Musically speaking.....

Sometimes a song just hits you right between the eyes and makes you shiver down your spine. This happened to me this morning when I was listening to the Neil Young song "Revolution Blues". It's on his 1974 album "On The Beach" and it concerns the Charles Manson murders. It sounds like no other NY song he has ever recorded, both lyrically and musically it is incredibly violent.

I've got the Revolution Blues,
I see blood in fountains,
10 million dune buggys
coming down the mountain.
I hear that Laurel Canyon
is full of famous stars,
I hate them worse than lepers
and I kill them in their cars.

The music is so weird for Neil, it has this big fat Bootsy Collins-like bassline and he sings it in such a croaky voice I can't say I've ever really noticed the lyrics before. This morning I did and it sent tremors throughout my body. Jesus, what was it like to hear this song when it first came out? I can only imagine it would be comparable to Britney Spears penning a song about Jeffrey Dahmer!

Eat Me Body One More Time......

Sorry, I am physically incapable of resisting a pun!

I seem to have hit on a run of luck when it comes to attending gigs lately. Last night we went to see Eddie Izzard road-test new material at a small club in Greenwich Village. A totally sold out show but Alma knew one of the bartenders and he snuck us in (and provided us with bottomless glasses of wine but that’s another story).

Eddie is completely bonkers and definitely a genius - only He could do comedy that ranges on subjects as varied as Jesus the carpenter examining the workmanship on the cross, to sneezing ducks taking over the world (bird flu), to natives from Fuji who kiss sharks and how if you stick your finger up a shark’s nose it’s mouth will open. It’s definitely comedy with a difference.

A couple of weeks ago I caught Jello Biafra playing supported by Alice Donut, probably my all-time favorite band. That’s a dream line-up for me, Jello hasn’t performed music in years, he is mainly known as a left-wing spoken-word artist these days and it was great to see him back in the fray causing mayhem just like the old Dead Kennedy days.

The week before that we caught Tracy Chapman playing at the Used Book Café - my-favorite-place-in-New-York-that-is-not-a-bar. She is an incredible live performer with a voice that makes you wanna cry and rejoice at the same time. I was getting flashes of Nina Simone as she sang and I can’t pay her any higher a compliment than that.

Ah the joys of music and the joys of living in NYC where we are spoiled for choice.