Tag: musica

I take my music seriously, and so should you.

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For the Love of Frank

Black Francis is back, and as usual, unable to filter his prolific songwriterness down to one simple CD. Fast Man, Raider Man is out later this month on Back Porch, home of Alejandro Escovedo, among others.

Swallowing disc 1 is like slow sipping a 24 oz. Tecate — definitely as back porch-style as Frank Black has ever sounded. Perhaps the Pixies reunion has left him longing and feeling as free as ever to recorded a country record. But, don’t be dissuaded, each cut on Fast Man has the mark of Black’s unique, timeless songcraftsmanship.

more at FrankBlack.net.

If Your Poison Gets You [ 2:56 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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All Tomorrow’s Presidents

Today Ken Rudin at NPR’s Mixed Signals blog wrote a post on the Presidents’ project as mentioned here last February.

Rudin, apparently still in need of a good listen, writes:

The songs seem to take liberty with the truth in some cases, and there is at least one obscenity — that involving William Henry Harrison. But people who have heard the offerings tell me they’re pretty good.

I will post an update on the project soon. Meantime, check out these tracks from the compilation.

Matthew Gerken - "Sleep at Nighttime (Benjamin Harrison)" [ 2:49 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Christian Kiefer - When Ike Walked the Land [ 3:52 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
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Ambassador Quincy

Quincy Jones visited China for the first time in his storied career last week. The big story in the press is that Jones offered to compose a theme for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The real news, however, is what’s worth a skim. On May 26, Jones delivered a compelling speech at Beijing University in which he recalled the far-reaching history of jazz as public diplomacy. He expressed his great passion for “4,000 years of awesome Chinese culture” and noted the power of cultural diplomacy as a tool in bring the world together as one.

Read the speech here (.pdf) | (text).