New Music!

[RGMike]

a Vin Scelsa discovery (or at least I heard her first on his show): Jacqui Naylor, with an album of Xmas mash-ups, sorta: she mixes, for example, "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" with "Sweet Home Alabama", and tho' i thought I never wanted to hear the latter ever again, it works (and is far more enjoyable than Kid Rock doing the same thing).

http://www.amazon.com/Smashed-Holidays-Jacqui-Naylor/dp/B000VKL0UI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1230068744&sr=1-1

she also combines "Santa Baby" with "D'yer Mak'er" (!)

She was the one who did that sublime cover of Losing My Religion, no? I believe so.

Yup. I'm not quite down with the "sublime"  description, I find her voice a bit mannered, in a Feist-meets-Duffy sorta way. But Scelsa's quite a fan.

[Gazoo]

It's not really new, but yesterday I was introduced to a magnificent band called Fleet Foxes.  CSN-ish harmonies with My Morning Jacket instrumentation.  Quite amazing, especially "White Winter Hymnal."

I was also introduced to a magnificent guy.  After our Polar Bear plunge into the Coney Island waters, my friends and I went to a restaurant in the East Village.  The waiter sent all sorts of good vibes in my direction, and with some encouraging prodding from my friends, I invited him over after his shift; to my amazement, he took me up on the offer.  We had a great evening at my place getting to know each other - first time I've ever spent serious time with the younger generation (he's 23).  We'll see if anything comes of this, but whatever the case, it's refreshing to meet a new person.

[RGMike]

It's not really new, but yesterday I was introduced to a magnificent band called Fleet Foxes.  CSN-ish harmonies with My Morning Jacket instrumentation.  Quite amazing, especially "White Winter Hymnal."

I was also introduced to a magnificent guy.  After our Polar Bear plunge into the Coney Island waters, my friends and I went to a restaurant in the East Village.  The waiter sent all sorts of good vibes in my direction, and with some encouraging prodding from my friends, I invited him over after his shift; to my amazement, he took me up on the offer.  We had a great evening at my place getting to know each other - first time I've ever spent serious time with the younger generation (he's 23).  We'll see if anything comes of this, but whatever the case, it's refreshing to meet a new person.

Why you li'l old cradle robber! Congrats!

[urth]

It's not really new, but yesterday I was introduced to a magnificent band called Fleet Foxes.  CSN-ish harmonies with My Morning Jacket instrumentation.  Quite amazing, especially "White Winter Hymnal."

I was also introduced to a magnificent guy.  After our Polar Bear plunge into the Coney Island waters, my friends and I went to a restaurant in the East Village.  The waiter sent all sorts of good vibes in my direction, and with some encouraging prodding from my friends, I invited him over after his shift; to my amazement, he took me up on the offer.  We had a great evening at my place getting to know each other - first time I've ever spent serious time with the younger generation (he's 23).  We'll see if anything comes of this, but whatever the case, it's refreshing to meet a new person.

No wonder you mentioned that you were encouraged at the way the year was starting out. Here's to 2009!

[Alicat]

It's not really new, but yesterday I was introduced to a magnificent band called Fleet Foxes.  CSN-ish harmonies with My Morning Jacket instrumentation.  Quite amazing, especially "White Winter Hymnal."

I was also introduced to a magnificent guy.  After our Polar Bear plunge into the Coney Island waters, my friends and I went to a restaurant in the East Village.  The waiter sent all sorts of good vibes in my direction, and with some encouraging prodding from my friends, I invited him over after his shift; to my amazement, he took me up on the offer.  We had a great evening at my place getting to know each other - first time I've ever spent serious time with the younger generation (he's 23).  We'll see if anything comes of this, but whatever the case, it's refreshing to meet a new person.

Sending a big wooo hooo your way. 23 will keep you feeling young! All the young dudes.......
Cheers to 2009! Your 2009 sunglasses were a hoot

[Wayback]

E STREET BAND'S GREATEST HITS IN WAL-MART JAN. 13
Bruce kicks off the new year not with the new Working on a Dream album (in stores Jan 27), but first follows in AC/DC's footsteps with a Wal-Mart exclusive, low-priced Greatest Hits album. Scheduled for Jan 13, it looks to serve as a Super Bowl primer for the big Half Time show Feb 1.  It's distinguished from 1995's Hits album by the artist: not Bruce Springsteen this time, but Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band. 12 tracks skip over non-E Street albums like Nebraska, Tunnel, Human Touch, Lucky Town, and Joad, to provide a broad career overview from "Rosalita" through "Radio Nowhere":
1. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
2. Born to Run
3. Thunder Road
4. Darkness on the Edge of Town
5. Badlands
6. Hungry Heart
7. Glory Days
8. Dancing in the Dark
9. Born in the U.S.A.
10. The Rising
11. Lonesome Day
12. Radio Nowhere

In other "big chain" news, f.y.e.. has some special pre-order offers for Working on a Dream -- pre-order at an f.y.e. store to get a collectible Bruce gift card, or pre-order online at fye.com to get a free poster.

[urth]

E STREET BAND'S GREATEST HITS IN WAL-MART JAN. 13
Bruce kicks off the new year not with the new Working on a Dream album (in stores Jan 27), but first follows in AC/DC's footsteps with a Wal-Mart exclusive, low-priced Greatest Hits album.

Wal-mart only? Bruce should be ashamed. As should AC/DC. And the Eagles. And whoever else has gotten in bed with those predatory SOBs.

Btw, Wayback, I have a copy of that Grand Funk single on yellow vinyl.

[Gazoo]

E STREET BAND'S GREATEST HITS IN WAL-MART JAN. 13
Bruce kicks off the new year not with the new Working on a Dream album (in stores Jan 27), but first follows in AC/DC's footsteps with a Wal-Mart exclusive, low-priced Greatest Hits album.

Wal-mart only? Bruce should be ashamed. As should AC/DC. And the Eagles. And whoever else has gotten in bed with those predatory SOBs.

I'm with you on this - exclusives are harmful to consumers, I think; especially those of us who boycott Wal-Mart for whatever reasons.  Wal-Mart is bad for America; and while I don't necessarily expect AC/DC to understand that, I should have thought that Bruce would.  (The Eagles were always out for themselves anyway, so no surprise there.)

[RGMike]

E STREET BAND'S GREATEST HITS IN WAL-MART JAN. 13
Bruce kicks off the new year not with the new Working on a Dream album (in stores Jan 27), but first follows in AC/DC's footsteps with a Wal-Mart exclusive, low-priced Greatest Hits album.

Wal-mart only? Bruce should be ashamed. As should AC/DC. And the Eagles. And whoever else has gotten in bed with those predatory SOBs.

I'm with you on this - exclusives are harmful to consumers, I think; especially those of us who boycott Wal-Mart for whatever reasons.  Wal-Mart is bad for America; and while I don't necessarily expect AC/DC to understand that, I should have thought that Bruce would.  (The Eagles were always out for themselves anyway, so no surprise there.)

Dittoes -- Bruce, of all people!  Bet he won't get a Christmas card from Dave Marsh this year.

and indeed the blogosphere is responding:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-derrick/springsteen-sells-out--to_b_153441.html

[Alicat]

E STREET BAND'S GREATEST HITS IN WAL-MART JAN. 13
Bruce kicks off the new year not with the new Working on a Dream album (in stores Jan 27), but first follows in AC/DC's footsteps with a Wal-Mart exclusive, low-priced Greatest Hits album.

Wal-mart only? Bruce should be ashamed. As should AC/DC. And the Eagles. And whoever else has gotten in bed with those predatory SOBs.

A sad sign 'o the times. Pandering to the masses.
I'm with you on this - exclusives are harmful to consumers, I think; especially those of us who boycott Wal-Mart for whatever reasons.  Wal-Mart is bad for America; and while I don't necessarily expect AC/DC to understand that, I should have thought that Bruce would.  (The Eagles were always out for themselves anyway, so no surprise there.)

Dittoes -- Bruce, of all people!  Bet he won't get a Christmas card from Dave Marsh this year.

[ggould]

E STREET BAND'S GREATEST HITS IN WAL-MART JAN. 13
Bruce kicks off the new year not with the new Working on a Dream album (in stores Jan 27), but first follows in AC/DC's footsteps with a Wal-Mart exclusive, low-priced Greatest Hits album.

Wal-mart only? Bruce should be ashamed. As should AC/DC. And the Eagles. And whoever else has gotten in bed with those predatory SOBs.

I'm with you on this - exclusives are harmful to consumers, I think; especially those of us who boycott Wal-Mart for whatever reasons.  Wal-Mart is bad for America; and while I don't necessarily expect AC/DC to understand that, I should have thought that Bruce would.  (The Eagles were always out for themselves anyway, so no surprise there.)

Exclusives are also harmful to independent retailers.  My Grateful Dead mail-order business (oldest online) was destroyed by the Grateful Dead having exclusives where mass-market releases (not the Dick's Picks) would come with a bonus CD only from them.  My business dropped at least 90% instantly when that happened.

[ggould]

E STREET BAND'S GREATEST HITS IN WAL-MART JAN. 13
Bruce kicks off the new year not with the new Working on a Dream album (in stores Jan 27), but first follows in AC/DC's footsteps with a Wal-Mart exclusive, low-priced Greatest Hits album.

Wal-mart only? Bruce should be ashamed. As should AC/DC. And the Eagles. And whoever else has gotten in bed with those predatory SOBs.

I'm with you on this - exclusives are harmful to consumers, I think; especially those of us who boycott Wal-Mart for whatever reasons.  Wal-Mart is bad for America; and while I don't necessarily expect AC/DC to understand that, I should have thought that Bruce would.  (The Eagles were always out for themselves anyway, so no surprise there.)

Dittoes -- Bruce, of all people!  Bet he won't get a Christmas card from Dave Marsh this year.

and indeed the blogosphere is responding:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-derrick/springsteen-sells-out--to_b_153441.html

Well, as far as this goes:

union supporting guy? Then why will The Boss' Greatest Hits be released exclusively by Wal-Mart? Okay, its only his greatest hits, which you can download anyway song by song if you have the patience. But still, wtf?

I agree it looks bad symbolically, but it's obviously pretty unimportant, if these tracks are indeed not exclusive (i. e. downloadable) in a world where sales of plastic discs bearing digital info is declining.  But yeah, it looks bad.

[RGMike]

E STREET BAND'S GREATEST HITS IN WAL-MART JAN. 13
Bruce kicks off the new year not with the new Working on a Dream album (in stores Jan 27), but first follows in AC/DC's footsteps with a Wal-Mart exclusive, low-priced Greatest Hits album.

Wal-mart only? Bruce should be ashamed. As should AC/DC. And the Eagles. And whoever else has gotten in bed with those predatory SOBs.

I'm with you on this - exclusives are harmful to consumers, I think; especially those of us who boycott Wal-Mart for whatever reasons.  Wal-Mart is bad for America; and while I don't necessarily expect AC/DC to understand that, I should have thought that Bruce would.  (The Eagles were always out for themselves anyway, so no surprise there.)

Dittoes -- Bruce, of all people!  Bet he won't get a Christmas card from Dave Marsh this year.

and indeed the blogosphere is responding:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-derrick/springsteen-sells-out--to_b_153441.html

Well, as far as this goes:

union supporting guy? Then why will The Boss' Greatest Hits be released exclusively by Wal-Mart? Okay, its only his greatest hits, which you can download anyway song by song if you have the patience. But still, wtf?

I agree it looks bad symbolically, but it's obviously pretty unimportant, if these tracks are indeed not exclusive (i. e. downloadable) in a world where sales of plastic discs bearing digital info is declining.  But yeah, it looks bad.

It looks bad symbolically *because* it's Springsteen and he's been a beacon of "I will not sell out" integrity for 36 years. He certainly doesn't need the money from this repackaging; there are plenty of other ways he could've done a tie-in to the Super Bowl appearance. Wal-Mart benefits far more than he does. (It's analogous to Obama/Warren, actually, in that yes, technically, you may be reaching another audience, but there are less offensive ways of doing it.) So unless we suddenly are told that all the proceeds are going to a food bank (watch for something like that to happen as a form of spin control), it's really disappointing.

[ggould]

E STREET BAND'S GREATEST HITS IN WAL-MART JAN. 13
Bruce kicks off the new year not with the new Working on a Dream album (in stores Jan 27), but first follows in AC/DC's footsteps with a Wal-Mart exclusive, low-priced Greatest Hits album.

Wal-mart only? Bruce should be ashamed. As should AC/DC. And the Eagles. And whoever else has gotten in bed with those predatory SOBs.

I'm with you on this - exclusives are harmful to consumers, I think; especially those of us who boycott Wal-Mart for whatever reasons.  Wal-Mart is bad for America; and while I don't necessarily expect AC/DC to understand that, I should have thought that Bruce would.  (The Eagles were always out for themselves anyway, so no surprise there.)

Dittoes -- Bruce, of all people!  Bet he won't get a Christmas card from Dave Marsh this year.

and indeed the blogosphere is responding:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-derrick/springsteen-sells-out--to_b_153441.html

Well, as far as this goes:

union supporting guy? Then why will The Boss' Greatest Hits be released exclusively by Wal-Mart? Okay, its only his greatest hits, which you can download anyway song by song if you have the patience. But still, wtf?

I agree it looks bad symbolically, but it's obviously pretty unimportant, if these tracks are indeed not exclusive (i. e. downloadable) in a world where sales of plastic discs bearing digital info is declining.  But yeah, it looks bad.

It looks bad symbolically *because* it's Springsteen and he's been a beacon of "I will not sell out" integrity for 36 years. He certainly doesn't need the money from this repackaging; there are plenty of other ways he could've done a tie-in to the Super Bowl appearance. Wal-Mart benefits far more than he does. (It's analogous to Obama/Warren, actually, in that yes, technically, you may be reaching another audience, but there are less offensive ways of doing it.) So unless we suddenly are told that all the proceeds are going to a food bank (watch for something like that to happen as a form of spin control), it's really disappointing.

Actually, I'm more disappointed he's playing in the Super Bowl than selling discs in Wal-Mart!   

[RGMike]

Bruce, of all people!  Bet he won't get a Christmas card from Dave Marsh this year.

and indeed the blogosphere is responding:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-derrick/springsteen-sells-out--to_b_153441.html

BTW, I've begun monitoring Mr Marsh's website for comment -- so far nothing. But the current lead story on the homepage has Marsh hanging out backstage with the E-Streeters, so I'm guessing he'll have a positive spin to put on it.