http://stuckbetweenstations.org Music matters as if music mattered Wed, 07 May 2008 12:29:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Barack Obama can’t even do an interview anymore without having to address one of his least-favorite subjects: the suspicion that beneath his calm demeanor and business-suited exterior, he is a fanatical Pink Floyd fan. The long-simmering suspicions boiled over last week at California’s Coachella Music Festival. Former Floyd ... http://stuckbetweenstations.org/2008/05/06/obama-pink/ Because spring is all about dancing through contradictory strains of melancholy and joy, it’s a perfect time to listen to the tangled, effervescent music of Virginia native Thao Nguyen, showcased on the almost surreally catchy “Bag of Hammers” and most of her soulful sophomore album, We Brave Bee Stings and ... http://stuckbetweenstations.org/2008/04/30/heavy-rotation-thao-nguyen-bag-of-hammers/ A short trip to Austin earlier this month felt like a homecoming, even though I’ve never been there before. I’ve rarely been bombarded with so much music, with so little planning or effort, for so long into the night, since I left Chicago for California more than two decades ago. ... http://stuckbetweenstations.org/2008/04/22/jon-langford-south-by-east-by-midwest/ Although Cuban bass virtuoso Israel “Cachao” Lopez took his final breaths this week, it’s hard to imagine this humble giant, who played in more than 250 groups from the 1920s on, as not having a pulse. Cachao would have been legendary even if he had retired around 1940. As a ... http://stuckbetweenstations.org/2008/03/27/cachaos-legacy-two-nations-under-a-groove/ Rickrolling is the Web 2.0 equivalent of the old bait-and-switch: Promise footage of Madonna covering Sonic Youth on your tragically hip music site, but instead deliver video of Rick Astley's debut single, "Never Gonna Give You Up." You've been rickrolled! The meme is apparently giving way to its bastard step-child ... http://stuckbetweenstations.org/2008/03/21/rickrolling-yngwie/ Herbie Hancock's tribute to Joni Mitchell "River" is gorgeous in every way, and wholly deserving of its recent grammy (one of only two jazz records to have won Album of the Year in the past 50 years, yeesh). Tina Turner, Leonard Cohen, Norah Jones, Joni herself, Hancock's ... http://stuckbetweenstations.org/2008/02/21/river/ We can all breathe a sigh of relief now that last week’s Super Bowl managed to conclude without a Tom Petty wardrobe malfunction. Petty’s halftime set was solid enough, although Patriots fans would probably have substituted “Even the Losers (Get Lucky Sometimes)” for “Free Fallin’.” It could have ... http://stuckbetweenstations.org/2008/02/11/they-might-be-giants-eli-mannings-purple-reign/ As our website returns from a winter hiatus, poll results are everywhere, and not just in Presidential politics. When I still voted in the Village Voice’s Pazz and Jop critics’ poll, I remember thinking how absurdly fast it seemed to rank the previous year’s best music in January. But ... http://stuckbetweenstations.org/2008/01/29/highway-2006-revisited/ Playing a round of Scrabble (no, not that kind) with the wife tonight, needed some good thinkin' music to get in the groove. What better choice than a far-from-pristine LP copy of Donny Osmond's 1973 opus, A Time For Us? But lo, what should greet my hungry eyes when ... http://stuckbetweenstations.org/2008/01/25/the-osmond-brothers-mothers-cookbook/ Always wanted a tubular fish tank that could encircle a room, maybe even go up stairs, exist underfoot... basically some way to enmesh the meditative qualities of "ambient fish" into my life. Will probably never get my wish, but while I'm waiting, the Chemical Brother's "Salmon Dance" will have ... http://stuckbetweenstations.org/2007/12/22/salmon-dance/