Pete Fountain is how I first learned of the existence of New Orleans. When I was a little kid, my grandpa took me to hear Pete Fountain and Al Hirt in concert. Then I got a double-cassette collection of Pete’s music and fell in love. I’ve heard a lot of great music from the Crescent City since then, but Pete will always have a special place in my heart for being first. Here’s my favorite Pete Fountain performance:
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I’m going to say it: This is a perfect record. It’s like stepping into the world of Schoolhouse Rock and getting to live there, with all that sunshiny 70s soul. Why Phoebe Snow isn’t a household name can only be because she so strenuously resisted categorization.
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My first introduction to Nick Cave came in 2005 when I went four nights in a row to the Little Theatre in Rochester, NY, to watch the concert film and documentary Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man, in which Cave is featured singing the title track and talking about Cohen. I enjoyed him in the film, but didn’t really dig in.
Then in 2010, Nick Cave’s song “O Children” was featured in my favorite moment in Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1:
I decided it was time to dig in.
Push The Sky Away came out two years ago. We just got a vinyl copy at the store this week and it’s great. Moody and rich and just what you want to hear when it’s down to the last few people on a Wednesday night in the winter.
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What a killer record. Released in 1980, this album finds Bowie on very solid ground, cranking out left-of-center pop-rock hit after hit. You’ll find “Fashion” and “Ashes To Ashes” here, but every song could be a radio staple.
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Huzzah! My copy of this record just arrived a few minutes ago. I haven’t even opened it yet, but I’m so excited to finally hear it. I heard an excerpt last year and immediately pre-ordered a copy.
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I don’t know how this happened, but somehow I made it 41 years without ever listening to Graham Parker. I had a friend in Tucson who was into Parker, but I didn’t know this friend very long and moved before I listened to any of his records. Today I was flipping through the “P” bin at the store and came across this live solo album. I’m a sucker for records like this: electric guitar + voice + nothing else — think Billy Bragg and Warren Zevon. So this looked right up my alley. I’m writing as side one is finishing, and I really dig it.
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This is my favorite Dire Straits record, followed closely by the live album Alchemy. I was introduced to this record in high school, sometime around 1988 or ’89, by Jeff Smith, who played guitar in a band with a bunch of my friends. Love Over Gold is, for me, the apex of Knopfler’s period of writing extended, complex songs for the band. This album is by turns haunting and lovely and thrilling, with plenty of guitar heroics throughout.
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Sure, I’ve heard the hits, and I was married for years to a big Hall & Oates fan. I also like Hall’s work on Robert Fripp’s album Exposure. But this album was a revelation. Cleverly crafted pop songs with gorgeous production values. You’ll know at least one song — the hit “She’s Gone.” This record is the perfect music for a summer afternoon in 1973, the year both it and I were released. And it sounds pretty darned good now, too.
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Michaela Anne was just on the front page of Rolling Stone’s website, and she’s been blowing up in the country/Americana press. She was recently named one of five country singers to watch in 2015. She’s coming to Webster’s on February 12 for a FREE show. Erin Condo will open for her. NOT TO BE MISSED.
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I first received this album from my friends Jill and Matt (aka Hot Breakfast!)in Delaware. It’s a wonderful pop album that’s got a bit of a concept and a lot of smart writing. It’s still the only record by The Flaming Lips I’ve ever heard, and it’s an album I go back to regularly.
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