Road To Perdition is Sam Mendes’ first film after American Beauty, and it’s a heavy one. Slow, ponderous and predictable, it’s made worthwhile by the solid acting by Tom Hanks and Paul Newman and the gorgeous cinematography – this is an amazing film to look at. Whether that makes it worth two hours of your time is your business.

Dictionaraoke is great for learning the exact lyrics to songs, enunciated properly, whilst laughing your ass off. It’s fun AND educational! Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg is highly recommended.

Exclaim! has assembled a pretty concise history of Neil Young. Since day one, Neil has been one of the most primary elements in my musical universe. You don’t need to look too hard to find connections between the stuff I love and play and Neil’s influence. Sure, he’s musically fallible and much of his output since the late 70s has been uneven, though with flashes of brilliance, but the man’s artistic integrity and ethic are beyond reproach. He’s always done whatever he damn well wants, and that’s something to be respected. I suspect that with the reissue of On The Beach in September, I will finally be getting around to filling in some of the holes in my collection of his classic output from the 70s (Tonight’s The Night, Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere for example). I do know that Decade will be getting some spins in the next little while. Listening to Neil is like coming home.

Speaking of filling in holes in my musical collection, I think I need to finally get those last two Byrds reissues I’m missing, Turn! Turn! Turn! and Younger Than Yesterday. And if there’s enough good stuff on the double-disc Legacy Edition of Sweetheart Of The Rodeo (out September 2), well that’ll have find a home with me as well.

I got the new Jay Farrar album as well. I’ve on record as saying that every record Jay puts out sounds like the last one, but somehow that math doesn’t equal any of them being as good as the first Son Volt record Trace. That said, only a couple of listens into Terroir Blues and I think this one’s got something special going on. I can’t put my finger on exactly what, but I’m getting something from this one that I didn’t get from Sebastapol. A return to form for Jay is good news for everyone.

Yup, looks like I’m heading into a full-bore country kick. You’ve been warned.

np – Steve Earle / Sidetracks

Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.