New Year starts at nine

And so, we say good-bye to snake
And say hello to horse
We're going to dance and stay awake
And hear some tunes, of course!

Recommended Reading: Nick Hornby's Songbook

Nick Hornby wrote the music lover's book that was made into the music lover's film High Fidelity. Hornby wrote a collection of essays about 31 songs.

Songbook is not a critique of the songs, but a celebration. He writes about how they make him feel, what they inspire in him, or simply why he loves them. The writing is witty, sharp and so very enjoyable. I often laughed out loud. Sometimes I had to read a piece over again just because it was so much fun.

He takes on some of the sillier tropes in music criticism such as the idea that music must be "edgy" to be noteworthy. He defends pop music with humor, vigor and persuasiveness.

He also recommends several albums at the end and most of them are one's I love.

To celebrate this lovely book, I am going to play his 31 songs for my Monday set, so I will be starting a bit early - at 4:30 PM on Monday, January 27th.

Spanish Garage Bands at Nine

I hope you all brought your translator
For songs from south of the equator

More garage bands at nine!

We were doing a thing,
And then, last week, I said...
Well, we'll just go back to
Before we were interrupted.

Ugly Celebrates The Man in Pink!

It was The Man in Pink's birthday last week and today I am dedicating an entire set to him.  Expect an abundance of strangeness.  Here is one of the coolest artists he has introduced to me, Hugh Laurie.  Enjoy!

For absent friends, at nine.

Tonight remembers a DJ passed
One that I also called friend
Who had been away too long
Who left me with that doleful news.
Those who remember
have said that they wondered
and don't like the answer
but are thankful for closure.

I don't know what else I should do
But play, and say, "This one's for you."

An Evening of Classic Rock

7-9pm, Friday Jan 10th:

It's been a hard week. And when it's been a hard week, a really hard week, I need some hard rock. Hard rock, of the classic kind. Sure, a lot of this came out of the 1970s, but there'll be a dab or two from other decades as well. I haven't put the playlist together yet, but you can depend on hearing Alice Cooper, some Gong, some Deep Purple, Aerosmith, Van Halen, maybe some Rush, and absolutely Led Zeppelin will be included ... the music that makes this old dude feel good. So don your denim jacket and your best concert t-shirt, and head over to the V tonight for the stuff your dad used to listen to. When he was cool. And dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

Obligatory Best of 2013 Set!

Today I'm playing a 2013-heavy set with great songs from 2013, like this gem from the Kopecky Family Band from last year's Kids Raising Kids album.  Enjoy!

What is unlost is unfound at nine

Half the country's under snow
We've got a Herculean blizzard
So, to the 60s we will go!
Back when a guy could play a zither.
Though, why you can't now, I don't know.
I'm sure some bands would beg to differ.