
Can’t sleep and, even though I’m loving GTA IV, I can’t take any more Liberty City tonight. So, instead, let me use my insomnia to share some musical thoughts:
- A few years ago I finished burning my music collection from all the CDs I’d accumulated over the years and, in the process dumped all said CDs at the local record shop for a tidy sum. I’ve been officially CD-free for a few years now and, although the extra room it’s afforded me is great, every so often–while perusing my digital music collection–I’ll notice a hole in my catalog that I somehow missed. Tonight, it was Radney Foster’s Another Way to Go. I’m positive I bought that CD when it was released but, for whatever reason, it never made it on to my hard drive. And now I’ve been sitting here tonight, debating over whether or not I should download the MP3 album again from Amazon, even though I probably wouldn’t even listen to it. It just pisses me off that I had it and now I don’t have it.
- Radney Foster is a country singer. He’s worth listening to, if only because he doesn’t sing songs that were meant to be Ford truck commercials.
- I like country music. I’m from Alabama. What do you expect?
- While I’ve been agonizing over my Radney Foster re-buy dilemma, I had no such qualms about grabbing Tom Petty’s Mudcrutch album. I’ve been on an on-again off-again Tom Petty kick lately, pretty much ever since the Super Bowl when he performed during halftime. The Mudcrutch songs are a little bit more raw than his typical stuff with the Heartbreakers, but still definitely worthwhile, and I love the idea of Petty going back with his original band and giving them a little dose of fame.
- I also downloaded Scarlett Johansson’s cover version of Tom Waits’ “Falling Down“. Yes, that Scarlett Johansson. Apparently she’s releasing a whole album of Waits covers in the near future. She’s got a decent enough voice, I suppose–though her lower register is shaky. Still, despite her modest singing ability, the production work manages to create a dense, layered atmosphere, one that’s different enough from the original to be interesting. Do I think this version could ever have been made had Scarlett not been Scarlett? Heeeeellllll no.
- We had a brief discussion of this on The HotSpot a few weeks ago but I’ve finally confirmed it as scientific fact: “Photograph” is the only Def Leppard song that was ever any good. I’m willing to listen to arguments on behalf of “Rock of Ages”, but only briefly. And I invite “Pour Some Sugar On Me” to die in a house fire.
- I want to play bass again. It used to be such a big part of my life–from early high school all the way to just a few years ago–but I haven’t touched the instrument in any sort of serious way in more than a year. A friend of mine with whom I used to play in a moderately successful bluegrass band has invited me to a birthday celebration/reunion of sorts this summer. And while I love the idea of heading back to Georgia and playing with my friends, the idea of getting back into playing shape on the stand-up bass is an intimidating one to say the least.



