More Love for Clare & The Reasons...on WNYC

Earlier in the week, Brian Lehrer had Neil deGrasse Tyson on for a discussion of Pluto, our dubious celestial neighbor. The segment ended with Clare's song "Pluto". Brian had Clare on yesterday to discuss the song, however briefly.

Of Time Locks, Tetra Cities, and Dymaxion Automobiles: Buckminster Fuller and the Whitney Exhibit

I recently went to the exhibit at the Whitney Museum showcasing the ideas, designs, and intentions of one R. Buckminster Fuller, who, besides having one tremendous name, was a sort of mad scientist for the forces of Good. He was a true visionary, and the kind of bold thinker who not only thought up new methods of solving just about every hiccup in the facets of human existence, he completely rethought the very nature of human existence in and of itself. In some ways, it seems that Mr. Fuller was not of this dimension. He seems to be a visitor from another Earth in the realm of the multiverse, who somehow escaped through a multi-dimensional wormhole and wound up here for a little while.

Besides the practical applications of his designs, structures, devices, and maps, he had a knack for names and logos. "Time Lock" and "Dymaxion" are my personal favorites, and the look of his Dymaxion Car is my kind of ride:

A dirigible on wheels!

WNYC recently had the curators of the exhibit on the Lopate show and This Recording's Molly Young visited the exhibit and had her own take on it.

Speaking of This Recording, in non-Dymaxion Time Lock Thermomovementation Device News, they've had some other recent articles of note:
Fungi
The Deliciousness (or lack there of) of Disgusting Food
Another Chapter In Their Continuing Valid Obsession With Redheads
(See Previously: In Praise of Jews)

Regina Spektor on Soundcheck

A couple days ago, New York's favorite immigrant played a couple rare tracks whilst in the Soundcheck studio, including the very nice "Folding Chair":


Schaefer mentions that Regina opened for the Strokes, and he remarks how far she has come and how big the show at McCarren (tomorrow) will be, but he doesn't mention that her opener is one of those Strokes! Step on it, Schaefer!

Reasons to Stay in New York

No this is not a report about Clare and her band deciding against leaving town. But it is about this town.

This city has become too expensive, maybe even too expansive, too susceptible to change, too stagnant, and above all, it's become a rather contradictory place to live. But on this weekend's excellent edition of Studio 360, taped at the recent Aspen Ideas Festival, host Kurt Andersen gave us some significant food for thought as to why this may not be a city so easily forsaken:

Black Cab Sessions: The National, Langhorne Slim, Daniel Johnston, Others

This is a pretty neat idea. Film an artist or artists playing acoustically in the back of a black cab in London.
The producer recently appeared on Soundcheck:


Web Site

The National:


Langhorne Slim:


Daniel Johnston:

Norah Jones Blueberry Movie Madness

El MadmoNoJo (whose run of secret Living Room appearances are probably done forever what with the very public 10th Anniversary celebration) hits Hollywood in the very sketchy-looking My Blueberry Nights, a Wong Kar-wai film that also stars Cat Power, Jude Law, Natalie Portman, and David Strathairn, which made an infamous debut at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

However the movie ultimately turns out to be, and however critics find Norah's acting debut, she's taking it in all stride, like she seems to do with everything that happens to her. What a gal.

And what a publicity run!

On Letterman:


On Lopate, with Wong:

(Bonus: Wong also stopped by Soundcheck)

On Fair Game

Gotham City Development Update

It's been a busy last few days in the world of NYC development, primarily in regards to the Atlantic Yards and the Hudson Yards. There's also been a big step back in the future of building a new Penn Station. Haberman laments the stagnation on some of these projects and more importantly, on the ever slowing pace of needed MTA infrastructure improvement. It wouldn't be a crime if the Nets don't get an arena in Brooklyn (don't worry, they will) but it will be a travesty if the 2nd Ave subway line is never built. And forget this writer's own daydreams of extending the G train to Coney Island and building an underground connection between the Atlantic Ave mega-station and the C/G stop at Lafayette...it now looks like the big, gorgeous Fulton hub will not happen. Shame all around.
WNYC had two segments on the Yards situation yesterday:



In other news, a city legislator wants to make "Gotham City" the official nickname of New York:

Edison Eats It

Awhawhawhaw, 17 years before Thomas Edison thought he brought the first recorded voice into history via the singing of "Mary Had A Little Lamb", a Frenchman named Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville recorded 10 seconds of a woman singing "Au Clair de la Lune". He used a phonautograph.

Sonic Parthenon at SXSW! Not Really!

NPR Music has massive coverage.

WNYC's Soundcheck was in Austin for 2 days, here are the clips (the first of which features Peter Buck and Wil Sheff):

Trent Ostvig posted this video of one of the most talked about new bands, Times New Viking:

Out of the 1700 bands to check out two of them not getting the bigger press that should are Langhorne Slim and his outfit, and a little pop thing called Clare & The Reasons:

Recent Radio Highlights

The Hold Steady and Art Brut live from the 9:30 Club

Tommy Ramone on Soundcheck:


Citizens Band on Soundcheck:


Via Audio on Fair Game

Orba Squara on Fair Game

Looker on Steve Lamacq

Ravens & Chimes on WOXY

Scotland Yard Gospel Choir on WOXY

This is not recent, but the band recently played again, so check this out in the meantime, Pela on KEXP

Punk Turns 30

No, not Theresa K's awesome photo blog (though that is a great site to visit, especially right now), but a look back at the year in which the punk rock era hit its critical apex. WNYC's Soundcheck did two segments on punk yesterday, one with Spin Magazine, and another with Handsome Dick Manitoba:


And just because they tease you with snippets of music:

All Hail The Band Manager!

It's no secret to those in the know that the dreams of one Mr. Pennypacker consist of one day leaving this sixth-rate wannabe hipster music blog behind for the golden shores of band management...iana.

But until that day possibly comes, WNYC's Soundcheck has a look at the art of the band manager:

Just a Teensy Bit More of Camera Obscura

To end the weekend, let's sit down at WNYC's Soundcheck who this past Thursday had the band come in for a small performance.

The "Williamsburg" Confession

First a link to the piece that got me started on writing this - the toxic brew that it is there is something I haven't given much thought about, even after remembering this Lopate show about the decades-old oil leak in Greenpoint. But anyway...

This is the story of Williamsburg. Actually it isn't. It's the story of "Williamsburg". It's the story of me and my relation to this Brooklyn neighborhood not just as a location but as a concept, in the context of what I knew growing up, what my experience has been in the last few years, and what it all means now. So it's a story of my life with Rock N Roll and another city - Detroit - but it's really best to just call it the story of "Williamsburg".

When I first planned on writing this story, I thought the moment I would talk about happened in 2001 or 2002. But I was wrong. According to this, it happened in 2003 which means I must have known about it sooner. That link is good because it brings up the other city in this story.

But there I was - apparently in 2003 - sitting on the can, as I usually am, reading Maxim's Blender magazine when I discover that Williamsburg is the "Most Rock N Roll City" in the USA. What? I must have thought one of two things, depending on what I knew at that point. It was probably "A bunch of trendy hipsters have made a notorious Brooklyn neighborhood the Most Rock N Roll City in the USA?". But initially I thought this was the moment I discovered Williamsburg to not be a slum at all, let alone that the hipsters made it number 1. Let's backtrack:

Growing up on the complete opposite end of Brooklyn, I had always been told by my paranoid, enclosed, and hateful family that Williamsburg and Greenpoint were two of the many bad neighborhoods in Brooklyn and we would never ever go there for any reason ever. But I recall going once in the 80's or early 90's, and it did live up to those characterizations. As self-hating Jews, we felt uncomfortable around the Hasidim that lived up there, and as a bunch of racists, my family hated the dark skinned half of the population there even more. And that's talking specifically about Williamsburg. We never ventured to Greenpoint but we thought of it as the same.

Plow ahead to the early 2000's. Very early. I helped chaperon a trip for my old high school to Greenpoint. I was stunned. It was a nice, safe, clean long time Polish neighborhood. The irony of this was that my family comes from Poland. But since this wasn't Jewish Polish, it didn't count. For all my family knew, it was a ghetto. So this was the first stunning moment.

Now let's enlarge the story. It's 2002. After doing some reading, I learn over a short period of time that there is some sort of rock revival going on in the independent music scene. I see the same bands mentioned over and over - The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Hives, The Vines. Reads cool. So I checked 'em out and except for the Vines, I got into it. Suddenly I was - music wise but never in dress or attitude - Hipster Numero Uno. This was in college down in Philadelphia where most of my friends were peaking in their rock interests, primarily stopping at the mid-70's. Some moved on to other things, some of which I latched on to (Ween) and some things I did not (thrash metal). So my thing was the new garage rock.

In addition to seeing and hearing these bands, I learn about their friends and associates and I see that there are actual little scenes going on. Scandinavia seemed the biggest scene outside the USA (England was surprisingly lacking - having only produced The Libertines and later on the gimmicky but fun band The Darkness). In the USA, two cities seemed to be popping up again and again as scenes. New York and Detroit. And specifically in New York, the Lower East Side and Williamsburg.
Hold the phone. Detroit? That run down little Rustbelt relic? There are white people still living in Detroit? And they play rock n roll? I thought Eminem and Kid Rock were all that came out of the Motor City at that point. But nope, there was a whole cadre of garage bands that the Rock World was spying on after the impressive start of the White Stripes.
Hold the phone again. Williamsburg? What the....Williamsburg? Ok, I knew Greenpoint, right next door, was not what I thought it was but Williamsburg? Hasidim and ghetto thugs? Abandoned industrial factories (perhaps not surprisingly, it's own little Rustbelt Riviera)? A band called the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were "from Brooklyn". There are rock bands from Brooklyn? Since when? Certainly not while I was there. Right...? Right...? I thought all the artists and hip people were still in Soho and Chelsea. Holy cow!

So that's how it started. Before moving back from Philadelphia (which itself has/had a small but very immobile garage rock scene), I reacquainted myself with my hometown (and if you're wondering why Detroit matters in this story at all, just hold on). I learned about a lot of these good New York bands - the Strokes, YYY, the Mooney Suzuki - and I learned that not only was the Williamsburg/Greenpoint section of Brooklyn all the trendy rage, the Lower East Side was the twin city on the other side of the river. So I guess by the time I read that Blender article, I had known but was still stunned. And for the record, I still object to the designation of "city". It's a neighborhood.

I have a love and hate affair with these current crop of hipsters. I like a lot of the look (especially on the girls, and I myself am a sucker for a good blazer with slacks and a messenger bag) but it feels forced. The exorbitant amount of money flowing underneath felt obscene and made the scene feel false. But alas this is how many scenes happen. Someone has to have the money. Back over in Detroit, no one had the money, and that's why people left - to go to places like New York.

So back to Detroit. By late 2002, early 2003 - before I even moved back to New York to have more time experiencing this music scene - I fell in love with the White Stripes. More so than any other band. This was THE band. And it was only 2 people. The ability to change the sound and style without changing the aesthetic really appealed to me. But obviously it was the ability to sound good and write good songs in each different style that really made it work. I annoyed my friends with constant talk about them. On the day Elephant came out in 2003, I made a biiiiig stink about it. I was like a little fanboy. I was a little fanboy. Sue me. It felt good to be into something like that. And I had nothing to be ashamed of. Instead of being derided by my rock snob friends, I had done them one better. Now I was the snob. But I digress.

After moving back to New York that summer, I really got into the scene. And I started making trips up to Williamsburg. I had ONE friend who liked to go up there but not for live music. He did it just to feel trendy and get drunk, and he introduced me to some good bars there and on the Lower East Side and East Village. Live music was another matter. My first gig back in NYC was actually The Sounds at Club Luxx in Williamsburg. It couldn't get any more garage hipster than that folks. I even had an Ac/Dc shirt on (remember a couple years ago when all those bastards started wearing Ac/Dc shirts? I STARTED it. Ok I probably didn't - but as an actual fan of Ac/Dc for several years running by that point, it felt like I did).
I was totally blown away by the idea of the Village Voice doing an annual festival in Coney Island. Who would have thunk it? Coney Island was (and still mostly is) dreck. But there it was. A festival just a few stops down. What a time to be alive.

So that was almost four full years ago now. A lot has happened. As per New York, the scene never died. But it shifted and changed. The Strokes' rock n roll gave way to the Yeah Yeah Yeah's art rock. Art rock gave way to dance rock (and that went national and international - and this time, the Brits DID show up to the party, Franz Ferdinand and all their sub-par peers). For a brief period, the hipsters tried to engineer a new sound "electroclash" but it failed. After dance rock, came the return of indie pop. And nowadays, it appears what would have passed for mainstream bar band rock in the 90's is now the current hipster flavor (The Hold Steady). I like some of it. I don't like some of it. That's how it is and always will be. We're almost at the point of this story, let me just switch back to Detroit for a moment because things will start to come together now.

The White Stripes began to disassociate with their hometown sometime between Elephant and 2005's Get Behind Me Satan. Artistically, aesthetically, personally - the association that Jack White had with his hometown was draining away and eventually snapped completely. Why does this matter?
Because the whole time I was reveling in the New York scene, I had increasingly become obsessed with the Detroit bands. I liked other bands and other styles - but the Motor City garage thing was tops for me. A good dozen to two dozen (maybe even more, I hope not) bands were my biggest interests. It was obscene. And the perk of being in New York was that this was the one town that most of these bands would eventually come to.
Though while I was still in Philadelphia, I went to two shows at the little venue called the Balcony that had some significance in the long run: First was Mondo Topless, Philadelphia's own garage band. I loved them and still do. But the headliner that night was an Ohio group called the Greenhornes. Now, as I was an arrgoant jerk (and still am) but knew even less then, I said to myself "who are these White Stripes ripoffs?"). But I would come to know the Greenhornes better later on. The second gig was Electric Six. I went to see this band purely on a White Stripes-related reason. Jack had sung on one of their songs. It was a great damn show and the beginning of a mostly-love affair with the Six that still goes on to this day. And to help bring in some kind of full circle story, while the band is technically still based out of Detroit, the lead singer who essentially IS Electric Six, lives in Brooklyn (or at least he did the last time I heard).

So let's bring in some context now (thank you for sticking with me this far - YOU are crazier than I am for reading this, so take heart!). The Greenhornes would play important roles later on - particularly their bass player, Jack Lawrence. The Greenhornes were openers or playing on the bills at a LOT of shows that came to the Northeast that almost always featured Detroit bands. Two of these bands were the Dirtbombs and Blanche (the aforementioned Jack Lawrence became a member of Blanche right before I got into them). About a year after the Philly shows, I got into both bands heavily, far surpassing the other Detroit bands and rivaling if not even surpassing at many times, the White Stripes.

So there was my life. A New York scenester mostly interested in bands from Detroit. But particularly those 2 bands. Over the course of 2005, I started up MySpace pages for the bands on their behalf after I schoomzed 'em at gigs. This was my hobby, my break from my work life, and I enjoyed it. And I still enjoy it.

Ironically, Williamsburg played less and less a role. It was out of the way for me, and I only had 1 friend who lived in the neighborhood (not the same friend mentioned above, that one actually became a born again Hasidic Jew). So I focused on the Lower East Side, the bigger venues in the city, and Hoboken - if only for Maxwell's, the best venue in the metro area. But this is still the story of Williamsburg.

So let me quickly dispense with something I alluded to in a previous post. For the last four years I have spent a good deal on a White Stripes messageboard. Decreasingly talking about the band (which is natural) I became friendly with many people but also stirred lots of conflict due to my combative nature as I got into other topics.

The board matters for a few reasons: It held the nexus of the Stripes fan community together, it served as a hub for fans of other bands (including the Dirtbombs and Blanche), and it also resulted in affecting my actual physical real world social life in major ways (I.E. a relationship with someone I met from the board). As per the pathetic-ness of the internet, there was lots of needless drama, and a lot of unhealthy things going on. As the Detroit "scene" fell away, I was able to look at things with a fresh perspective. People were waaaaay too obsessed with the Stripes and anything related to Jack White. And I mean anything. Thankfully, the contingent of Detroit obsessives faded and shrunk (that included me as my interests expanded again and I moved on from a lot of the growing musical inadequacy and stupid gossipy drama coming out of that town onto the board) but those that remained gave me a wake up call. People have to move on. People have to expand their lives.

As I also mentioned in that previous post things got hairy for me at the time the Raconteurs opened shop (and once again there was Jack Lawrence in the band). I had some choice, hasty words for some "band policy" regarding wristbands and a free gig. Little did I know at that moment the reality that multi-millionaire rock star Jack White spent some portion of his free time on his fans' messageboard and fought with them (namely me) over multiple things. The wristbands were apparently the last straw and I raised the ire of his nephew, who is also the damn drummer for the damn Dirtbombs, which by that point was (and still is) my favorite band. AWKWARD CITY. I alienated everyone who already had tired of my confrontational attitude and I even lost some friends along the way.

Now people move on - or at least they should, but as pointed out in that previous post, said nephew drummer hasn't let it go (either in jest or seriousness, I can't tell).

At this point, I am done with the board. Just as well. My life has changed and moved on in other ways, including related ways. Whatever anyone wanted to think of Detroit in 2002, 2003, 2004 - is long over. Only Williamsburg remains. And by that, I mean only New York City remains. And that's where I remain, hipsters and all, god bless 'em and their Chuck Taylors.

I never got to my point. I just wanted an excuse to babble an odd personal and insanely written post on this blog. Forget politics and rock reviews for once (or twice now). But if I did have a point, it would be to say that I always feel like I missed out and then I feel like I don't move on. Though the scene in New York always changes but also never really dies, I feel like I missed out on it. I should have been here before the Strokes pissed off all the old fashioned purists out there who hated anything scenester. I should have been here when the Yeah Yeah Yeah's opened up for the Dirtbombs (years before it became the other way around). I should have been here when the Dirtbombs played the Siren fest. I should have been here when the White Stripes and the Strokes played the Bowery. I should have been where the Stripes headlined four nights at the Bowery. I should have been here when the Stripes played with Loretta Lynn at the Hammerstein and in the process, introduced Blanche to the world.
I came in at just the right moment and it peaked early. The apex night was not a Dirtbombs show funny enough - and it was not DirtBlanche back in 2005). It was October 2004, a CMJ show - Blanche, Greenhornes, The Sights, the Paybacks, Holly Golightly (aha! There's some England for ya!), Mr Airplane Man, and the Shout Out Louds at the Mercury Lounge. It was a host of great bands and it was everything. It was the Lower East Side hosting Detroit, the USA at large, and Europe. That was the only period of time where I felt I was actually with it, and not still learning and not living in the past. It was perfect. And I guess I just felt like reliving that moment one last time at the end of a long, pointless post.

So yeah that was it. I rarely felt like I was with it. I didn't quite get that I hadn't figured out all of New York, or other parts of America. And I still don't quite get it right now. I feel like I am always playing catch-up when I am not getting off the closed playground. Except for that one night at least.

And oh yeah, I will most likely be at the Hard Lessons show tomorrow night. That's the band who's style, quality, and performance were at the genesis of the nephew drummer's blog that included the swipe at me that caused me to post my post then, and in some ways is why we're here now. The Hard Lessons are a Detroit band that is young, and late to the "scene". They are good kids who work hard, love what they do, and don't take no guff. At the should-have-been-over period of my schmoozing days, I met them and they are great people but we have lost touch as these things happen. I hope to go tomorrow night and cheer 'em on. Someone still has to have a good time out there, even if it means we're a little late or a little too long at the party. "Williamsburg" will still be there.

Official CMJ Music Marathon Schedule

First listen to this and read this and this.

CMJ Music Marathon Tue 10/31 - Sat 11/4

Tuesday October 31

The Black Hollies - Lincoln Center Day Stage

Medeski, Martin, & Wood - Hammerstein Ballroom

The Cardigans; Matt Nathanson - Knitting Factory

Birdmonster - Pianos

Wednesday November 1

Steve Earle; Laura Cantrell - Southpaw

Tapes N' Tapes; Cold War Kids; Dr. Dog; Elvis Perkins; What Made Milwaukee Famous - Bowery Ballroom

The Giraffes - Studio B

Magnolia Electric Company - Northsix

Someone Still Loves Your Boris Yeltsin - Pianos

The Mugs - Magnetic Field

Thunderbirds Are Now - Pianos (early)

Thunderbirds Are Now; Tokyo Police Club; Harlem Shakes - Galapagos

The Slits - Knitting Factory

Rooney - Irving Plaza

Dr. Dog, Jonny Lives - Lincoln Center Day Stage

Tigers and Monkeys - Fontana's

Thursday November 2

The Slits - Maxwell's

Blue Cheer; Moon & Moon - Knitting Factory

Heavy Trash - Pianos (early show)

The Black Lips; Dirty on Purpose - Sin-é

Tralala - Rebel

The Shins; The Thermals; The Elected - Bowery Ballroom

Forward Russia - Mercury Lounge

The Flesh - Midway

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin; Headlights - Europa

The French Kicks; Thunderbirds Are Now; Tokyo Police Club - Studio B

Silversun Pickups - Pianos

Jonny Lives - Crash Mansion

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Lincoln Center Day Stage

Oakley Hall - Tonic

Hot Chip - Webster Hall

Friday November 3

The Decemberists - Hammerstein Ballroom

The Black Keys; The Black Angels - Nokia Theater

Albert Hammond Jr; Tokyo Police Club - Mercury Lounge

The Black Hollies - Cake Shop

George Clinton; Kid Congo - Crash Mansion

SSM - R&R (9:30AM show)

The Secret Machines - Warsaw

The Starlite Desperation - Lit Lounge

The Grates - Bowery Ballroom

Architecture in Helsinki - Irving Plaza

Thunderbirds Are Now - Pianos

Deerhoof; Mary Timoney - Hiro Ballroom

Palomar - The Delancey

Saturday November 4

The Mooney Suzuki; The Dansettes - Rebel

Scott H. Biram; Bobby Bare Jr (4PM show) - Union Pool

The Fall - Hiro Ballroom

The Secret Machines - Warsaw

Cody Chestnutt - Canal Room

Shooter Jennings; Oakley Hall; The Watson Twins - Irving Plaza

The French Kicks; Bobby Bare Jr. - Mercury Lounge

Silversun Pickups; Tokyo Police Club; Elvis Perkins - The Annex

Podcast Reviews

It's high time to review some of the more appealing podcasts out there. Podcasting has become a hot e-trendy deal, but it actually offers a lot. Furthermore, it has staying power. And one of the big areas podcasting has specialized in, is promoting less popular forms of music, particular the blues. Hence why most of my podcasts reviews are blues-based. The other neat thing of podcasting is the ability to package radio shows into podcast form. This is a great help, especially, for public radio - programs from WNYC and KCRW especially.











One radio program that has gotten a HUGE boost from podcasting is The Raven N The Blues. Broadcasting all the way from BFBS 2 (that's the British military's radio network), Dave Raven produces a weekly collection of blues tracks ranging from the early eras to today. All done with a classy British charm, and a voice that is radio-perfect, this is the most satisfying FM-sounding hour out there.


Few podcasts match the perfection of the radio programs. In fact, only one comes close and that's The Roadhouse, hosted by Tony Stiedler-Dension. Tony is a humble, soft-spoken, rather sweet fellow who doesn't sound tough but plays riproaring blues. His congenial jolly voice is actually rather comforting, along the lines of Dave Raven, and the access he has to genuine blues music is exceptional. The Roadhouse works on the tag line of "The Finest Blues You Never Heard" and 99.9999999% of the artists are indeed obscure and blues staples are rarely heard. Increasingly however, as the weeks progress, the podsafe catalogue is expanding rapidly - so by the 30th week, Tony was playing Aligator Records, Marica Ball, and Susan Tedeschi. It will only be a matter of time before the Roadhouse is the most definitive blues source around the world, period. It is that good and well-run.

Another popular blues podcast is Bandana Blues, which has more FM style than The Roadhouse but is still a podcast for sure. Hosted by Beardo and Spinner, this podcast gives off that morning radio trash feel with it's hokey announcer intro and cornball names. However, Beardo, despite a Philly accent that is actually not too unbearable, is a blues expert, and knows how to dish out the records. His partner, Spinner, is a Dutch-based blues fan, a representative of the amazing preserved love of the blues in Europe.


Austin Riffs is the last of the 4 big blues podcasts. It features high quality blues numbers but it is almost entirely poor audio-quality discussion between it's hosts. That being said, the banter can be substantive...but they need to play more music.


Celtic Music News is the other music podcast I listen to a lot of. The selection of contemporary Celtic and Celtic-influenced music is well thought out. I've caught Flogging Molly once and that is as mainstream as it gets. The host, however, needs to be more professional. He sounds frustrated all the time, sometimes even bored. At least once per every few editions, he will apologize for saying he sounds exhausted...but he ALWAYS sounds exhausted. And I am unclear as to who he even is. He needs more zip and Celtic flair to match his excellent music selections.


Rock N Roll Inferno is a lesson in a great podcast gone wrong. The garage rock selections are perfect: BBQ, Scott Biram, The Black Keys, the Detroit Cobras, and Turbonegro are just some of the bands that have been played. This is what a rock podcast should be all about. But the host is a nightmare. He doesn't want to do this. If he doesn't want to do a podcast, then why is he doing it? He sounds bored...and he barely puts his words together (I cannot stand listening to someone who doesn't enunciate...it is a waste of time). Maybe it's a good thing, he's only made 10 podcasts in 6 months. Wait...no it isn't...there is good music to be had. If he doesn't want to do it, I'll do it. Just send me the software and hardware and audio equipment and the playlist...and show me how to do it, and I'll do it.