From the Cutting Room Floor
posted by Tom Moon on January 22, 2010 at 10:13 am
in Kool and the Gang, Earth Wind & Fire, R&B of the 70s, Wild and Peaceful
Every now and then, I post an entry that was written for 1000 Recordings but didn't make the final cut. In the case of Kool and the Gang, my alltime favorite album is Live at the Sex Machine, which is incredibly hard to find and therefore not the best choice for a book dedicated to discovery. I settled on Wild and Peaceful, which is a totally solid record, and then held it back because it seemed R&B from this period was a bit overrepresented -- what with War, the incredible output of Motown and Philly International, etc.
Majors Out of Hip Hop Now!!!
posted by Tom Moon on January 06, 2010 at 11:59 am
in jazz is dead, Vijay Ayer, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Magos Herrera, Grechen Parlato
Maybe the cure for what ails hiphop can be found in recent jazz history?!?!?
Moon Best of 2009
posted by Tom Moon on December 16, 2009 at 10:57 am
in year in music, ten best in music 2009, best music of 2009, Blk Jks, Phoenix, St Vincent, Norah Jones, Maxwell, Dirty Projectors
Music lovers were treated to a year of buoyant, reality-defying creativity this year.
List Season
posted by Tom Moon on December 08, 2009 at 10:20 am
in decade in music, Radiohead, Norah Jones, U2, Britney Spears, Amy Winehouse, Wilco, Beck, Arcade Fire, Bela Fleck
So we’re deep into list season, and in music that means another excuse for bloggers and critics to assume the thinking-man position and pore over the magnificent bounty of the year, decade, epoch, etc.
Artist Update: Norah Jones
posted by Tom Moon on November 17, 2009 at 10:59 am
in Norah Jones, The Fall, Come Away With Me, pop divas, Beyonce, Kanye, Jacquire King, Blossom Dearie
Thoughts on Norah Jones' career makeover, and her new album The Fall.
Artist Update: Rickie Lee Jones
posted by Tom Moon on November 10, 2009 at 3:42 pm
in Rickie Lee Jones, Balm in Gilead, Pirates, Richard Thompson, Vic Chesnut, Victoria Williams, singer-songwriters
Much has been written about the challenges faced by veteran recording artists – how they’re expected to create music that’s familiar enough to engage existing fans yet is somehow more than a pale echo of works from ages ago.
We Get Letters
posted by Tom Moon on October 26, 2009 at 10:46 am
in Oasis, (What\'s the Story) Morning Glory?, Madonna, "Holiday, " Noel Gallagher
A reader writes: “How could someone in their right mind leave off {Whats The Story} Morning Glory? from the list of 1000 recordings to hear before you die? That album was a true cultural event, and not just in the UK ( where it remains the third most successful album of all time after Queens Greatest Hits and Sgt Peppers) Even in America, when this came out it was pandemonium! Few other bands in recent memory had such an effect! To this day that album stands up as one of the greatest British guitar rock albums of all time.”
Dept. of “On Second Thought”
posted by Tom Moon on October 15, 2009 at 9:05 am
in Beethoven string quartets, Leonard Bernstein, Vienna Philharmonic, Takacs Quartet, Quartetto Italiano
Several readers have asked me about near misses and choices I made compiling 1000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die that I might look at differently now.
