Why I Oughta...

Nat scored us tickets to see Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy perform at a fundraiser for Chicago Mayoral Candidate Rahm Emanuel on Sunday night .  We had general admission tickets which didn't guarantee us a seat, but we arrived shortly after the doors opened and snagged GREAT seats at the counter by the bar.  Unobstructed views and close proximity to the bar plus a seat = suburban dad's dream concert set up. Rahm showed up a bit after six pm and went about greeting people.  I have to give him credit:  he worked the room - and not just the high dollar tables.  He was back by the bar where we were sitting (I even got to shake his hand!) and glad-handing with us mopes.  Total retail politics.   (shhhsh!  Don't tell him that we're not voters and we live in the suburbs!) Jeff Tweedy came out - disheveled as usual - and performed seven songs in just a bit under an hour.  He played one new song, a few recent songs, and a few older songs (New Madrid!).  Apparently the campaign

Over on Facebook, my buddy Neil reminded me that we used to listen to the Beatles Anthology records a lot during our undergraduate days.  One of my favorites has always been "Los Paranoias".  Guess I'm a day late with my Beatles reminiscing, but this one still is worth the listen.  What fun they were having during this session!  I'm going to have to go have a listen to the second and third Anthology records in the next few days. 

As in years past  ( 2004 ,  2005 ,  2007 ,), I spent a good bit of time watching "The Last Waltz"   - however, this time I used Google TV and watched it clip-by-clip.  With the Babe's arrival and her first Thanksgiving, it is becoming apparent that my Rick Danko time is going to be squeezed out by the parade watching.   Maybe it'll become an evening staple?  I doubt Nat will allow that to happen.... But what would traditions be if they weren't a bit difficult to make happen each year?  Consider this a challenge.  Rick, Robbie, Garth, Levon, and Richard?  I'll won't let you guys fade away in the Parrillo household. Adding to my enjoyment this morning is this book I found on Google Books - which chronicles the Last Waltz.  Sounds like mandatory reading!   It takes on a pretty academic perspective in describing the "instructions" to "play" the film loud - claiming that such instructions nudge the movie closer to an album and away from

I've previously disclosed that although I'm a Sirius/XM subscriber, I'm really just subscribing because of Howard Stern.  My dark secret (that I'm a HUGE Stern guy) is out there and Nat hates for me to tell people.  In fact, I hesitate to tell most people - mostly because I know that somewhere in their head they're judging me and thinking that I'm some sort of gross dude.  Yesterday, I found myself in the car driving to Detroit in the morning, which allowed me to listen to the entire show.  But, I also had to drive partially back home last night and because there wasn't anything fresh on Howard 100, I was left to fend for myself among the music stations.  And....guess what?  Outlaw Country didn't let me down.  Yup.  That's Dolly covering Led Zeppelin.  Guess if Stern decides to pack it in, I'll have to give a second thought to deleting my subscription after all. 

This piece (embedded below) was sent to my by my buddy Adam.  He's in a similar "place" in life - with a relatively new baby at home, a great wife, strong family around him, and he's in a pretty nice spot professionally.  He's a friend that I grew up with in Frankfort - along with his brother(s) and have shared plenty with along the way. Turns out, that's not all we have in common.  He has pretty good taste in music (so do his brothers.  Well...the oldest one *still* really loves AC/DC, so I'm not sure about him!).  And because of that great taste in music...I'm so happy he turned me onto this My Morning Jacket cover of "Oh! Sweet Nuthin" by the Velvet Underground. He tells me that this is a live recording from Bonnaroo a few years back.  There isn't any moving pictures, just a still, so do yourself a favor:  Click "play" on the video, then go open up another tab and go on with your business on the internets.  I bet you come

Pretty great video demonstrating the power of Google Instant.  As told by (at least one co-worker) the connection to Bob Dylan "going electric" wasn't lost on our creative folks.  Nice! Pretty great to have a place like Google continuing to push what the world is doing in tech and culture.

This morning I was at our local Starbucks picking Nat up a beverage when I spotted this record at the check-out counter. I really had to think hard to convince myself not to buy it.  I haven't bought a record in a long time, so this thing must have really spoken to me.  It is just a silly compilation they've titled " Let's Go ", but is packaged really cute and the point-of-purchase location was tempting.  I know some of you guys have bought this.  What do you think?  I really can't remember the last time I bought a record, so I'm not sure I can be convinced to go get it.

My name is Jake and I am a Howard Stern fan.  Because of that, I am a Sirius Satellite Radio subscriber.  I admit that I use it **mostly** if not exclusively for Howard Stern.  (think what you will of me for being a fan. )  One of the other stations that I listen to is something called " Outlaw Country " - which is a station " devoted to Outlaw Country music, along with various related genres including classic honkey tonk, alternative country, and roots rock ."  Sounds about right. I have tagged a few songs on the station - where I get alerted when I'm in the car and the song is on.  One of them is  "Atlantic City" as performed by The Band.  I haven't heard the song played elsewhere on the dial (But...I rarely listen to the radio besides Howard 100 and this station!)   It is a song written by Bruce Springsteen that showed up on his solo record "Nebraska" back in 1982 .  It is a pretty dark song, but really well performed by the guys i

How about this?!?! Via EW by way of Fratty Matty's FB page.

with an asterisk.  (and an abrupt end!)

By normal standards, I am not your typical country music fan.  I'm not into *new* country like Rascal Flatts nor Taylor Swift.  But, much to Nat's chagrin, I *do* indeed like country music.  At least country music that sounds like this:  (go ahead...even though the player in Vietnamese, it is fine.  Plays just like a YouTube video.) That's a song called Corrine, Corrina as performed by "Willie and the Wheel"- which is Willie Nelson backed by a pretty rad band called " Asleep at the Whee l".  If you haven't already, click play in the little flash player then go on with your day in your other tabs.  I bet you'll come back and hit "replay" when it is done.  It is that good.  There's plenty of other versions of the song.

(First...a word:  sorry about all the videos lately.  Too many are catching my eye!)  A month or two ago, Nat and I took the babe to see "When in Rome" at the Loma Theatre up in Michigan.  Yes...it was terrible, but it was the only thing that was showing at the time we wanted to go (trying to fit a feature film in between feedings/naps is challenging!). The high point of the film was a song performed by Adele - "Make You Feel My Love" - a song written by Bob Dylan and included on the Time Out of Mind Album.  I've always liked the song - especially the contrast between the context of the song and Dylan's rough voice work.  It always stood out on a VERY strong album. Hearing it in the movie got me thinking -  might Bob Dylan end up being a great - maybe the greatest - songwriter for female artists?  His works have such tender moments - but with him singing them - they end up elsewhere.  I've included the Adele version of "Make you Feel My Love&q

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year. In fact, I think I like it better than Christmas. It's a perfect combination of wonderful things. I have a ton of things to be thankful for and they all seem to come together on Thanksgiving. From my annual " night out " with my crew last night, to spending the day strapping on the ole' feedbag with my entire family both in Frankfort and in Naperville - I get to spend lots of time with the people that matter most to me. The other part of Thanksgiving that I like is the traditions. From the family, to the food, to the weekend cutting down of the Christmas Tree - it's all fantastic fun. While all of those traditions were started without me and I'm simply a participant, there's one tradition that I've started that makes me enjoy Thanksgiving morning . While most Americans are tuning into Matt Lauer and Al Roker to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, at my place we're watching The

I can't stop listening to this song. It's the Strokes from "Top of the Pops". Equation Boy/Man took me to see The Strokes a year or so back at the Aragon Ballroom. I bet they played this one.

Someone, somewhere once wrote/said that The Band played Mavin Gaye's "Don't Do it" like it was their own. There are a few songs that a group or artist plays so well and so convincingly that it somehow/someway becomes "their" song. This is one example. Although some will squabble with this, for me, below is just about the most perfect piece of rock and roll ever created.

This morning on the drive into the city, Natalie and I were tuned into WXRT (as usual) and we listened to the movie review by the "Regular Guy". This week, he covered the movie Lucky You , which he said had a stellar cast, but was a below average film. They don't have it posted here on the XRT site yet, but it'll get up there eventually, I bet. His review was fun, as usual, but one thing stuck out for me: he said that there's a new Bob Dylan song in the movie. Turns out Lucky You is directed by Curtis Hanson, the same guy who directed Wonder boys . Hanson must have the "magic touch" because just like he did with the great song Things have Changed , he somehow coaxed Dylan to put out a new track for Lucky You . The new song, Huck's Tune is a great number and a nice addition to the "latest" Dylan work. From what the Regular Guy said this morning, the song only plays over the ending credits in the movie, so I'm sure it's

Sad news via Greg Kots blog : Mavis Staples is performing to support her new record with folks including guitarist-producer Ry Cooder, drummer Jim Keltner and a few others, but she won't be making a stop in her hometown of Chicago. Too bad for us, eh? For a primer on Mavis, check her out with Pop in this cut from The Last Waltz . She's a gem and her voice is tops. (For you Band fans out there, you gotta love Rick Danko's gyrations, right? Or...check out the great dance moves on SoulTrain in the classic "I'll Take you There": Boy...I wish life was this easy. Wearing great threads. Shimmy-ing down the SoulTrain. Great tunes. Doesn't get much better than that, does it?

Unfortunately, I rarely get to sit down and listen to an entire record all the way through these days. I have an expansive collection, but it's largely gathering dust because I just simply don't have the time. For my birthday, my buddy Matt gave me some iTunes bucks and I went trolling for some new tunes. I settled on The Shins new record: Wincing the Night Away . I only got about halfway through when something struck me: these guys have been listening to their Brian Wilson records, haven't they? I've since gone back and listened to the record a dozen or so times and that initial notion sticks for me. I'm by no means, a Shins Superfan, rather a casual listener, but to my ear, they've been heavily influenced by the Beach Boys and their once front man Brian Wilson- whether The Shins know it or not. As far as influences go, the Beach Boys are tops in my book, so it's not anything to be bashful about. I've put up a few videos here below. Go ahead.

Ah, Kansas City coming to get my baby back home yeah, yeah I'm gonna Kansas city coming to get my baby back home yeah, yeah Well, it's a long, long, time since my baby's been gone  Ah, Kansas City coming to get my baby on time yeah, yeah I'm gonna Kansas City coming to get my baby on time yeah, yeah It's just a one, two, three, four five, six, seven, eight, nine, wah Back at it Monday with all sortsa details about this , this , and this . Ok....maybe we won't talk about the pool lounger....

I heard the song 'History of Lovers' by Calexico and Iron and Wine on either Left of Center or Disorder and immediately dug it. I'm really into Iron and Wine and I have some Calexico, so I figured I'd give it a listen. (on Sirius, you see the name of the artist(s) and the song title when the song is playing). About half way through it, I 'tagged' it in my radio. On Sirius, you get a selected number of 'tags' whereby when ever that song pops up anywhere on the Sirius network, the radio alerts you and you can go have a listen. It's a terrific feature that I've chocked full of Wilco, Sufjan Stevens, The Staples Singers, and a few others. This allows you to not miss any of your 'favorite' songs. After a few times of hearing it in the car, I grabbed 'History of Lovers' in the itunes music store. I've been listening to the entire collaboration ever since. "History" really sticks out for me, so I dug a bit more. I fo