Category: Music

The 2015 Seattle And Bumbershoot Trip – Part One

September 15, 2015
ArtBumbershootComedyMusicMy LifeSeattleTravel

spaceneedleIt was time for our annual trip to Seattle for the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. We go every year, since 2001, making this our 15th year in a row. And we love it more than ever.

I’ll post some pictures soon, but first, here’s what we did on our trip.

Wednesday September 2

Nine of us were headed to Seattle this year, eight from Sacramento and one from Portland. We had various flights and ways to get there. Karl and Betty were taking the same flight, in the late morning. They came to our house and we took the Blue Van (Super Shuttle) to the airport. We took Southwest to Seattle, a quick and smooth flight. Once at the Seattle airport (SEA/TAC), we caught the convenient Light Rail and a bit later we were checking in to our condos at The Camlin.

Read More

Our Latest 63 Music Items

June 28, 2015
MusicMy Life

Record_PlayerHere is the latest update. Some of these were new, some were used, some were gifts, a few we burned. Do you love any of these? Hate any of them? Or are you just confused?

CDs are listed first, then vinyl! Read all the way to the end and then leave me a comment!

ARTIST – TITLE – FORMAT – SIZE – COUNTRY – COMMENTS
Hozier – Hozier CD 5 US
Hart, Beth – Better Than Home CD 5 US Deluxe Edition
Carlile, Brandi – The Firewatcher’s Daughter CD 5 US
Hicks, Dan – The Most Of Dan Hicks And The Hot Licks CD 5 US
Morrissey – Your Arsenal CD 5 US
Lennox, Annie – Nostalgia CD 5 US
Eurythmics – 1984 CD 5 US
Queen – Forever CD 5 US
Merchant, Natalie – Natalie Merchant CD 5 US
Sheeran, Ed – X CD 5 US Five bonus tracks
Sheeran, Ed – + CD 5 US
Jethro Tull – Minstrel In The Gallery CD 5 US
Jethro Tull – Under Wraps CD 5 US
Armatrading, Joan – Classics Volume 21 CD 5 US
Etheridge, Melissa – A Little Bit Of Me: Live In L.A. CD 5 US Bonus DVD
Etheridge, Melissa – Live CD 5 US Promo
Prince – NPG-TV: Channel Two 1989-1993 CD 5 Unk Bootleg
Bowie, David – Fame In Werchter CD 5 Unk Bootleg
Bowie, David – Boy Could He Play Guitar CD 5 Unk Bootleg
Bowie, David – The Lost Beeb Tapes CD 5 Unk Bootleg
Harrison, George – Beware Of Adkco! CD 5 Unk Bootleg

Read More

Record Store Day 2015

April 18, 2015
MusicMy Life

IMG_4270.JPG

Today was Record Store Day, one of my favorite holidays. I was busy part of the day, but I still managed to go to a couple Dimple Records stores. You can see in the pictures that I did a little damage, not too bad. Three David Bowie picture discs, a Brandi Carlile/Lone Bellow split 7″, a Wesley Stace (John Wesley Harding) LP, a Ting Tings 7″ (on colored vinyl), a Jimi Hendrix 7″, a Pickwick 7″ (on colored vinyl), the new Annie Lennox CD, two Live promo single CDs, and a Morrissey CD that I didn’t already have for some reason. Nice haul, eh?

What do you think? Feel free to leave a comment!

Get stevenology by email

Follow stevenology on twitter

The Book I Read: Bowie – Loving The Alien

March 6, 2015
BooksMusicMy Life

Bowie Loving The AlienAs you might have noticed, I read another David Bowie bio recently. I enjoyed that one, but this one is better.

Christopher Sanford, the author, is very thorough. And I do mean very. I learned so much about Bowie by reading this book. I will say that the author is not just a Bowie fan-boy, he offers an extensive portrait of the star, warts and all, through all of Bowie’s personalities and personas. Bowie is no saint and that is made clear here. On the other hand, he is a musical superstar, deserved so, and that is made clear too.

From the Amazon web site:

Based on interviews with family members, colleagues, lovers, and the previously silent William Burroughs, this unsparing yet evenhanded biography guides the reader through the many personas, crises, and musical metamorphoses of David Bowie—also known as Davy Jones, the Laughing Gnome, Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke, a drug-addled grandfather of punk, actor, art aficionado, political activist, one of rock’s most resonant icons, and a totem of modern pop culture. Nowhere else is the man and musician so convincingly deconstructed and so compellingly humanized.

My biggest regret about this book is that chronologically it ends at 1997, with the “Earthling” album. I enjoyed the book and would have liked to know more about the later years and the subsequent albums.

That said, this is a really well-written and comprehensive book about David Bowie and does a great job of chronicling his life and music. Recommended.

More info/buy now

Get stevenology by email

Follow stevenology on twitter

Our Latest 102 Music Items

January 25, 2015
MusicMy Life

Record_PlayerHere is the latest update. Some of these were new, some were used, some were gifts, a few we burned. Do you love any of these? Hate any of them? Or are you just confused?

CDs are listed first, then vinyl! Read all the way to the end and then leave me a comment!

ARTIST – TITLE – FORMAT – SIZE – COUNTRY – COMMENTS

Hynde, Chrissie – Stockholm CD 5 US

Lorde – Pure Heroine CD 5 US

Prince – Art Official Age CD 5 US

Prince – Plectrumelectrum CD 5 US

Neon Trees – Pop Psychology CD 5 US

Bowie, David – Nothing Has Changed CD 5 US

McMahon, Andrew – In The Wilderness CD 5 US

Ward, ZZ – Til The Casket Drops CD 5 US

Both, The – The Both CD 5 US

Hutchinson, Eric – Pure Fiction CD 5 US

Browne, Jackson – Standing In The Breach CD 5 US

White, Jack – Lazaretto CD 5 US

Beatles, The – Alternate Hey Jude CD 5 Unk Bootleg

Beatles, The – Soul Sessions CD 5 Unk Bootleg

Read More

Pictures From The 2014 Seattle And Bumbershoot Trip

January 5, 2015
ArtBumbershootComedyFoodFriendsMusicMy LifeSeattleTravel

Space Needle at nightHello again, family, friends, and everyone else. The pictures from our 2014 trip to Seattle for the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival (and much more!)  are now online! We had a great time and so did our friends. Take a look at the pictures!

For most of the musical acts, I took a LOT of pictures, but I only posted 2-4 pictures of each act on here. If you really want to see more photos of any musical act, let me know. Also, I wish I had more pictures of the people we went with, Mama O, Sam, Cal, Laura, Margaret. Everyone was doing their own thing but I should have taken more pictures. Maybe next time.

If you are thinking of going in 2015, let me know that too.

If you have any questions, just ask. And leave a comment if you want….

2014 Seattle and Bumbershoot photos

What we did on the 2014 trip – part 1

What we did on the 2014 trip – part 2

Get stevenology by email

Follow stevenology on twitter

The Book I Read: David Bowie And The 1970s

December 14, 2014
BooksMusicMy Life

David Bowie 70sThe seventies were a weird time for music. On the one hand there was the great new wave and punk movement, on the other there was the horribleness of disco. Yeah, but throughout the decade there was also the amazing and varied music of David Bowie.

The book I just finished, “The Man Who Sold The World: David Bowie And The 1970s” by Peter Doggett is a lengthy but interesting account of Bowie in arguably his most productive and interesting decade. Nothing against his other work, I am a huge fan of his, but from Space Oddity through Scary Monsters in the seventies (roughly) there was also Ziggy Stardust, Young Americans, Hunky Dory, Diamond Dogs and a number of other ground-breaking albums and ever-shifting personnas and identities.

Read More

Terrific Tunes For Tuesday – Take 63

October 28, 2014
MusicTerrific Tunes

It’s around Halloween time, so my thoughts turned to Oingo Boingo. Of course. Yours too, I presume. So here’s their classic song “Dead Man’s Party” with a bit of a different video. It’s made up of scenes from two Tim Burton movies that Boingo frontman Danny Elfman did the music for, The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Corpse Bride.

Enjoy!

 

 

Let me know what you think, leave me a comment.

Get stevenology updates by email

Follow stevenology on twitter

Terrific Tunes For Tuesday – Take 62

September 16, 2014
MusicTerrific Tunes

I’m not a fan of most hip-hop or rap. Once in a while a track stands out, but a lot of it strikes me as very simple and repetitive music with lyrics that are often some guy bragging and boasting or else some guy demeaning and objectifying women. Lame music over a worse message.

But of course, there ARE always exceptions. One of which is the “virtual” group Gorillaz. They are not really hip-hop, only a handful of their songs come close, but when they are in that mode they mix it with a brit-pop and experimental sensibility. This is not surprising since they are the creation of Blur frontman Damon Albarn.  There’s rap in it, as well as a Blur/Kinks kind of British vocal and it’s just so darned catchy! Watch their first “hit” from around the year 2000, “Clint Eastwood”. They don’t sound like anyone else, and this is only one of the musical types that they do.

Anyway, check this out!

 

 

What do YOU think?

Maybe you should leave me a comment…

See more and shop for: 

Get stevenology updates by email

Follow stevenology on twitter

The 2014 Seattle And Bumbershoot Trip – Part 2

September 12, 2014
ArtBooksBumbershootCoffeeComedyFoodFriendsMusicMy LifeSeattleTravelVegetarian

bumbershoot_2014_logoClick here to read part one first

I’ll post some pictures soon, but here’s part two of what we did on our trip.

Saturday August 30

This is the day I have been waiting for, the start of the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. We took the monorail to the Seattle Center, the site of the festival, and yes we were early. That’s how I like it. At 11:00 AM, we entered the festival and headed immediately to the Starbucks Gold Lounge, for a free coffee drink. Then we walked over to the VIP Hospitality Lounge and had some snacks there. OK, now time for music. First up was The Lonely Forest in the KEXP lounge (the secret stage). This show and their outdoor show later today were going to be their last shows ever. After some 10 years together they were calling it quits. Too bad, too, because their set was great! Now I discover them!

Read More

The 2014 Seattle And Bumbershoot Trip – Part 1

September 12, 2014
ArtBumbershootCoffeeComedyFriendsMoviesMusicMy LifeSeattleVegetarian

space needle

It was time for our annual trip to Seattle for the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival. We go every year, since 2001, making this our 14th year in a row. And we love it more than ever.

I’ll post some pictures soon, but first, here’s what we did on our trip.

Tuesday August 26

We usually fly out on Wednesday but we added an extra day this year so we could get to Seattle on Petra’s birthday. We left in the early morning to give us more time there. We caught the Super Shuttle (Blue Van) to the airport, where Mama O (Linda) and Aunt Sam met us and off we went. It was a quick Southwest flight. In Seattle, we took the convenient light rail and soon arrived at our hotel, The Camlin. It was too early to check in so they held our luggage for us while we went out in search of some fun. First stop was lunch at Cyber-Dogs, an all vegetarian hot dog place, very funky and very cool. After that we caught the monorail over to the Seattle Center. We sat a while at one of Petra’s happy places, the International Fountain.

Read More

Our Latest 27 Music Items

June 18, 2014
MusicMy Life

Record_PlayerHere is the latest update. Some of these were new, some were used, some were gifts, a few we burned. Do you love any of these? Hate any of them? Or are you just confused?

CDs are listed first, then 7″ vinyl, then 12″ vinyl! Read all the way to the end and then leave me a comment!

ARTIST – TITLE – FORMAT – SIZE – COUNTRY – COMMENTS

Michaelson, Ingrid – Lights Out CD 5 US
John, Elton – Goodbye Yellow Brick Road CD 5 US Box set – 4 CDs + 1 DVD + Book
Numan, Gary – The Pleasure Principle CD 5 US 30th Anniversary Edition – 2 CDs
XTC – Skylarking CD 5 US Corrected Polarity Edition
Smiths, The – …Best II CD 5 US
Parker, Graham – The Bootleg Box Volume 2 CD 5 US 6-CD Official Bootleg Box
Parker, Graham – Platinum Bastard CD 5 US Official Bootleg Series
Durbin, James – Celebrate CD 5 US Special CD + DVD version, autographed

Read More

Pictures From The 2013 Seattle And Bumbershoot Trip

May 14, 2014
ArtBumbershootComedyFoodFriendsMusicMy LifeSeattle

bumbershoot_sign_2013Hello again, family, friends, and everyone else. The pictures from our 2013 trip to Seattle for the Bumbershoot Music and Arts Festival (and much more!)  are now online! We had a great time and so did our friends. Take a look at the pictures!

If you have any questions, just ask. And leave a comment if you want….

2013 Seattle and Bumbershoot photos

What we did on the 2013 trip

Get stevenology by email

Follow stevenology on twitter

Terrific Tunes For Tuesday – Take 61

May 6, 2014
MusicTerrific Tunes
4 Comments

Many of you know that I am a big fan of the British group XTC. They made plenty of great music over the years, but they also had a side project, The Dukes Of Stratosphear. Pretending to be a psychedelic band from the sixties, they released an EP (“25 O’Clock”) and a full album (“Psonic Psunspot”) of great and clever psychedelic rock tunes. This song, “The Mole From The Ministry”, borrows heavily from The Beatles “I Am The Walrus” video (and music), which I also love. Some of their other tunes borrow lovingly from Pink Floyd, The Hollies, and other groups from back in the day. You can (and probably should) get both their records on one CD called “Chips From The Chocolate Fireball”.

Anyway, check this out!

 

 

What do YOU think?

Maybe you should leave me a comment…

See more and shop for: Dukes of Stratosphear | XTC

Get stevenology updates by email

Follow stevenology on twitter

Instagram
YouTube