I’m interrupting today’s Random Weekend choice in order to post an update on the Tift Merritt concert situation I wrote about a couple of weeks back.
My wife and I arrived at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts and were directed down a byzantine path toward the Abdo New River Room, a lounge about the size of one of those small side bars on a cruise ship. Fifty or 60 folding chairs were arranged in the middle of the room directly in front of a stage that barely rose above the floor.
I’ve never been ashamed of my affection for Hanson.
Even when they were a trio of tow-headed pre-teens, these guys could play (and sing). And though they pretty much disappeared from the public eye after their brief heyday in the 90s, they continue to release solid soul albums.
I learned about Everything Everything from a music blog I enjoy. This band’s latest album, Arc, was listed as the second best of the year so far.
Based on ‘Kemosabe,’ the first song I randomly sampled, these Brits are influenced by Talking Heads and XTC, both good signs in my book. This song starts out a little too crazy for its own good, but by the time it reaches its nifty chorus it hooks me.
Nicki Minaj seems to have opened the door for a new wave of female rappers. (This is where some hardcore rap fan takes me to task for assuming that the mainstream Minaj should get credit for something that is probably more the work of a group of women I’ve never heard of).
At any rate, I’m seeing more and more references to rappers such as Azealia Banks, Iggy Azalea, Kreayshawn and Angel Haze.
One of the reasons that I haven’t discovered a whole lot of new music in recent years is that I haven’t gone out of my way to try.
Being a good fan of movies, music, television, books, sports — you name it — takes commitment. When I was a younger, less busy, man I would watch more than a hundred movies a year. Few acclaimed indie or foreign releases would get past me.
Meet Me In Montauk 