compared to what

It’s clear why live performances are usually so much more interesting than recordings - there’s just so much more to the experience, if for no other sonic reason. But I’m also very interested in why live recordings often sound so much better than studio ones. There’s often an “over-produced” sound that I and others decry. [...]

Is John Mayer really a celebrity?
Context is everything. Of course, Joshua Bell could have told him that. (Be sure and click both links and watch the videos.)
I started this post just because I think Mayer is usually pretty hilarious in his videos, and this one is no exception. But then I remembered the Bell article [...]

(or, who do you think you are?)
One of the more interesting music festival stories this summer, so far, was the story of Kanye West at Bonnaroo. Bonnaroo has made efforts over the past few years to bring in some artists, even mainstream artists, that you don’t typically think of in connection with these field-of-steam type [...]

Slam sampler (link expires 7/3/08): download
And for listening only, Knowles exquisite take on Hendrix’ Redhouse

This is tale of some great music and some clever marketing:

Posting last week on the absolutely fine blues/rock band, Back Door Slam, got me digging through video and generally looking at what’s on-line for these guys. I was really trying to [...]

Based on info posted at New Music Tip Sheet, the news that Vanguard Records was going to be releasing a CD of Taylor Hicks’ early works bounced happily across the internet. This sounded like interesting news, so I spent a pleasant afternoon listening to some of their catalog and downloading. (Some of the fruits [...]

One Saturday, back in April, I was tooling around getting errands done and heard the last syllables of an interview with some British musicians. Immediate segue into this (only live on radio):

Work intruded inexcusably on my weekend, so it’s a bit late to do a Grammys post, considering the show airs in 60 minutes. But I wanted to write before seeing the show. Last minute seems to be a theme: I’ve been loving what I’d heard from Amy Winehouse (particulary “You Know I’m No Good”) but [...]