Elliott Smith Playing Rachmaninoff

This is a short clip of Elliott Smith playing Rachmaninoff's "Prelude Op.3 #2 in C#m" from the aforementioned documentary film, Strange Parallel.

Director Steve Hanft noted, "When we shot [Strange Parallel] Elliott called his version of the Rachmaninoff piece 'Punkrockmoninoff.'"

Elliott's virtuosity on display:

Supraliminal Advertising

The Line 6 DL4 Has Defined The Sound Of Indie Rock In The Aughts

Upwards of 90% of the bands I see play live have at least one Line 6 DL4 in their rig. If you haven't noticed, start looking for the green box next time you're at a concert. It's been as ubiquitous as duct tape and skinny jeans on stages across America since its release in 2000.

But despite being so widespread, the impact this digital delay modeler has had on modern music is often overlooked. It's practically the autotune of indie rock, there to drown any imperfection or lapse in songwriting under infinite waves of echo. The ease with which it accomplishes its seemingly complex sounds is extraordinary—at the hit of a foot-switch the most meandering noodling can suddenly sound intricate and adroit.

Is it cheating?

Maybe. But it's no different than hiding behind a wall of reverb, the sweep of a wah-wah pedal, or waves of distortion—ultimately, superior songwriting and musicianship shines with or without these devices, and at the hands of a talented craftsman, they elevate and exalt rather than camouflage.

And I want one. Bad.

Marc Ribot In "The Lost String"

While falling down a deep Marc Ribot rabbit-hole on YouTube last weekend, I came upon The Lost String, a documentary film by Anaïs Prosaïc.

Ribot is one of my favorite guitar players primarily because of his work with Tom Waits, although his résumé is quite extensive and impressive beyond that. I was not familiar with his background or the depth of his musical perspective before watching The Lost String, so I found many of his insights to be quite enlightening and the musical performances were as varied as they were sublime.

I hope you'll enjoy it also; I arranged all six parts in this convenient playlist (running time is just around 45 minutes):

BONUS: French subtitles!

Take Heed, Kids

Jay Leno, Find Yourself Another Country To Be Part Of

Let's call out another enemy of the state to the tune of the Phil Ochs classic civil rights anthem, "Here's To The State Of Mississippi". Yes kids, it's time for another installment of Find Yourself Another Country To Be Part Of.

In the longstanding tradition of adopting the folk classic to fit the times, I'll add a verse to state my case as to why the subject in question needs to find a new place to call home.

In the first installment, Bill O'Reilly was asked to resign his citizenship. Unfortunately, he did not. Let's hope this next request is fulfilled.

My next subject of deportation:

Jay Leno

Here's to the hack known as Jay Leno,

Whose path to the Tonight Show was callous and without care;
On the climb to the crown, he burned a thousand bridges everywhere.
His populist raillery leaves good humorists in despair,
What was done to Conan is reason enough for public flogging in a square.
And here's to the land you've torn out the heart of,
Jay Leno, find yourself another country to be part of.