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henry rollins

  • a fire of life lpA Fire of Life – The Stooges (Easy Action)

    Pertinent Question: Who else but Easy Actionwould have issued this and shown such a high degree of care? The Stooges are no more. Every listenable recording of the band during any of its phases surely has been exhumed and put into the marketplace by now.

    Incorrect.

    “A Fire of Life” is the Pop-Asheton-Asheton-Watt-MackayStooges at the height of their reformation powers.

    The first half combines broadcast quality sets from Sydney (2006) and New Orleans (2003) while the second act is audio of a pay-for-view, live-in-the-studio 2007 set, showcasing one song from “The Weirdness” with five re-recorded classics. It’s rounded off with an in-store appearance by Iggy, Rock and Ron at Newbury Comics in Minnesota in 2003.

  • blues portraits vol 1 and2Blues Portrait Volume 2 by Pauline Bailey 
    Blues Portrait Volume 3 by Pauline Bailey

    If you want to pick an argument, get into a discussion with a professional musician about what constitutes blues music.

    There are those who regard themselves as “blues players” and those who do not, and never the twain shall meet.

    There’s a mindset among some self-described blues players that they’re the “real deal” and everyone else is not. It must really rankle for them to have seen the annual Bluesfest evolve into a (mostly bland) celebration of the mainstream.

  • rod stewart library

    So many of us rock'n'roll fans buy into the mythology of it all. But I have often wondered, at the top tiers, apart from the music, the idolisation of the audiences and the implied streams of sex and drugs, what else is left at the end of the day?

    Well, there are a number of options. Drug addiction, decay, tragedy (or tragicomedy) and an early death; perhaps a few flops and a crawl back to the mansion and sodden reminiscences (perhaps followed by a reunion/final tour which is critically acclaimed by folk who were never there at the start, but which critically disappoints everyone who was, and everyone who was a fan until those appalling limp todgers flipped from between the flies).

    Or perhaps extravagant, opulent mansions, models and bimbos and more drugs. And, perhaps, trainsets.