Kensington Blues

Yeah, once upon a time I would’ve derided this gig as a shameless ploy. Fortunately people can change. Can’t wait to see Krautrock pioneer Michael Rother perform the music of Neu! at International House in August. Should be a pretty amazing experience.

I know it’s unthinkable, but last Saturday when I was at the Cherry Hill Mall getting my dear Macbook repaired for the umpteenth time, I found myself alone with my son, needing to occupy some time while Helen replenished her summer wardrobe. There aren’t many interesting options when you’re at the mall, so I took a walk down memory lane and stepped inside the sort of store that introduced me to music in the first place: an FYE. (more…)

There are plenty of albums Pitchfork likes that I never bother checking out. It’s a longstanding practice that goes back to my days at Stylus. Not necessarily contrarian for the sake of being different, but realizing that there’s so much more ground to cover that it’s not really worth adding my two cents to most Pitchfork-approved releases. Let the rest of the blogosphere chime in.

I’m eating crow this morning thanks to my friend Marc Masters. He’s mentioned them a few times in his Twitter feed (follow him here) and I’m finally getting around to check their Daytrotter session out. I’m also loving eMusic’s Best Albums of the Year…So Far list, which takes me once again through the musical underbrush to discover stuff I haven’t even heard about until now. Which is all to say that I do sometimes miss the manner in which I was exposed to a frightful and delightful amount of music when I was a struggling freelance guy that I just don’t hear now that I’m paying more attention to the tabloid news media.

As an aside, I have to admit that since Lala.com shut down May 31st, I’m coming around to the various legitimate ways to hear new music. Everyone’s recording people now, whether it’s places like Daytrotter or it’s an NPR stream and I’m okay with that. Instead of feeling as I once did that putting a full album stream at MySpace was an invitation to piracy, I’m hopeful that more people are okay with the idea of just listening and enjoying what’s out there and supporting the artists they truly enjoy.

Helen and I are going to see Erykah Badu June 8th at the Tower Theater. Janelle Monae is opening. Am I excited? Hell yeah! Just picked up Erykah’s latest LP at AKA Music. Love her music so much. She’s also one of my favorite entertainers these days. Doesn’t hurt that she’s playing fast and loose with the great sounds Parliament Funkadelic introduced either.

I know I haven’t posted anything music-related here lately. I got myself wrapped around the axle there for a bit about the future of music and couldn’t find a way to unwind. Pretty sure I’ve put that behind me and will happily be posting more stuff that I like here.

So Free Energy? I’m really into their lead single, “Bang Pop.” I know it got a whopping 8.1 on Pitchfork, yet it’s failed to really catch fire online, at least from where I sit. Does it reinvent rock music? Nope. Is it still a ton of fun? Yup! If I weren’t on baby duty tonight I might’ve snuck over to the First Unitarian Church tonight to see them in person. If you were looking for a summer jam that’s not by Ludacris or Katie Perry, you’ve probably found it in this gem.