My craven craving has caved-in

Today I realized that a lifelong obsession has slipped away. Never, never, have I been in a room filled with boxes filled with old LPs, where I had no desire to flip through them, much less consider buying some old mint copy of early Family music.

After all, I have most of the music I love in a tiny computer about the size of a deck of cards, called an iPod (it's pretty miraculous - ever hear of it?). It was in my ear when I first walked through the WESU Record Fair this morning at Wesleyan, and I only took it out when Ben started spinning music.

There were far fewer CDs in the room, and maybe had there been more, I may have been more interested, but I've released the analog fallacy, and realize that it's far simpler to pursue music I love on a digital basis, right here at the keyboard.

I should have guessed it was going to happen today when I offloaded thirty of my long-held LP on the WESU table for the station to sell. I never did play that second Boomtown Rats album much anyway, and I doubt I played the New Order LP even once.

It was all a bit of a relief to walk out of the room empty-handed, one more demon behind me.

The Record Fair was a big success, thank god, because unlike me, not everyone has dispatched of their vinyl fixation.

Caterwauler's favorite albums of 2008

This year I break with a tradition that has always perplexed and frustrated listeners. For the past 24 years, I've started the year with a list of thirteen of my favorite folk, roots, americana albums of the previous year. Initially it was the Fringe Folk Top 13, and then the Caterwaul Top 13.

Trouble was, I never actually had only 13 albums on the list. Inevitably, the list of actual albums would run to more than 20, a problem I solved with double and triple ties.

This year, I'm announcing the list of my favorite albums of the year the day before I feature them on the air on my Wednesday morning show (Caterwaul, WWUH-FM, 91.3, wwuh.org, 6-9 a.m. Eastern US Standard Time)

This year there are 31 albums on the list, and I do have a favorite, which you'll have to scroll to the bottom of this post to find.

But here they are, in a year when single song sales have far outdistanced traditional album sales, Caterwauler's favorite albums of 2008 with some video accompaniment.

Randy Newman - Harps and Angels (Nonesuch)


Various - Awake My Soul/Help Me To Sing (Awake)


American Music Club - Golden Age (Merge)


Old Crow Medicine Show - Tennessee Pusher (Nettwerk)


Neil Halstead - Oh Mighty Engine (Brushfire)


Hayes Carll - Trouble In Mind (Lost Highway)


Chuck Brodsky - Two Sets (Waterbug)



Mark Erelli - Delivered (Signature Sounds)


Sacred Shakers – Sacred Shakers (Signature Sounds)


Primate Fiasco - Geek Dreams (Primate Fiasco)


Caroline Herring – Lantana (Signature Sounds)


Delta Spirit – Ode to Sunshine (Rounder)


Drive By Truckers - Darker Than Creation's Dark (New West)


Winterpills - Central Chambers (Signature Sounds)


Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes (SubPop)


Vetiver - Thing of the Past (SubPop)


Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar)


Various (Art Rosenbaum) - Art of Field Recording (Dust to Digital)


Todd Snider – Peace Queer (Aimless)


Rodney Crowell – Sex and Gasoline (Yep Roc)


Charley Haden – Rambling Boy (Decca)


Carrie Rodriguez – She Ain’t Me (Back Porch)


Charlie Louvin – Sings Murder Ballads and Disaster Songs (Tompkins Square)



Brett Dennen – Hope for the Hopeless (Dualtone)



Billy Bragg – Mr. Love and Justice (Yep Roc)



Avett Brothers - Second Gleam (Ramseur)



Cedric Watson - Cedric Watson (Valcour)





Loudon Wainwright III – Recovery (Yep Roc)



Elvis Costello and the Imposters - Momofuku (Lost Highway)

Me, Roy, and 150 friends

(Ken Dowst photo)








Thanks to all who came out to the Roy Zimmerman show. It was a hoot in every sense of the word, and most of us left the room exhausted from laughter.

Roy was very pleased with the night. It was the largest audience of his Eastern tour, and he was gratified that the people of Central Connecticut came out.

All of us at WESU, WWUH and WHUS extend our thanks to you for this celebration of free speech, independent radio, and peace.

Peace.

Roy Zimmerman's America

Roy Zimmerman has already traveled to 23 of the 48 states in his 50-state pre-election strategy.

On Tuesday, he'll make a second stop in Connecticut (he was through on Saturday to do an interview for Susan Forbes Hansen and WHUS).

Here are the details for his visit:


Roy Zimmerman
Tuesday August 5th, 7:30 pm
Wilde Auditorium, University of Hartford
TIX: 860-768-4228 or online

What if the Beatles were Irish?

More shameless promotion.

Roy Zimmerman's has gotten millions of youtube hits with the songs he posts. This one has garnered nearly a half million on its own, and, strangely, it's one of his most controversial.

The premise, as Zimmerman explains in the clip, is to imagine some of the Beatles most well-known hits sung as if by an energetic Irish folk group, say, like the Clancy brothers or the Dubliners.

However, he came up with the premise, "what if the Beatles were Irish" without really thinking it through. Because, the Beatles came from Liverpool, just across the Irish sea from the Emerald Isle, and it's a huge Irish ex-pat enclave. And, in fact, all the Beatles, while thoroughly Liverpudlian, had strong Irish heritage.

So, the premise is faulty, but the medley it spawned is still hilarious.

Remember:
Roy Zimmerman
Tuesday August 5th, 7:30 pm
Wilde Auditorium, University of Hartford
TIX: 860-768-4228 or online

Thanks for the support

Yes, I'm being relentless, but Roy Zimmerman is really worth supporting. He's smart, funny and idealogically sound (sounds idealogical?) This is the only Connecticut stop in his pre-election tour of the lower 48. Anyway, it's all about getting an audience for him on a Tuesday night in the summer when everyone's brain is on vacation. The only one making money at this gig is Roy, and the sound engineer.

Again:
Roy Zimmerman
Tuesday August 5
Wilde Auditorium, University of Hartford
Box Office: 860-768-4228

Jerry Falwell's God

So you know, though I'm producing this show, I don't make any money on it. Just doing it for the sheer joy of hearing Roy Zimmerman. Here's some more.

Chickenhawk

Political songwriting satirist Roy Zimmerman is making a pre-election tour of the lower 48. His only Connecticut stop is at the Wilde Auditorium at the University of Hartford, in a show to support freedom of speech and independent radio at WWUH, WHUS and WESU. Tickets are available at the University of Hartford Box Office.

I encourage my fellow Connecticut lefty bloggers to pass the word.

Suzy? Suzy Creamcheese? From B to Z in Middletown.

Separated at birth? Nah.

So Middletown Councilman Dave Bauer is a Frank Zappa fan. I don't know why that surprises me, but I look at grown men and women in my age range and I forget that they listened to the same radio as I did.

Dave likes Zappa and Hendrix, and he likes to stick the needle in the overinflated status quo. Dave invited me to stop by his WESU talk show (he featured Dog Breath from the Mothers of Invention this afternoon), and I spent a few minutes listening to his amazing grasp of facts connecting Connecticut state contractors with State contracts, and the elected officials in charge of distributing the money for those contracts. Dave wonders, rightfully so, why no one from the state media is interested in these easy-to-uncover facts while they hammer Lou Deluca, and rightfully so, for his acceptance of chump change campaign donations from a connected trash hauler. Good question.

I find, again to my surprise, that Dave and I have more in common than I previously thought. At the local level, political affiliations often fly in the face of party logic. I find myself siding often with the minority Republicans in town. Bauer is one of those Republicans.

He told me that before he was elected to the council, he presented a resolution to the council to have the City of Middletown reject the precepts of the Patriot Act. Many councils across the country accepted and passed such resolutions. It would have been wise and wonderful if our council had taken Bauer up on his proposal. They didn't. But my respect for Dave has grown each time he's stood up to the Democratic majority.

I suspect that there's a lot Dave and I won't agree about, but we're going to have some interesting conversations.