End-of-the-Year Playlist

Many of the usual on this selection played at O'Hanlon's in Astoria... I'm very predictable that way.

AC/DC "Hells Bells"
Journey "Don't Stop Believin'"
The Black Crowes "Remedy"
Boston "More than a Feeling"
Bob Marley and the Wailers "Redemption Song"
Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead or Alive"
Counting Crows "Mr. Jones"
Coldplay "Politik"
Damien Rice "The Blower's Daughter"
David Bowie "Heroes"
Dire Straits (feat. Sting) "Money for Nothing"
The Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams"
Guns n' Roses "Sweet Child o' Mine"
The Police "Message in a Bottle"

Saturday Night Short Playlist

AC/DC "Hells Bells"
Def Leppard "Photograph"
The Police "Message in a Bottle"
The Police "King of Pain"
Journey "Don't Stop Believin'"

End of Summer Playlist

AC/DC "Hells Bells" (if it's good enough for the Marines in Fallujah, it's good enough for me)

Boston "More Than a Feeling" (thank you, Scrubs for showing me the brilliance of this tune)

Bob Marley "Redemption Song" (how can one not shed a tear at the lyric "How long shall they kill our prophets while we stand aside and look" or feel empowered by "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery")

Counting Crows "Mr. Jones" (I seem to know all the lyrics... "Yeah, we stare at the beautiful women")

U2 "Pride" (a song about the message of one of those prophets Marley alludes to: "Free at last, they took your life, they could not take your pride")

June 20 Playlist

Selections played at MacDougal Street Ale House:

AC/DC "Hells Bells"
David Bowie and Queen "Under Pressure"
Daughtry "It's Not Over"
Disturbed "Down with the Sickness"
The Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams"
Guns n' Roses "Sweet Child o' Mine"
Journey "Don't Stop Believin'"
Lady Gaga "Poker Face"
Led Zeppelin "Whole Lotta Love"
Madonna "Frozen"
Bob Marley "No Woman No Cry"
The Police "Message in a Bottle"

Post-Weekend-Yankees-Suck Playlist

Duran Duran "Wild Boys"

AC/DC "Hells Bells"

Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms"

Def Leppard "Die Hard the Hunter"

David Bowie "Space Oddity"

Marc Cohn "Paper Walls"

Bob Marley "Redemption Song"

Boston "More Than a Feeling"

Bon Jovi "Livin' on a Prayer"

The Police "Message in a Bottle"

The Police "King of Pain"

Prince "When Doves Cry"

Marc Cohn Live

I have seen Marc Cohn in concert at:

Town Hall, NYC, 2005

Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, Conn., 2006

Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, NYC, 2007

Highline Ballroom, NYC, 2007

Capital One Bank Theatre, Westbury, N.Y., 2008

Paramount Center for the Arts, Peekskill, N.Y., 2009

Ben Harper & Relentless 7

Ben is back... and he's rockin'...

Bon Amazing

Every time I listen to Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago, I discover something new, something hauntingly amazing. IMO, this is one of the most beautiful albums of the decade.

I love this lyric from "Re: Stacks" (obviously the full effect is with the music and the tone of Justin Vernon's voice):

This is not the sound of a new man or crispy realization
It's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away
Your love will be
Safe with me

Ingrid's Blog

Boy, do I hate multitalented folk.

You can't be good at one thing and basta? Leave some talent for the rest of us!

Staten Island's Ingrid Michaelson just started a blog with the wacky title Bliggity Blog.

She also Tweets.

Oh, and yeah she's a singer, too.

Ben Harper and Tom Freund

This is cool... Just found it online... It's Ben Harper on slide guitar supporting his friend Tom Freund on Carson Daly:

Bon Iver: Oh So That's What Everyone Is Talking About

I downloaded Bon Iver's "The Wolves" last year because it was featured in Grey's Anatomy.

I liked the song but didn't really think much more about the band until I read this column in the New Yorker.

Turns out Bon Iver is the creation of Wisconsin native Justin Vernon, who made the album while living in a hunting cabin for 3 months.

Sasha Frere-Jones, who wrote the New Yorker piece, praises Vernon's talents so much I felt compelled to download the whole album from eMusic.

It is hauntingly good.