Jun 122014
Mr. Moderator
Jun 122014
Philadelphia-born Jamaaladeen Tacuma just celebrated his birthday this week, on June 10. Happy birthday, Jamaaladeen!
I got turned onto Tacuma through his work with Ornette Coleman. The first part of the following clip, from a VH1 show he hosted, in which he and a friend manage to play an amazing jam on 2 of the most hideous instruments imaginable, is entertainment enough. Then there’s a segment during which he simply talks music. On a well-heeled, basic cable TV station. Jazz music. Weird music, even by jazz standards. Remember when cable TV offered those of us who really love music the chance to appreciate music?
There was that show with David Sanborn and his helmet of graying jazz hair—Night Music, I think it was called. Even MTV’s late-night new music show, 120 Minutes, felt like it was programmed for true music lovers. Do we get anything like that now? I haven’t seen it in a year, but that heavy metal talk show is the closest thing I can think of. That and the actually live performances shown on Austin City Limits. Do the music stations feature late-night shows that appeal to a younger generation that truly admires the artistry behind The National or whatever testosterone-free band might bore me to death? Hell, I bet I could get sucked into a nerdy show examining the artistry of The National—not celebrity crap like what it felt like to meet Jason Schwartzman at the VH1 Movies Awards show, or something like that.
Jun 062014
Seeking direction.
Last month TCM (ie, “The Old Movie Channel”) featured a series of films from Australia’s early ’70s New Wave. This gave me a chance to get sucked into Peter Weir‘s hypnotic Picnic at Hanging Rock for the umpteenth time as well as a chance to finally see his commercial breakthrough, The Year of Living Dangerously, which got off to a strong start before petering out in Important Old-Time Movie Cliches and not quite living up to its grand aspirations. (This may have been only the second time I ever saw Mel Gibson in a movie from start to finish. Weird.)
Anyhow, during the introduction to one of these Weir films the series’ host, Jackie Weaver, the Australian actress who played the Philadelphia mom of Bradley Cooper’s Silver Linings Playbook character as Edith Bunker (a topic for another day: when will a Hollywood film get an actor to play a Philadelphia character with an actual Philadelphia accent) mentioned Weir’s 1971 short film, Three Directions in Australian Pop Music. Having dug the Aussie rock from that era that I stumbled across a few years ago (and I’m still looking for a killer comp of that stuff, if anyone has a recommendation), I had to track this short film down. Thankfully, someone had posted it on YouTube. The following directions in Australian pop music were, for the most part, left uncharted. Thankfully. See what you think…after the jump! Continue reading »
Jun 062014
Combat Rock!
This week’s Last Man Standing seeks artists in military garb. A link to the photo or video demonstrating the artist dressed for battle will be helpful but is not necessary. As always, please limit your entry to 1 response per post. The goal is to compile as many artists in military garb as possible, collectively, then to stand atop the heap of useless information with the last answer any of the brilliant minds in the Halls of Rock could fathom.
This LMS was inspired by the anniversary of the release of a certain landmark rock album and a chance viewing of my favorite old rap video. I’ll leave it to you to cite the artists who inspired me, although I suspect the talent pool for this topic is deep! Following reasonable completion of this thread, stay tuned for at least one related foll0w-up thread.
Let the games begin!
Jun 052014
Jus’ sayin’… is a new feature to Rock Town Hall. As much as we like to explain ourselves, sometimes there’s a need to just say what’s on our mind. For the record, that Jus’ sayin’… phrase is high on my list of modern discourse pet peeves, but that shouldn’t stop us from getting with the times. Without further ado…
Jun 032014
The All-Star Jam is the place to sling your heavy soul!
May 302014
Really?
