Saturday, October 25, 2003
One of the small pleasures that is involved with our downstate practice is renting a car and listening to WFUV as I drive to wherever it is that justice needs to be served. Yesterday the call of the cause of justice was heard in Orange County, county seat, Goshen, New York. I reckon that's about number 34 in my quest to appear in all 62 of the counties in the State, and while I wasn't expecting a parade, I didn't think that I'd find an ex parte order waiting for me, either. I managed to salvage the situation, but I am still pretty annoyed by the whole thing. Still, it was a perfect day to be on the Palisades Parkway, and the radio was full of revelations.
One of the first things I heard was a soul singer I didn't recognize. "It's not Aretha," I thought, "and it's not Ruth Brown, of course. I wish I knew more about this music-- whoever this is, it's really good. Probably some sort of regional artist, or maybe somebody who had some songs chart in the '60's-- damn, this is good." Then I thought, "Man, this is a fantastic recording. You can hear her breathing-- interesting stylistic choice there-- and the band sounds really bright for something from this vintage." Come to find out, it was Joss Stone, the 16 year old English girl who has been featured on NPR and in the Sunday Arts and Leisure section, and other places I tend to ignore when it comes to music because of their bland liberal homogeneous taste. Well my bad. Joss Stone is the real deal.
Some other revelations: a band called Snakefarm, doing a perfectly wonderful "Streets of Laredo." Of course "Laredo" is like "Happy Birthday"-- you can screw it up, but it takes some doing. I must have been in a great mood, because I found myself really digging Elvis Costello's "My Little Blue Window" even though I don't usually like Elvis when he is being lyrically complex but not rocking. The Thrills are the sort of band I'd have picked up on a while ago in my hipster days. Just because I'm late to the party doesn't mean I've missed out, though. Good band. And, although I blush to admit it, I heard a cut from the new Shelby Lynne disk which makes me think I may have to check it out. I Am Shelby Lynne is kind of a guilty pleasure for me, but I gave its follow up a miss. On the strength of "10 Rocks" I think I need to pick up a copy of her latest side.
One of the first things I heard was a soul singer I didn't recognize. "It's not Aretha," I thought, "and it's not Ruth Brown, of course. I wish I knew more about this music-- whoever this is, it's really good. Probably some sort of regional artist, or maybe somebody who had some songs chart in the '60's-- damn, this is good." Then I thought, "Man, this is a fantastic recording. You can hear her breathing-- interesting stylistic choice there-- and the band sounds really bright for something from this vintage." Come to find out, it was Joss Stone, the 16 year old English girl who has been featured on NPR and in the Sunday Arts and Leisure section, and other places I tend to ignore when it comes to music because of their bland liberal homogeneous taste. Well my bad. Joss Stone is the real deal.
Some other revelations: a band called Snakefarm, doing a perfectly wonderful "Streets of Laredo." Of course "Laredo" is like "Happy Birthday"-- you can screw it up, but it takes some doing. I must have been in a great mood, because I found myself really digging Elvis Costello's "My Little Blue Window" even though I don't usually like Elvis when he is being lyrically complex but not rocking. The Thrills are the sort of band I'd have picked up on a while ago in my hipster days. Just because I'm late to the party doesn't mean I've missed out, though. Good band. And, although I blush to admit it, I heard a cut from the new Shelby Lynne disk which makes me think I may have to check it out. I Am Shelby Lynne is kind of a guilty pleasure for me, but I gave its follow up a miss. On the strength of "10 Rocks" I think I need to pick up a copy of her latest side.
// posted by Bill @ 12:40 PM 
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