Alby

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Song of the Day 3/29: Paul Melançon, “Jeff Lynne”

Filed in Arts and Entertainment by on March 29, 2024 0 Comments

Sometimes a song intended as homage nails it so well it’s hard to tell it from the original. That’s the case with “Jeff Lynne,” indie pop-rocker Paul Melançon’s tribute to the Electric Light Orchestra frontman and songwriter. Melançon said the first record he ever bought was ELO’s “Out of the Blue,” and he certainly learned […]

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Song of the Day 3/28: World Party, “Sweet Soul Dream”

Filed in Arts and Entertainment by on March 28, 2024 0 Comments

Karl Wallinger, the multi-instrumentalist best known as the leader, and frequently the only member, of World Party, died at his home in England two weeks ago of a stroke. He was 66. Wallinger first gained attention in 1983 when he joined the Waterboys, where his keyboards set the mood of that band’s biggest hit, “The […]

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Song of the Day 3/27: John Cougar Mellencamp, “Crumblin’ Down”

Filed in Arts and Entertainment by on March 27, 2024 0 Comments

Richard Serra, whose massive steel sculptures – the less artistically inclined among us would describe them as walls – were the source of controversy and a federal lawsuit, has died at age 85. Serra gained widespread notoriety in the ’80s when he used a commission from the federal government for a public sculpture in a […]

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DL Open Thread Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Filed in National, Open Thread by on March 27, 2024 6 Comments

Six members of a construction crew are missing and presumed dead in the Baltimore bridge collapse, but it could have been a lot worse. Alex Jones and his ilk spun lots of conspiracy theories, and that’s before they knew the workers who died were immigrants from Central America and Mexico. Ever since the Supreme Court’s […]

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Song of the Day 3/26: Counting Crows, “Raining in Baltimore”

Filed in Arts and Entertainment by on March 26, 2024 0 Comments

From Counting Crows’ debut album, “August and Everything After,” released in 1993.

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DL Open Thread Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Filed in National, Open Thread by on March 26, 2024 11 Comments

Move over, Donald. The top story on cable news today will be the rescue efforts at Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed after a cargo ship rammed it about 1:30 this morning. It’s being treated as a mass casualty event; nobody is sure how many workers and vehicles were on the steel structure. Another […]

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Song of the Day 3/25: Barenaked Ladies, “If I Had $1000000”

Filed in Arts and Entertainment by on March 25, 2024 0 Comments

Dedicated to Donald Trump, with all the sympathy he deserves. Barenaked Ladies wrote about what they’d do with a million dollars even before the band formed in 1988. Frontmen Steven Page and Ed Robertson were working as counselors at a summer music camp, and they would sing this to the campers on the bus, filling […]

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DL Open Thread Monday, March 25, 2024

Filed in International, National, Open Thread by on March 25, 2024 9 Comments

Today’s the deadline for Trump to come up with the cash or equivalent in New York, but he took time last night to go to his West Palm Beach golf club to celebrate his victory in – here, I’ll let him tell it: “THE CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY & THE SENIOR CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY.I WON BOTH!” […]

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Song of the Day 3/24: Cypress Hill w/the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, “Insane in the Brain”

Filed in Arts and Entertainment by on March 24, 2024 1 Comment

Life, as we know, imitates “The Simpsons,” which is why we got a Trump presidency. Even minor gags from long-ago episodes have come to pass: The U.S. won the Olympic gold medal in curling, the guy in Siegfried and Roy was attacked by one of his white tigers, Michelangelo’s David became the subject of censorship […]

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Song of the Day 3/23: Пикник, “Королевство кривых” [Piknik, “Kingdom of Crooks”]

Filed in Arts and Entertainment, International by on March 23, 2024 0 Comments

Once again, terrorists have attacked a live music event, this time a concert hall on the outskirts of Moscow. Gunmen associated with the Islamic State opened fire before the start of a performance by Piknik, one of Russia’s longest-running rock bands; the death toll stood at 133 as this was written. Piknik, aka Picnic, recorded […]

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Song of the Day 3/22: Barrett Strong, “Money (That’s What I Want)”

Filed in Arts and Entertainment by on March 22, 2024 0 Comments

Donald Trump is getting INCREASINGLY FRANTIC! as the clock winds down toward his deadline for posting bond as he appeals his fraud conviction. Before you read any story about it, you should cue up this song as the soundtrack. Barrett Strong had his only hit as a performer with “Money,” written by Berry Gordy. It […]

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DL Open Thread Friday, March 22, 2024

Filed in National, Open Thread by on March 22, 2024 4 Comments

Polling shows Americans have soured on the Supreme Court, the last institution that held the respect of a majority of the American public. Its approval rating started to slip a few years ago, but the decline accelerated with Dobbs and now stands at 40%. The conservative justices’ partisan leanings and love of graft are so […]

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Song of the Day 3/21: Alex Melton, “MMMBop”

Filed in Arts and Entertainment by on March 21, 2024 0 Comments

Alex Melton is a South Carolina-based multi-instrumentalist who’s made a name for himself on YouTube by making genre-twisting covers – country songs done as pop-punk and vice versa are his specialties – and doing it all as a one-man band, playing all the instruments and mixing it together by computer. He’s been doing this for […]

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