Category Archives: Mood Mambo

Number One

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Well today is a beautiful day, no rain, a blue sky with a few clouds, temperature just right, low humidity, everything seems just right and I’ve got the ‘blahs’.

The cloud of discontent which comes with unemployment sometimes floats in my head. I know things could be worse, but still- this malaise. It’s been around in small doses lately and I’ve been dealing with it, not writing about it, but today it is the elephant in the room.

Too much news didn’t help matters much at all. Lot’s of health care talk, lot’s of talk about right wing disruptions of Town Hall meetings. Nonstop throughout most of the day. It wore me down quite a bit.

Even took a cat nap which was good for a few minutes, but whatever good came from it didn’t last long. The highpoint of the day was a trip to the supermarket. Really, that was it.

Actually running into Scott Harbison who was on his way to Williamsburg was the highpoint. After Scott, I sat on Pier A and read the New Yorker, an article about traveling through Siberia. I couldn’t get into part one from last week, but I found myself somewhat engrossed by part two.

From reading that, I have no plans to travel in Siberia, not that I ever did before. I did DJ one night many years ago at a club in Manhattan called Siberia and that seems enough for me.

Last night I went for a walk with Julio again. Avoided some people that he didn’t want to see. Strolling by Sinatra Park there was a band doing the Time Warp from Rocky Horror Picture Show, complete with attampts at the dance steps described in the song.

Spoke with my brother Brian for a few minutes on the phone and that was quite nice. Then Julio & I walked along the river further up to Pier 13 where some reggae music could be heard. We wandered over to check it out.

Where on Wednesday night, there was maybe 50 people watching Karen Kuhl, The Fave & Lloyd United, last night there was about 5 people. It was poorly promoted and it’s too bad since the Skyrockers Reggae Band were actually pretty good.

Julio and I stayed for a few songs. They sound more like Gregory Isaacs or Inner Circle with Jacob Miller than a cover band doing the Bob Marley & the Wailers’ Legend album.

It would have been fine with me to stay but Julio was more inclined to leave after buying a bottle of water for himself and a beer for me. If I had known the show would be so under attended I would have put up some fliers or at least tried to have gotten the word out online somehow.

Since there was no cover charge I could only guess the band was getting a flat fee, making their performance last night a paid rehearsal.

Came home after that and watched some TV with Bill which was nice. Just don’t ask me what was on since Bill was calling the shots.

Julio just called, he’s outside on the stoop. I told him to give me a call when he’s ready to go for a walk so that’s basically what I’m doing tonight, what I’ve done most every night this week.

I’m not complaining, Julio is good company and it is a nice night after all.

Best to get outside before I start watching the news again.

The Belldog

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Well it’s been a lazy, good for nothing Friday. No, not really. Been busy. Did some laundry, went to the library, smoked a cigar on the stoop. That’s basically it. So that means, since I have nothing to write about, it’s time for the iTunes shuffle.

The Belldog- Brian Eno & Cluster from the album After the Heat. A good song by one of my favorite people teaming up with 2 German guys named Moebius & Roedelius. The UK Music press labeled the genre, Krautrock. A nice meditative and mechanical song. Hard to find. I had a cheap vinyl copy and sometime ago I found a download which I promptly downloaded.

Sad But True- Orbital My favorite Orbital track. Probably a great club track but how would I know? I dislike clubbing. I got this disc (Snivelisation) from Rand & Lisa and played a few tracks for Bill last night. He loved it but couldn’t find it on iTunes. Since I had the disc available, he uploaded that and saved some dough.

My Mummy’s Dead- John Lennon from Lennon Legend. No editing the list here. This is the last track from John Lennon- Plastic Ono Band. Of course the title betrays what a downer it is. Only 1:16 long which is more than enough time to move onto the next track.

Oddly enough, following the Walrus comes,

Egg Man- The Beastie Boys, from Paul’s Boutique. Paul’s Boutique is the Beastie Boys 2nd album and a step forward from Licensed to Ill, produced by the Dust Brothers. Great use of Bernard Hermann’s Psycho strings at the end. The actual boutique, once located on the Lower East Side has been gone for years and the cover is now unrecognizable. Hope Adam Yauch recovers soon enough.

The Part You Throw Away- Tom Waits, from Blood Money. Got this and the companion CD, Alice, from the Arcata contingent a few years ago. It’s a great pair of records, but not something I play too often. Very downbeat, Germanic cabaret feel.

I Got You (I Feel Good)- James Brown, from Live at the Apollo Volume 2. 29 seconds long, a very fast version used as a bridge between songs. I would have loved to have seen this show in 1967, but I doubt if my parents would have been so keen on going to Harlem to satisfy the whims of a 5 year old. It’s definitely a phenomenal record.

Dreaming- Blondie, from Blondie’s Greatest Hits. Another great song. Clem Burke is a fantastic drummer on this, but then again he’s always a fantastic drummer. He used to pop up at McSwells from time to time, just to have a drink. He’s an acquaintance of Chaz’ I believe. One of my favorite Blondie songs.

Come Together/Dear Prudence/Cry Baby Cry [Transition]- The Beatles, from the Love album. A good mash up courtesy of Giles Martin, George Martin’s son. Seems like it’s been more than a week since I saw Paul McCartney last Friday with Bill, Anne & Earl, Julio & Stine, but it’s true. And this is another disc that Anne got me a few years ago.

Simmer Down- The Wailers from the Bob Marley- Songs of Freedom boxed set. I love the early songs of the Wailers. So young and fresh with the ska. Easy to see where the 2 Tone bands got some inspiration. Fun to sing along and dance to, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Pretzel Logic- Steely Dan, from the album of the same name. Another great song and one of my favorite Steely Dan songs. Where did you get those shoes? Now Becker & Fagen are on tour, playing all their hits. No money in record sales these days, so they’re on the road, one night devoted to the Royal Scam, another night for Aja etc. I’m not going, too much money.

Hey Hey- Neil Young, from his Greatest Hits. Neil’s response to Punk Rock which was basically over by the time this came out. And Johnny Rotten didn’t die. It was Sid. This is the heavy version, not the acoustic. It did get airplay on the late lamented WPIX-FM back in the day.

That’s about it. I know how much you all like the shuffle reports.

Don’t know if I’ll post tomorrow, I may be in Otisville, if Pedro ever calls back.