In other wacky music news: River Cuomo is two-years-plus into a vow of celibacy and going back to Harvard.

FAQWife thought she spotted Rivers when we went to see Dirty 3 earlier this month, but the photo doesn't really look like the guy she pointed to.

How's that for non-news?

I hardly believe there are even that many Jews alive back then.

Well... not after. Sheesh.

Racist tween twin singing sensations. Huh.

Their R. Kelly video is gonna be the bestest scandal ever!

It's the Voice's 50th anniversary. I can grab a few if anyone wants a paper copy.

Picked up Monk/Coltrane at Carnegie Hall & it did not disappoint. The fabulous music is the reason to buy it of course, but it's great to see how much care was taken with the project: sound & packaging are top-notch with excellent liner notes (even if I don't really know what the hell Amiri is talking about.)

Shit. Only three years in Simonverse fandom and I'm already being treated "like Nixon treated Agnew?" That has got to be a record. Maybe I will just end it all and run into Kellerman forums and post "DIRTY SHOOT." in asscaps and run away. Nah, I might be crazy, but I didn't kill anybody. (I think I could probably post nothing but H:LOTS quotes for a whole day and nobody would know for a while...and you're like "And that would be different, how?")

And this could mean seven or more Ryan Adams albums in the next five months: he and Parker Posey have split.

We would have had seven more even if they hadn't broken up.

Ryan Adams: A savant in search of quality control.

Has anybody seen the new Uncut magazine?

(I just realized how porny that would sound if you weren't aware it was a music mag.)

Apparently, LiTG gets a good review in it.

Okay, another crazy question: was there ever a baritone country cover of "I Do It For Your Love" by Paul Simon? Allmusic and Google give me no love. There was a song of the same name by Kenny Rogers, but the lyrics are different. (And perhaps the music, too, I don't think he filked it.)

They're like Smoosh, but racist.

To the side of that, do the girls in Smoosh write their own songs? 'Cause Massive Cure kinda rocks.

To the side of that, do the girls in Smoosh write their own songs?

I think they do. The keyboard playing/singer older sister is really very talented. The drummer's pretty good too, actually.

I saw them live for a short set at Ameoba Records.

was there ever a baritone country cover of "I Do It For Your Love" by Paul Simon?

I have a couple versions by Bill Evans. Which doesn't answer your question. Sorry, but I have no useful info for you. Perhaps you have some for me, though: what's up TNBT? It's all recycled stuff lately. Off-season? Extended hiatus? Show in trouble? You can email the answer if you don't want to talk in public. I want my lexicographical activism radio damn it!

Saw Richard & Danny Thompson at Town Hall last night. Apparently the Times referred to DT as RT's son, which was a running joke (the former is a decade older than the latter & they aren't related.) They're collaboration Industry is one of the few official releases missing from my RT collection, but I have and enjoy Danny's Whatever's Best. My friend George is a Richard Thompson fan but he's also a bassist & Danny was the draw for him. Sorry to say that he was somewhat disappointed. I'm sorry to say that I can't remember his exact reasons, but it had to do with DT's set-up being wrong for the venue. I'll defer to him on the technical aspect, but I do agree that the sound didn't really suit the hall. It would have been nice to hear them in a small club instead of a mid-sized concert hall. That said his playing was excellent.

Richard's playing is always excellent. He's an amazing guitarist with lots of room for error so the wildcards when seeing him are song selection and vocals. He's a great songwriter with a very deep catalog from which to draw. Unfortunately his best days are seemingly behind him, and when he leans heavily on recent material it's usually the worst part of the show. (This was less of a problem last time I saw him. I didn't much care for The Old Kit Bag but that was a full band show, and one should never underestimate his ability to transform mediocre material with killer guitar. He's great on acoustic, too, but it's harder to overcome subpar material at a solo show.) He's an adequate vocalist who is unlikely to inspire but isn't a major distraction unless he keeps singing songs that should be sung by Linda (including many written long after they broke up but would be much improved by her singing.)

Last night was pretty light on his most recent albums, Front Parlor Ballads and The Old Kit Bag, had nothing from the album prior to that (Mock Tudor, his only studio album I've completely dug since Rumor and Sigh, partly because I was so happy that the Mitchell Froom days were over), and cherrypicked the best (duo/acoustic-friendly) songs from his albums dating back to Daring Adventures -- the one that first made me want to smack Froom silly : "Al Bowlly's In Heaven," "Waltzing's For Dreamers," "1952 Vincent Black Lightning," "I Feel So Good," "Beeswing".

He also played a number of songs familiar from other shows and live albums: "From Galway to Graceland," "Hots for the Smarts," and "Alexander Graham Bell". ("This started as a song for children, but it's too good for kids. [pause] It's not good enough for adults. You're my target audience."

There was one weird guy screaming barely comprehensible requests. RT: "I didn't catch a word of that. The acoustics here are designed to go out. [gestures toward audience]" Weird guy with heavy accent: "Scupper the ship!" RT: "Scupper the ship? [looks at DT then back to audience] There's no drain in the stage." Weird guy: "I'll have you shot! Twice!" RT: "Uh... right. [tunes guitar, ignores weird guy]" I guess the guy wanted to hear "Hand of Kindness," which has the line, "well, I scuppered the ship," but threatening to shoot the performer didn't work for him. Go figure.

Best part was the encore, which consisted of "From Galway to Graceland," "Don't Sit on My Jimmy Shands" (preceded by a couple anecdotes about JS), and "Ghosts in the Wind". I rarely request songs, especially when I'm near the back of the venue, and any chance (continued...)

( continues...) that I'd change my policy went out the window when Mr. NRA chimed in. But I had been tempted to request "Ghosts in the Wind" since halfway through the show. He had been working his way back through his discography, and when Rumor and Sigh was followed by Amnesia was followed by Daring Adventures I started hoping that was the song he would play. It's less likely to pop up at one of his shows than "When the Spell Is Broken" or "Fire in the Engine Room" but they're better suited to electric. "Ghosts," though, seemed like it would adapt very well to acoustic guitar and bass, and did it ever! George and I agreed that it was Danny Thompson's highlight, especially his arco work. Don't know if I had some good karma going or was just on RT's wavelength yesterday but I'm really happy I stayed to the end. It was one of the highlights of the many times I've seen him over the last twenty years. He probably played it the first time I saw him, too, since it was the Across a Crowded Room tour. And I was wearing the RT-designed sweatshirt I bought at that show a few years later when I got to go backstage and meet Himself (George was in charge of concerts at Haverford), who deadpanned, "Nice shirt."