SacredFacts

Will.i.am and Obama

I still think McCain may win in the end, but Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas campaign song for Obama is brilliant - as is the anti-McCain spoof of it..

I feel UK political campaigning has a bit to learn yet...

Dylan in Cadillac horror

A friend sends me this:

No, he hasn't been in a car crash. It's worse than that. You may have thought advertsing women's underwear was bad enough, but Dylan's hit a new low. Here he is doing his best for Cadillac's latest gas-guzzler. Hard to believe, but sadly true.

Are they sponsoring his radio show?

What are YOU listening to?

Lunch with Lloyd Shepherd last week - we discussed our regular podcast listens. The discussion turned to the difference between time-shifted radio (ie what the BBC or NPR offers) amateur content and the "semi-professional" content - shows that havn't or couldn't get a broadcast airing and wouldnt exist if it wasn't for podcasting, but are high quality. This last category, we agreed, is the most interesting.

He swapped me Jodcast (news of the Universe from Jodrell Bank) for Coverville (weekly compilation of great cover versions). We both agree it was a fair swap....

So what are you listening to?

Sweet Melody

If you like your blues smokey and jazz-tinged try Melody Gardot. You won't find her album, Worrisome Heart on iTunes, Amazon or your music store yet. But there's always her website, MySpace, her blog, or Flickr page, or YouTube. Her backstory is interesting too - she was hit by a car when cycling at 19 and her doctor recommended singing and songwriting as a way to overcome her head and brain injuries.

A White man's Blues

Here's my favourite busker - Slim Lightfoot - who can be found in Brighton, Kingston and in this case Guildford High St. He's a blues man to his finger tips and while his voice may lack something of the requisite low growl, his guitar playing and phrasing are bang on. He's not Seasick Steve of course, but he proves a white middle-aged englishman can play the Blues just fine.
Check his website or MySpace page. Or book him for that Saturday night fish-fry...

Boogie Time

My daughter went to The Big Chill and a week later said to me: "Oh, by the way Dad, there was this old busker guy who was seasick or something and he had a bashed up guitar with only three strings. You'd really like him."

She knows me too well.

"Che Guevara would have worn a Joe Strummer T Shirt..."

"All transmitters to Full....All receivers to Boost...This is London Calling, This is London Calling..."

The opening to Joe Strummer's BBC World Service programme between 1998 and 2002 - and heavily featured in "The Future is Unwritten" - Julien Temple's biopic. We had a private screening of it tonight for guests, friends and some BBC-ers. Joe was a fan of the World Service since he first heard it as a schoolboy in Malawi when his diplomat father was posted there.

A reminder of what he achieved, from The Clash (memories of Cardiff 1978) to The Mescaleros, with "London Calling" and the Glastonbury camp fires in between. From his uncompromising determination thirty years ago to a mellower proud father but still lancing hypocrisy and with an unwavering faith in music and people. Much missed...

"Is it Rolling, Bob?"*

The 40th anniversary edition of Rolling Stone magazine has a series of interviews with iconic figures from music politics and culture of the last 40 years. Jagger, Jimmy Carter, Dylan, Scorsese, Neil Young, Jack Nicholson, Jane Fonda, McCartney and more. Some great quotes about the sixties:

Patti Smith: "Rock n Roll is more than music. It is a consciousness."

Michael Moore: "Rock n Roll didn't mean just music. It was a coat of armour against everything coming at you."

Keith Richards: "England was bloody boring and something had to happen. Rock n Roll happened basically."

(* Name that song)

Capturing The Blues

One of the delights of podcasts is that I can regularly listen to Fresh Air, NPR's eclectic daily cultural show. They recently ran a series of interviews from 1987 to mark the programme's 20th anniversary. Among them, this one - where host Terry Gross interviews Sam Charters who 50 years ago documented and recorded many of the great Blues artists. In this clip he tells her how he found Lightnin' Hopkins.

Seven Ages of Rock

The new series of Rock documentaries starts on BBC2 this Saturday. Promises some great footage and interviews - with a website to match. And for the first time I can recall the BBC is offering embedded video. Here Roger Daltry talks about singing Tommy.