Before this car I owned just two: an ’84 Thunderbird and a Toyota Celica I got for $500 and abandoned in Philadelphia. The Thunderbird was a gift for college graduation but I wasn’t responsible enough for a car and I… Read More ›
music
Sugar for the pill
I left work, got in the car, turned up the heat. Stopped at Whole Foods and spent $59 on sushi, beer, incense, an organic squash and head of garlic. Caught myself chewing the hair that grows beneath my lip driving… Read More ›
Fugue in G Minor (“keep it like a secret”)
It was hard to understand my relationship with that CD. I remember the day I bought it in Portland my last visit to Loren before Germany. I knew the record but felt I should own it on CD, I only… Read More ›
“Jimi thing”: last day on Whidbey Island, spring break ’17
The last morning I went down to the whale-watching bench to say goodbye and there were no sounds on a Saturday but the birds, a crow clicking on a totem pole, elderly folks shuffling up the sidewalks, bearded construction guys… Read More ›
Anthony’s Navel: Ilona Elliott on Jackson Browne
So glad to be featuring a Pacific Northwest writer today, Ilona Elliott, sharing stories about her coming to age with music from the ’60s and ’70s, on my Saturday guest post series Anthony’s Navel. Visit Ilona’s blog Rainy Day Writing… Read More ›
Anthony’s Navel: PJ Harvey, ‘Let England Shake’
Anthony goes inside PJ Harvey’s navel for his deep-dive of her 2011 album in my Saturday guest blog series. PJ Harvey will be one of the most important artists to record music between the 1990’s and whenever she decides she’s… Read More ›
“One more red nightmare”
Donnie said he forwarded my email to Fripp and would let me know if he heard back. I sent that to Loren, because I wasn’t sure I’d ever get an email like that again, that said “I forwarded your message… Read More ›
Anthony’s Navel: Kevin Brennan, on discovering jazz
One of my favorite writers and friends on WordPress, Kevin Brennan shares his story for my Saturday guest blog series, answering the challenge “what book, movie or record changed how you see the world?” “Out of a clear blue sky”… Read More ›
On the Road, with Robert Smith (1987)
God bless my dad, that summer we drove out west and only had three tapes, two of them mine. We took a train from Chicago to Denver where we rented a car and camped around the Rockies, then drove to… Read More ›
Why Led Zeppelin called that one ‘Presence’
By the time Led Zeppelin got to their seventh album Presence the band sounds tired. Still good, still Zeppelin, but starting to show signs of wear. How could they not? How many bands make seven perfect albums like that? Less… Read More ›
