The Regina Spektacular Rolls Through Australia

My love for Regina Spektor is unbounding, I’ve seen her in concert on a couple of continents, own every album – including her early demos – and am constantly amazed just how intune her songs are with the varying moods of humanity.Quiz Ms Spektor on the kind of music she makes, and her response is a flippent look and a few choice words.

“I play songs that I write on my piano”

Hmmm clearly, but in the musical world of this divine Russian-born New Yorker, the reality is far more complicated. She certainly does play the songs she’s written on her piano, she’s also been known to belt out a tune on a wooden chair, use unorthodox vocal techniques – turning her microphone into wonderfilled rhythmic talking drum – and she also turns-out the odd verse in her native Russian. Spektor’s quirkiness is divinely divided by her still-exuberance, talent and outright passion for what it is she does  :: Read the full article »»»»

Earl Scruggs Dies at 88

Earl Scruggs, American banjo legend has died at 88. As part of the famed Flatt & Scruggs duo, he helped define bluegrass music – a country genre combining “high, lonesome” vocal harmonies and the playful, jazz-like cascade of guitars, banjos, mandolins and fiddles. Scruggs died in Nashville from natural causes on Wednesday.

“He was one of the first and the best three-finger banjo player,” fellow bluegrass veteran Ralph Stanley, 85, said in a statement. “He did more for the five-string banjo than anyone I know.”

He is widely credited with inventing the three-finger “Scruggs Style” of playing the banjo, an instrument that until then had mainly been used as a prop by comedians but in Scruggs’s nimble hands became a symphony in itself. Scruggs joined pioneer Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys – which formally established the genre – in 1945 and immediately dazzled audiences on the Grand Ole Opry radio show broadcast out of Nashville. Read the full article »»»»

Quote of the Day: Dave Grohl

“Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that’s the most important thing for people to do. It’s not about being perfect, it’s not about sounding absolutely correct, it’s not about what goes on in a computer. It’s about what goes on in your heart and in your head”

Foo Fighters’ frontman Dave Grohl has been forced to defend his Grammy acceptance speech after numerous fans and critics interpreted his words as a critique of modern pop music. ”I love music. I love all kinds of music…Electronic or acoustic, it doesn’t matter to me,” Grohl said on Friday. ”The simple act of creating music is a beautiful gift that all human beings are blessed with. And the diversity of one musician’s personality to the next is what makes music so exciting and … human,” added the singer. Read the full article »»»»

TUNE-UP! Stranger Days: Not Playin

REPEAT: first posted July 2011! Admission: this tune is making my insides feel funny, in the nicest possible way. About a month ago, someone kicked Fugazi’s awesomely epic - Blueprint - from their amazing album Repeater. When it landed at my feet I wasn’t sure where or when I’d get a chance to play it, but something about Guy Picciotto’s vocals, along with that woe-some backbeat, just seemed like it would rock the headphones right of my skull. Ouch, now that I’ve played it, I seriously regret the time my ears have missed out on this tune!!  Check the Video below:

WARNING HARSH LANGUAGE

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