Dr. Rat

A question: What does liking this place have to do with the Machiavelli coming to mind (or not)? No, two questions, what brought our Florentine friend to mind, exactly? --eric

But we live for this boring crap! Or is it just me? --eric

Well, you could have at least given us a heads up on it....I would not have gone thru every page, but some of the early pages had some "classic" babe photos I would have saved on disc if I had known they wouldn't be around for a few years..... Try here. Last archived in February, but better than nothin'. --eric

Ellington, for genius and dignity. Art Pepper, for the capabilities of honesty and self-criticism. Armstrong for genius and humanity. Ruby Braff for steadfastness and "robustness." Lester Young for sublimnity. Tom Harrell, cause he can just touch me (even before I knew his story). --eric

Did you know your question would lead me HERE, Berigan? To how many people is attributed the quotation beginning "There are three kind of lies . . ." and do they all smoke cigars? --eric

I saw Empire on opening day in a old-time big screen theatre in downtown Philly. I was impressed! Though, when I've caught bits of the movie later on cable I've been underwhelmed. maybe i'm too old? --eric

We played this on the air on Friday (our usual day for crazy shit, and this seemed to qualify). It was good even without benefit of the masterful two-camera technique. --eric

And, now, ladies and gentlemen, for my next trick . . .

Well, Branford gets pretty doctrinaire in his own way sometimes, (read some of his statements after he lost the Columbia gig) but he certainly doesn't deserve disrespect or a bad rep for that. Jsngry: You might want to check more of this cd out. I've been sorta respectful but lukewarm about Branford, but I think you might count this one a cut above his usual. --eric

Nah, if that weird Dr. Rat post (now deleted) didn't kill it, you're not going to kill it. B-) Not into phychedelia myself, but there must be some Gil fans around here... It wasn't me! I forgot to delete the cookies on one of the common-use terminals at the station and some wise-ass who wasn't me posted that now-deleted post regarding social lubricants. My own brand of wise-ass is distinct and inimitable. --eric

Oh yeah. Adding that today. It's nice. He's showing off his tone and chops and feeling on some laid back material, and I have to say, it's lovely. --eric

Seconds to all the above. If you can stand listening to lower-fi stuff, there's a lot of sixties/early seventies recordings that are really nice. Marley's Lee Perry Recordings: African Herbsman, etc. (careful, much duplication btw different releases) Burning Spear's two Studio One recordings (out on Heartbeat, I think) Early Maytals (these guys could rave in the best black church style) Also, better recorded: Justin Hinds' two Island recordings. --eric

The delta, I believe, refers to the Yazzo River delta (where it meets the Mississippi) in the Northwest part of the state. Lots of drainage work in the late 19th/early 20th century turned into a profitable capitalist farming district. The MS part of hill country is more North Central and North East from what I can figure. The blacks who moved there for work came from all over the South, and it was out of this confluence of people that the blues emerged to white folks. At least that's the story I got. --eric

Right you are. How far are these two regions apart? --eric

From what I hear Burnside doesn't really have much input on the sampling and looping and stuff. More a Blue Note remix deal, I hear. Burnside won't be the last of the great musicians out of the delta, there's plenty of good stuff coming from down there. Bobby Rush (who has a great new cd out) still tours the chitlin circuit, for instance (Bobby ain't a guy from the sticks, but his music still got some Yazoo water in it.) Check out Living Blues. They'll keep you apprised of what's coming out. --eric

Small Change. And you might want to try his soundtrack for that Copolla film he lost all that money on. I've also really grown to like his two demo cds: Early Years Vols. 1 & 2. He sounds vaguely like Townes Van Zandt. The spare setting really let's the twisted melancholy of his tunes come across. --eric

I voted swingers, but am beginning to see the error of my ways--I think though the orchestrations, which often bother me, both me less when the song is moving. But as to Cole/Sinatra, Cole sings melody, while Sinatra puts over style with to my ear far less concern for what works musically and far more concern for his self-potrayal. I'm not talking dichotomies here, there a little of both on each side, of course. Like prose has rhythm, only poetry's got more. --eric

They sound fine. I have a few of their sets--well selected and fairly well remastered. Better work than my Proper stuff. As to legitimacy, I have only stuff where copyright is out, and I suspect they are either doing their own remasters or licensing them, but I don't have any firm info on that. --eric

With people making shadow animals and playing with play-doh? --eric

I burn a fair deal of stuff for the station where cues have to be right, and I've found when I burn higher than 12x I have an appreciably higher rate of track cue drift (eg beginning of track cue .3 seconds into the track, which usually isn't so noticeable at the beginning, but each track has a little .3 second yelp at the end. --eric

And I still can't get a decent knish in TC! Move inland already! --eric

My thing is that the way you understand the truly terrible is to tell (or hear) a good joke about it. I think there's something to the Henri Bergson line (laughter is cruelty), but I think it goes well beyond that. Frankly, I don't think forced/enforced solemnity does much to meet the occasion, either. --eric

How was it? I've always wanted to read this because he brough us Toole, and I figure anyone who did that ought to be pretty good himself. Or no? --eric

Jesus. Have to say that I think its important to laugh at stuff like this. Also I think its important to have sympathy for people even when they are so tragically selfish as to kill themselves. Tragic selfishness might well head the list of things that are human. It's alright to joke, but don't tell yourself that this is somehow less horrible because they person who killed herself had a flaw you find dispicable. Much wisdom in the "there but for the grace of God" attitude. --eric

Don't know the Gonzalez brothers personally, but both of them have always struck me as absolutely in earnest when it comes to music. Some folks who are good at music just aren't very good at the "always meeting new people and making a good impression" side of things. I run into this all the time, even with local musicians whom I see all the time--they just can't seem to get around the ambiguity of our relationship. Unless they're real jerks, I just give them the benefit of the doubt and move on as best I can (even if I can't understand a damn thing they say!). --eric