Okinawa Rising
Been enjoying the Takashi Hiraysu / Bob Brozman CD (Jin Jin/Firefly) borrowed from Dan a few weeks (er, months) ago. Then listening to David Byrne's currently playlist, I found that Hiraysu was connected with Shoukichi Kina (Jing Jing). Following Ry Cooder's adventures more closely would have led to the same intersection. Couldn't find the original recording of the album Bloodline to buy, so I tracked down a copy of this Luaka Bop disc instead: Asia Classics 2: Peppermint Tea House. And then I filled my trial quota of downloads from emusic.com with the follow up album to Jin Jin/Firefly titled Nankuru Naisa. I don't see myself going deeper into the world of Asian pop - really this is all Asian/American fusion. What first caught my ear in this vein were the Cambodian pop stylings of L.A. band, Dengue Fever. That's a band I'd love to see play live - the lead singer has a great voice. And wouldn't you know it they're playing here in Toronto next month! Sept 18th at Sneaky Dees.

  posted by John : 12:51 PM

 
Lovett articles

Toronto Star (Aug 13, 2006) - on touring

New Yorker (Mar 1, 2004) - a good read

NPR (Dec 1, 2001) - plays Truck Song and a bit of San Antonio Girl, talks about songwriting:

well it was late by then, and we should have turned in
but she was hungry and I was interested
in Mi Tierra's heuvos rancheros
we took some polaroids right at the table


  posted by John : 6:33 AM

 
I did not know that...
The same guy, Tommy Tedesco, played the memorable guitar parts in the TV themes for The Twilight Zone, Batman, Green Acres, Bonaza and M*A*S*H.

  posted by John : 6:46 PM

 
Speaking of Texas dancehalls
For Christ's sake, one of the great ones is being sold.

Like the pastor said, it used to be for the devil, but now we're going to make it for the Lord

  posted by John : 12:24 PM

 
Ten years later
...I finally get some of the lyrics in Lyle Lovett songs. Again, the pleasure of delayed gratification due to ignorance. Like the Julia Roberts references in a couple of songs on Road to Ensenada. Fiona - (I didn't know but this is Julia's middle name), a song written after their divorce describes a one-eyed bayou hick:

You better not cross her
You try to boss her
Then you better duck Mister
Here come a cup and saucer

And two verses in the song That's Right (You're Not From Texas) describe their parting (Julia is from Georgia):

Though my girl comes from down in Georgia
We were up in Tennessee
And as we were driving down the highway
She asked me baby what's so great
How come you're always going on
About your Lone Star State
...
Oh the road it looked so lovely
As she stood there on the side
And she grew smaller in my mirror
As I watched her wave goodbye

In the same song (co-written by Willis Alan Ramsey) he refers to truer companions, including those taken by tragedy like Walter Hyatt who died in a plane crash in May 1996, a few weeks before this album was released:

Those boys from Carolina
They sure enough could sing
But when they came on down to Texas
We all showed them how to swing
Now David's on the radio
And old Champ's still on the guitar
And Uncle Walt he's home with Heidi
Hiding in her loving arms

Champ Hood led the Threadgill's sittin' and singing for supper house band, dubbed the Troubadors, for many years of Wednesday evenings until he passed away in 2001. This was our favourite night out. The show started at 6:30pm and the band played for a couple of hours while the audience enjoyed southern cooking (including some fine jalapeno corn bread). Champ's son Warren is an incredible fiddle player (proof, more proof). I'm forcing this segue, not only to show how lyrics have taken me places - but also so I can share this great picture of them found on a tribute site:



  posted by John : 9:35 AM

 
Large Band


Tonight Lyle Lovett and the 17 musicians in his fine large band made the Hummingbird (O'Keefe) Center hum. At times it felt like Carnegie Hall, at others it felt like Gruene Hall. That is, a great show.

  posted by John : 10:41 PM

 
The last supper at Maria's Taco Xpress
AUSTIN, TX (2006-08-13) A demolition party for Maria's Taco Xpress - a famous South Austin landmark - will take place starting at 9 this morning. What started as a taco stand nearly a decade ago is taking its tradition to a new location next door. KUT's Joy Diaz visited the Taco Xpress Saturday afternoon and has this report.

and from the Austin American Statesman...



Commentary: John Kelso

So, how did Maria Corbalan, the salty owner of Taco Xpress on South Lamar Boulevard, manage to get a major chain like Walgreens to build her a brand-new taco joint?

"Uh, with miniskirts and cleavage," Maria said. Now that's what I call the old-fashioned business model.

  posted by John : 5:58 AM

 
A Box of Smile
I first heard about this Yoko Ono piece last year when reminiscing about John Lennon last Dec 8th, and set an eBay watch for one, which today came up with two for sale along with some more Lennon items. Kinda high price they're asking, considering this and a thousand like it sold at a gallery in NY for $50 only 4 years ago. Here's one person's reminiscence which I blogged last year that includes a mention of these boxes.

  posted by John : 7:02 AM

 
Zabriskie Point
The last scene is amazing. About ten minutes watching a house and its contents blow up in ultra slow motion to a Pink Floyd soundtrack (something sounding like Careful with that Axe Eugene). We both felt we could have watched that part over and over. From a 1970 review/interview:

“We rented the original house, the one in which we shot the interiors and some of the exteriors, but naturally the owner was not going to let us blow it up. So we built another one just like it not far away. I believe that the owner sat on his terrace and watched as we blew up that house that looked exactly like his own.

“We used 17 cameras. It was so difficult to organize the explosion, with all the wires and cameras – like a war operation, and I was the general, giving instructions for one cameraman to shoot now, and then turning quickly to another and signaling him to shoot next. I was so concerned with the practical things that I didn’t have time to feel anything else as the house exploded.”

I really enjoyed the movie. Terrible acting, lots of horribly obvious overdubbing, and a pretty silly story. But a playful and experimental time capsule with some really quite beautiful and unique images.



  posted by John : 7:47 PM

 
Radlog
This morning I've switched on CBC Radio 1 to begin finding out what I've been missing as far as what's going on in Canada. It was not surprising today that it took only about five minutes for the first anti-American statement to be spoken, in a familiar attempt to illuminate Canadians' moral superiority - a CBC mandate I'm sure. The author of this book was being interviewed, adoringly, and the perspective the interviewer was trying to pull out of it was how the massive influx of US cathode-tube TV sets heading to landfill would contaminate Canadian drinking water. Of course no mention was made of the fact that all of the City of Toronto's landfill is deposited in Michigan.

Speaking of anti-Americanism, tonight we're going to see the film Zabriske Point. Haven't seen it before, but I know of it - that it pretty bluntly describes M. Antonioni's view of the USA and where it's headed, or where it was headed in 1969, which is I guess, now. There's no public discussion of films after the screenings at the Cinematheque which is too bad, because this would be great material for a twisted pro-Canada rally.

Perhaps this is on topic. Are the Dixie Chicks becoming more popular in Canada ?: the total number of North American dates remains the same, with several Canadian cities added in place of the U.S. shows. Is this a product of the phenomenon of contempt for a big rich neighbor - or are this simply a reflection of their being less-popular in the US now ?

I used to really like listening to the CBC, enjoyed Peter Gzowski's voice in the morning. I do like the Vinyl Cafe - Canada's corollary to Praire Home Companion. And the station certainly has plenty of bona-fide Canadian content. I think what most bugs me is that the talk on this station is not directed at the listener, but is full of chuckling of the interviewer and subjects amongst themselves, for our supposed entertainment, while burning through the taxpayer-supported budget. Rather than switch to streaming KUT-Austin -- there must be some good Canadian stations out there.

  posted by John : 7:04 AM