Band.  This sound is perfect in terms of an experimental song's texture and vibe. Next enters the bass guitar, laying down the line and establishing a mighty groove.  The tone of this bass line is particularly captivating, sounding as though someone plugged into the bass amp in your living room and started jamming out a line. Coupled with the drums, this is the sound of a raw, do-it-yourself record.  You can almost feel their breath. Atop this foundation, we a

from the album Let The Dancers Inherit The Party (2017) British Sea Power guitarist, Martin Noble, reportedly describes their latest record as, "an album where individuals are dealing with their domestic and personal lives against a backdrop of uncontrollable international lunacy." Such is the case for the aging subject of the song Bad Bohemian , who struggles to find hope in the face of a bleak and disconcerting future.  Personally, I do not know if that makes one a "bad bohemian" the way, let's say, giving up on a daily four-espresso-and-two-cigarette-breakfast habit might.  But who am I to judge? What I dig about Bad Bohemian is the stirring vibe created by magnificently overdriven guitars coupled with majestically buoyant bass, thunderously rolling drums, and the timeless sheen of Jan Scott Wilkinson's vocals.  This music evokes a gallant neo-psychedelic vibe reminiscent of Joy Division or Echo and The Bunnymen. They are always a great listenin

from the album Alexander F (2017) Call Me Pretty is an uptempo, infectious song with an explosive energy.  I find it fascinating to disect this tune to better understand why I dig it so much. Here are some thoughts: -->  The vocals enter with the first beat.  BANG, you're in the song. -->  The energy of the beat matches the hook lyric of " Hello, I'm running.  Obviously, I'm running. " -->  The doubling of the vocals on the second pass is reminiscent of Romeo Void's Never Say Never , one of the great songs of the new music era. -->  When the vocals go up in range, they are joined by a guitar tone redolent of a European ambulance.  This adds to the song's sense of urgency. -->  To take the energy level even higher, Alexander F. enlists the vocals of Kimbra, one of the finest female singers ever produced by New Zealand.  Her lyrical responses of " just cover your eyes and call me pretty ," and " just call me pretty,

from the album Why Love Now (2017) Last fall, my funky friends and I had a surpassingly heated debate regarding the best month of the year for listening to rock music.  I stood alone in my belief that March is best, while the overwhelming majority insisted, "It's Roctober dude." Aah, those early days of Spring, when a young man's fancy turns to rock and roll.  That first warm day when you roll the windows down, crank the stereo up, and sing along at the top of your lungs.  Does rock music ever sound better? So, let's start off March with some loud, banging music by Pissed Jeans and their song The Bar Is Low . Heavy Metal beats.  Angus-inspired chords.  Full-throated vocals.  Congratulatory lyrics for slackers doing the bare minimum.  Pissed Jeans are the shit.  Turn 'em up !!! Click Here to watch the official video for The Bar is Low .  Funny.