A Bloy and his Blog

It was a bit of a long day at work today. When I left and headed for the bus stop it was snowing — again. While waiting and riding on the bus, I listened to one of my favorite albums of all time, U2’s The Joshua Tree. That helped a lot to changed my mood. I thought about how good that albums is, and I was reminded of the old game, Deserted Island Discs. You probably know the drill: If you were castaway on a deserted island, which albums would you choose to have with you?

What better daydream to have in the middle of a cold and snowy wait for the bus, than being stranded in a tropical paradise with great music?

read the rest of: Deserted island discs

2007 was an amazing year for music, one of the strongest in a long time. Consequently, I have quite a lengthy list of favorite albums for the year.

Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger
I thought this was the best album of 2007. I wrote a full review of Easy Tiger when it was released last summer. And for a bonus, check out the EP, Follow the Lights, which Adams also released this year.

read the rest of: The best music of 2007

I got a kick out of this.

Stairway To Heaven by The Beatnix

From the African country of Senegal, Youssou N’Dour is perhaps the most widely known afro-pop musician performing today. He has achieved superstar status virtually everywhere outside of the United States. I have been wishing to hear him perform live since 1990 when I first read about him, and purchased his new CD at the time, Set. Last night, Youssou and his band, the Super Etoile of Dakar, finally played a show close enough for me to attend. Seventeen years of anticipation is a lot to live up to, but the charming master of mbalax (a blending of traditional Senegalese music/rhythms, afro-cuban music, and popular western music) exceeded my high expectations.

read the rest of: Youssou N’Dour performs in Madison

A few weeks ago Ryan Adams & the Cardinals released some new music, a seven song EP called Follow The Lights, which I have been listening to a LOT lately.

A perfect companion to their excellent disc Easy Tiger (released this past summer), Follow The Lights features two brand new songs, a great cover song, and four live studio performances of songs the band has been playing during their recent tour.

The two new songs, “Follow The Lights” and “My Love for You is Real” are ballads, the latter makes a beautiful statement without being too sweet.

read the rest of: Ryan Adams: Follow The Lights

Very sad news in the music world today. South African reggae musician Lucky Dube was shot dead in an attempted carjacking.

Lucky Dube’s music was just a joy to listen to. His beautiful tenor voice singing along with those reggae rhythms was something special. True to reggae traditions, his songs often had a strong social message, singing against things like apartheid, social injustice, violence and crime, and the epidemic of AIDS. The folks who run Lucky Dube’s website wrote “the death of Lucky Dube leaves a great void in the music industry, as 25 years of music suddenly ends in tragedy.”

read the rest of: Lucky Dube, 1964-2007

I’ve been looking forward to seeing Ryan Adams in concert since I first heard his outstanding release, Gold back in 2001. Last night that six year wait was over, when Ryan Adams and the Cardinals played a sold-out show at Madison’s Barrymore Theatre.

The band started the concert with a amazingly tight version of “Goodnight Rose.” Toward the end of the song, they jammed a bit, started fading out and sang the word “goodnight” in an almost mantra-like manner. I expected the song to continue to fade out and finish, when the band crescendoed and launched into the final chorus of the song. Wow! This is going to be good, I thought.

read the rest of: Ryan Adams and the Cardinals in concert