Mathematics of Layla

Bernard Chazelle explains "the technical part" of Eric Clapton's classic "Layla." Played here with an assist from Mark Knopfler, for those in need of a reminder. The intro and chorus follow the progression of "All Along the Watchtower" (i-VII-VI-VII-i, ie here, Dm-C-Bb-C-Dm): one of the most common chord sequences in rock (0:27-1:10). The song is in Dm, but the verse ...

Forcing Pirates to Walk the Plank

The British government has devised a novel solution to dealing with online piracy: Disable the Internet accounts of violators. Broadband providers could be forced to suspend their customers’ accounts under proposals announced on Tuesday by the UK government to tackle internet file-sharing. The proposals mark a hardening of the government’s stance against piracy since the Digital Britain report was published in June, ...

If You’re Gonna Play the White House, There’s Gotta be a Fiddle in the Band

"I know folks think I’m a city boy, but I do appreciate listening to country music. It’s about folks telling their life story the best way they know how." - President Barack Obama Via Norm Geras, I see that the president hosted Alison Krauss, Brad Paisley, and Charley Pride as part of the White House Summer Music series. “They grabbed the contemporary ...

Blogs ARE Social Media

Copyblogger's Brian Clark has noticed a distinction developing between blogs on the one hand and "social media" on the other.  He rightly notes that "blogs were the first modern form of social media" and thus the distinction is artificial. My sense is that, blogs are indeed social media, they’re definitely of a different piece than Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and whatnot. ...

Best Rock Songs 2008 (Bumped)

A month ago, we debated whether rock music died in 1980.  While we decided that it did not, we concluded that it has changed quite a bit since then.  Writing at Slate, music critic Simon Reynolds writes of "Grunge's Long Shadow" and "In praise of in-between periods in pop history" as periods of transition in the dominant styles. Regular commenter anjin-san ...

Death of the ‘B’ Side

In the discussion on my post about whether rock and roll died with John Bonham, commenter Michael makes an interesting point: I was discussing it with my wife over the weekend and she made an interesting observation: there is no longer a "B" side. Her specific point was that musicians often used the "B" side for introducing new, experimental ideas to their ...

Rock is Dead They Say . . .

Stacy McCain contends that, "All great rock music was recorded by the time John Bonham died." Craig Henry can't think of any counterexamples and proclaims, "25 September 1980. The real day the music died." But that's surely not right? To be sure, there's merit to this assertion.  Van Halen, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, Bob Seger and even REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick, Billy ...

Inauguration Scandal: Music Not Live

Taking a page from the Communist Chinese Olympics, the Obama inauguration featured truthy music.  Daniel Wakin blows the doors off this travesty in a NYT exclusive: It was not precisely lip-synching, but pretty close. The somber, elegiac tones before President Obama’s oath of office at the inauguration on Tuesday came from the instruments of Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and two colleagues. But ...

Jerry Reed Dead at 71

Jerry Reed, a country guitar player, comedian, and actor perhaps best known for  "Smokey and the Bandit" and other Burt Reynolds vehicles from the 1970s and 1980s, has died from emphysemia at age 71. Sony BMG Nashville Chairman Joe Galante called Reed a larger-than-life personality. "Everything about Jerry was distinctive: his guitar playing, writing, voice and especially his sense of humor," ...

OTB Latenight – John Hiatt

I'd never heard of John Hiatt until I caught him on one of those Delta Airlines playlists in those days before iPods when people listened to whatever music was provided for them and damn well liked it. Given the timing, I was probably on my way back from my tour of duty in Germany and getting ready to start ...

Latenight OTB – r.e.m.

From my favourite band: And just look at all that hair! On Dave, I mean. But, yeah, Michael, too.

Caption Contest Winners

The Spin Cycle Edition OTB Caption ContestTM is now over. REUTERS/Vincent West (SPAIN) ✰ THE WINNERS ✰ First: William d'Inger - With the last U.S. sword factory having moved to Mexico, American pacifists are reduced to beating washers into plowshares. Second: Gollum Stop! - - Hammer time! Third: Charles Austin Entry 3367 of the rejected Peter Gabriel music video themes. HONORABLE MENTION Rodney Dill - ...

OTB Latenight – Depeche Mode

Moving from the very contemporary to something a little more, well... one hates to use the word "classic" for the music one grew up with, but there you have it. I'm still hoping my fellows will join me in giving this Late Night OTB thing another go, but I'll keep at it by myself a while either way.

Rush Limbaugh Signs $400 Million Contract

Rush Limbaugh isn't going to have any trouble affording good cigars, having just re-upped with Clear Channel through 2016 for $400 million, including a $100 million signing bonus.  And you thought pro athetes got paid a lot. Said to be Limbaugh's most lucrative deal ever by far, the new agreement runs through 2016 and includes a previously unheard-of nine figure signing ...

James Cason, Ambassador, Paraguay Singing Sensation

James Cason, the U.S. Ambassador to Paraguay, has achieved rock star status in that country. Literally. [H]e learned the obscure Paraguayan Guaraní language, recorded a music album of indigenous folk songs and sold 1,000 tickets to a concert in a downtown theater. Now, in the final year of his four-decade diplomatic career, Cason has suddenly become the toast of Paraguay, or ...