Segarini – About the Grammys….

Everybody calm down.
The Grammys aren’t about MUSIC. The Grammys are about MONEY. PEOPLE who are about MUSIC listen to far more than what is put on parade here.
The Grammy audience was down 21%, this year, their lowest ratings ever. They don’t even know why they are tanking… but I may know a big part of  the reason.

Frank Gutch Jr: Getting Your Fa-La-La-Las (Christmas Compilations & Suggestions); Plus Notes

Nothing says Christmas like a curmudgeon and nobody is more of one than Jaimie Vernon which makes me wish I knew some of the stories behind his long career in music and, also, in life.  Regaling you with tales of chicken wire and whoopee cushions would make this a lot easier to write— nothing like fart jokes to liven up your reading— but it is Christmas season and I must put aside the slings and arrows, as humorous as they might be.

Frank Gutch Jr: Earlier, On Planet Normanium (Part One)— Research Turtles Redux and Baseball As We Never Knew It; Plus N-n-n-notes!

Some things just will not let go.  Seven years ago I discovered the Research Turtles.  For the last two, I had hoped for a reunion.  I now know it will not happen.  Even if they got back together, they would be a different band.  They have grown as individuals and probably matured musically beyond that band and could never capture what they once had, but for five years I envisioned success and that period gave me hope in a world pretty much without hope, the music business morphing into something beyond my recognition, the Eks and the Westergrens of the world using what I consider stolen music to build huge bank accounts for themselves and others off of the labor of musicians.  That Research Turtles do not today exist is not surprising, for who would want to hand their creations to someone else for a pittance while they made millions.

Frank Gutch Jr: Amy van Keeken & Timeloop Touring Western Canada; Spotify: The Boil On the Ass of the Music Industry; Plus Notes

Lots of good stuff happening out there and it’s time we plugged in to some of it if only to counter the “real” musical happenings being covered by all of the sites who think that Kanye West canceling (or postponing) a show is news.  I get it.  No fun finding out your wife is being held at gunpoint.  Just not headline news in my part of the world.

Frank Gutch Jr: Amy van Keeken Releases All The Time EP; Jack Meussdorffer Talks Sand, Quarterflash and More; and, Of Course, Them Pesky Damn Notes (There Will Be a Quiz)…

 

There was probably a time when one release would not have meant as much to me as it does today.  I worked in the record business for so many years I became jaded, the major labels releasing numerous albums each month and the independents trying to squeeze the few that they had through the stampede.  I never really cared about the really big ones— it is a part of me I have had since I was very young, this aversion to the stars— and have learned only within the past ten to fifteen years to really appreciate the significance of the lesser-knowns.  I get tired of all the pissing and moaning about how the “new” music biz has watered down the quality of music and allowed the less talented to record massive amounts of lesser works.  As if they were lesser.

Frank Gutch Jr: Fall On Deaf Ears? Not These Albums….. Plus Voluminous Notes of Questionable Character

Fall is a beautiful time of year.  Leaves turn color, the air gets crisp.  It’s football time and the kids return to school.  Hunting season is just around the corner.  I have lived through more than a few and can attest to the fact that it is not like any other season, but then I say that about all the seasons.  I love them all but I learned to love Fall best when I worked retail in the old music stores of my past for that was the time record labels came alive.  It was their last chance to release the albums they wanted to push before Christmas needing the two or three months to gain traction for the big push, for there was no other season like Christmas season when it came to hawking music wares.  Well, those days are past but it seems like they are back because some of the best have chosen this Fall to release their new albums and, man, am I pumped!

Segarini – Understanding Easter Again

It’s that time of year again.

Editor’s Note: An annual event for boys and girls who believe in rabbits laying eggs, Spiral Cut Ham, and dressing up for a parade. Originally posted in 2015 but with some minor changes, expect this column to run every year on Good (why is it good…everything is closed) Friday. Yay Jesus! …and pass the mashed potatoes.

Segarini – The Sebastian, Celia, Edison Twins and Rumer, Rerun!

So damn cold and the weather has turned into a nightmare, and the news has been as grey and as dark as the sky, we have lost so many icons and creative individuals, and the new year isn’t even a month old yet.

This column was originally written in 2011 and ran in another online music mag. It was an impossibly hot, arid, stifling summer…so I thought being reminded of the heat would make you feel better about the cold.

Part Two of 2015 – The Age of Idiocracy will be here on Monday….

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Frank Gutch Jr: Product Placement and the Things We Sometimes Miss, Plus Notes…..

You’re sitting there watching television and all of a sudden music starts seeping into your subconsciousness and you think what the hell, because some elephant has entered the room but you can’t see it, but it dawns on you that you can hear it.  You think.

Frank Gutch Jr: Nothing But Notes…..

 

I have been so overwhelmed with videos and new releases this week that I’ve decided to hit you all with nothing but Notes.  Videos you might want to see, news (mostly about new releases), and thoughts.  I am taking a week to get away by myself to hopefully get caught up.  Tons of reviews to write and notes to arrange.  I will be back on  track next week.  In the meantime, if you don’t have the time to look this over now, save the link and do it when you have a few seconds.  No sense in forcing it now when you could actually enjoy it at a later time.  There are some cool things here.  I know.  I screened them myself.