It's Only Three Chords, But They're the RIGHT Three Chords

Okay, actually this has more than three chords, but not by much. 😎

Ladies and germs, please enjoy (from 2019) an absolutely staggeringly great live (sort of unplugged) version of Vampire Weekend's sublime "This Life."

In all seriousness, I think this is the best pop song/record of the current century so far. Everything about it makes me tingle, beginning with the jangly "Brown Eyed Girl"--Meets--Graceland acoustic/electric guitars.

And this is sheer poetry.

...darling our disease
Is the same one as the trees
Unaware that they've been living in a forest

I should add that I've been grooving on the official/studio single video of that for years...

...but I stumbled across the live version above the other day and just totally lost my shit. I mean, don't even get me started on lead singer Ezra Koenig's plaintively breathy vocals.

Your thoughts???

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I don't know how I missed this ode to my nabe -- Forest Hills, Queens (aka the Paris of the Northeast) -- but if this doesn't crack you up you need to check your meds.

Seriously, that's one of the the funniest things I've ever seen. Plus a lot of it was shot within walking distance of the digs I share with a certain Shady Dame. 😎

[h/t Oleg Sakhno]

Tuesday's Music-Themed Cartoon Chuckles and Photo-Funny

The John Cage karaoke actually made me laugh out loud. 😎

Slacker Monday

High temperatures gonna be in the low 70s/high 60s for the forseeable future here in Forest Hills (aka the Paris of the Northeast) so it seems appropriate to revisit a classic.

I can't hear that without going "wow." In fact, if truth be told, there are days when I think that's the Kinks' all-time greatest song.

You're welcome. 😎

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Just Like Ringin' a Bell" Edition

First of all, let's start with a video.

The short version is that I stumbled across the above the other day and figured -- nah, it's gonna suck. To my delighted surprise, it doesn't. In fact, it's enormous fun, and let's just say that it was no surprise that Link Wray is one of the coolest dudes on the planet.

Which leads us -- inexorably and inevitably -- to the subject of today's business. To wit:

...and if you were picking any other guitarist --living or dead -- to add to the roster in the vid, who would it be and why?

Discuss.

My choice? I haven't a frigging clue. I mean, Steve Cropper is already up there.

And yeah, I know -- Keith Richards. I was leaning more towards Tom Verlaine.

In any event -- so what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Patience is a Virtue

More First World problems this morning, but fear not -- the Weekend Essay Question will be posted later this afternoon.

Hey -- would i leave you guys hangin'? It is to laugh.

It's Summertime, But No Blues!

From their about-to-be-released new EP (October), please enjoy sublime Australian pop/rockers The Summertimes and their goose-bump inducing "Save You Now."

These guys have been around since 2023, and if there's any justice they'll be household words before the year is out. As for the song itself, it's so gorgeous I listened to it like ten times before I noticed that the lyrics dealt with some ripped from recent headlines political issues, which is not usually the case for the band's genre. I can't find a website link with more info and streaming options, but I'm doing the research and I'll get back to you.

And may I just add, and for the record, that the above pushes just about every power pop button I have? I mean, the massed dry-but-jangly guitars alone sent me around the moon. 😎

Slacker Wednesday: Special "I Know the Feeling" Edition

First-world prblems, so I'm taking the easy way out.

Real stuff -- including a new song that will knock your proverbial Bombas off -- resumes on the morrow. 😎

Tuesday's Music-Themed Cartoon Chuckles

Whew -- finally snuck a pro-banjo one in there. 😎

A Penny For Your Thoughts?

And given the current price of diesel, that's pretty damn cheap.

But seriously, folks, I've gotten hooked of late on a news/political website called No More Mr. Nice Blog. Hosted and written by the charmingly abbreviated Steve M, who seems to be a weepy old bolshie like moi, it's consistently entertaining and thought provoking, and I recommend it highly in today's troubling times.

More to the point, Mr. M had this to say in a recent piece making sport of a conservative pundit at the NY Times who thinks the Republicans are winning the wider culture wars because there are a couple of hit western shows on teevee at the moment. M saves his larger thesis for the conclusion. To wit:

...As for music, country might be thriving because it continues to embrace satisfyingly basic pop song structures, at a time when hip-hop rarely does and there's no energy left in rock apart from eccentric acts like Geese and Angine de Poitrine, or abrasive, laryngitis-inducing metal. Noah Kahan, Taylor Swift, and Olivia Rodrigo write old-fashioned songs, and they're hugely popular (and all politically left-leaning). Maybe verse-chorus-verse songs are what Americans want, not social conservatism

And you know what -- I think he's onto something there. In any case, you can read the whole piece over at the link above.

Insert today's title here. 😎