Elephantgun

I saw Elephantgun at the unfortunate Treasure Coast Music Festival in Vero Beach, Florida, but they are a Melbourne, Florida ensemble.  Don't get me wrong.  Seeing Elephantgun was very fortunate.  Hearing them even more so.  They were playing on the North stage where people passed by from the entrance, pavilion or venders and while few stayed I think mostly for fear of impending weather or wishing to be elsewhere, it was amazing to see everyone stop and stare and listen.  These guys are truly fantastic!  While the flamboyant playing of bassist David Pastorius is often the attention grabber (follow the link to hear, but he really is a marvel to watch), Tom Van Dyke is no slouch on the drums nor does guitarist/vocalist Trevor Prince fail to enthrall.  Trevor is a powerful and intricate guitarist which is a striking contrast to his irreverent humor and casual presence as the groups frontman.  His vocal style is a gravelly alternative texture with a quick, concise hip-hop/rap style.  Don't be misled, though, this is definitely a solid rock trio.  They are contemporary but tip their hats in homage to some classic covers like CCR and Fleetwood Mac also.  The style is not similar I think, but I could not help but compare three such phenomenal musicians with Emerson, Lake and Palmer.  Just my age, I suppose, but to say I was impressed was an understatement.  I highly recommend, seeing, hearing and know this band as well as you are able.

Elephantgun

Imagination Theater

Miss old-time radio;  mysteries, fantasies, suspense, westerns-the drama imagination and excitement?  I did.  And old-time radio is entertaining, but there are a limited number of shows preserved and I'm often subjected to the same shows and sometimes I like something new.  Enter Jim French's "Imagination Theater" with its "movies for your mind".

I listen every Thursday to the Seattle-based production over the internet and often in between on the collection cds available at the above website.  Some of the voices might even sound familiar. Jim French has been in radio since 1943, long before Imagination Theater was started in 1972 and syndicated in 1996. Other regulars like Larry Albert are long-time veterens of airwaves and footlights and guests like John Astin, Eddie Bracken, Hans Conreid, Bob Crane, Patty Duke, Russell Johnson (the Professor on Gilligan's Island), Kurt Kasznar, Ruta Lee, Roddy MacDowall, Richard Sanders (of WKRP in Cincinatti), Tom Smothers, and Keenan Wynn might sound familiar.
   The shows vary not just week to week but often 2 shows per 1 hour episode.   My personal favorites are "The Adventures of Harry Nile", "like the river" to quote that classic hard-boiled private eye and the non-recurring stand-alone shows.  Tonight was a "Powder River" episode, though (I listened to the archive tonight.).  That's a western drama in the vein of "Gunsmoke" and I enjoyed it.  Another favorite is "The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes".  I strongly recommend this show!

Noisetrade - Fair Trade Music

"What does it cost?"  "Whaddaya got?"  Noisetrade is a great place for music listeners and independent musicians.  The former is delighted to find diverse and wondrous music sold as listen first then pay what you think is fair.  All that is required is your e-mail addy and your zip code.  I often find a new artist there and then buy other product they choose to sell elsewhere.  The latter gains exposure, a test market and though I doubt anyone gets rich I bet one can do alright.  This is an outlet for music to be honest and not cajole the fickle sensibilities of us mass-market types (peasants!). 
My latest treasure finds were Ivan & Alyosha's Fathers Be Kind and Molly Parden's Le Premier.  Wow!  Fortunately, I can listen now and tip later because as a disabled, fixed income listener,  I fall in a category like to many others who tip, not what a things worth, but what we can afford.  That these talented people are offering their music makes me wish I could afford so much more.

Donnacha Dennehy, 'Grá Agus Bás'

When I read the review for Donnacha Dennehy's, 'Grá Agus Bás' I thought, "This sounds promising."  After listening I thought, "This sounds like crap."  To be fair, it is much louder than crap which generally just lies around being crappy.  I guess it is artistic expression and has its audience, but I'm not it.  When I started listening I couldn't decide if it was being chanted in indigenous American or some middle eastern dialect.  Perhaps culturally meaningful in some way, but not aesthetically pleasing to western ears.  Melody seemed a foreign concept and meaning seemed obscure.  Perhaps I didn't understand but certainly I did not wish to.  When I hear a disturbing noise, I may seek its source and meaning, but if I fail to do so and it merely continues to be annoying, I seek only to stop it, or, at least, stop listening to it.  The All Songs Considered reviewer might rejoice that it is not the stereotypical example that the term 'Irish Music' brings to one's mind.  I despair of it.  This is an example of what I was discussing previously.  Being different for difference's sake is no virtue.  Sins can be different also. 

Jesus Christ Superstar

Well, I'm listening to the original 1970 brown album JC Superstar.  Sort of a pleasant cleansing, like a relaxing warm bath after a difficult, dirty day.  Sorry, but for me that dirty day included the movie soundtrack of the same title.  Nearly the same music too.  I'll never forgive Andrew Lloyd Webber for that.  I cannot understand when someone, in my opinion, massacres their own work, like the numerous butcheries of "Tommy" perpetrated by The Who.  I have repeatedly attempted (always unsuccessfully) to appreciate the movie version of "JC" and I tried again this morning.  I couldn't get through it.  My friend, Terry, did have some good interviews with cast members, so that made it desirable to listen.  I am not a very supportive fan, I guess.  An artist has to grow and keep changing things.  However, I don't feel obligated to follow.  I generally stick to the works I liked them for in the first place and will expand to other artists as I expand  (or digress as the case may be).  It reminds me of a conversation I once had with a friend concerning Paul McCartney's music.  My friend said that artists must change and grow.   "He can't keep playing 'Band On The Run.'"  "True", I said, "but that's the beauty of recorded music.  I can keep listening to it."  I try to keep an open mind and ear, but I've never latched on to change just for change or for following trends.  I am as likely to put on something old I've never heard as to put on something new.  I've heard Superstar for years and I still like it.  I just had a thought.  Ya know, a new interpretation with maybe Cee-Lo Green and Bruno Mars, now THAT would be interesting.  Over 40 years gone by!  A reinterpretation a few years later is only an inferior copy of the original.  I find it inferior.  The music and lyrics are not as edgy, like they've been censored.  Could it be that I am not the target demographic here.  God forbid!  Just for that I'm going to bed and when I close my eyes everything else (other than what I dream about) will cease to exist.  So there!