Moonbeams Thursday March 17 2016

Hammock, one of my favorite instrumental rock bands has a new CD titled Everything and Nothing releasing April 1st. Check out the new Hammock track Clarity streaming at hammockmusic.... Limited Edition 3-CD Box O' Todd will be shipping March 18th featuring live recordings from the early 1970s. Includes songs by Todd Rundgren as well as the Hello People,  a band he produced back in the day. The package includes a signature guitar pick, 3 collectible pins and a backstage pass.... Check out the new Cotton Mather track Child Bride (available for free download-thanks Magnet Magazine). 

Global – Todd Rundgren’s Spirited & Catchy Shout Out to the World

Todd Rundgren’s new recording Global is all about self-determination and the love of the common man. It is a musical shout-out urging unity, an invitation for the fat cats to crawl off their lofty perches and join the party down below where all the real living gets done. Most of the lyrical themes revolve around mother earth and is delivered with a strong humanist outlook.

Rundgren typically constructs his albums around anchored bookends. The first song, the introduction, is usually a riveting welcome to the listener which hints strongly at the general theme of the record while setting the tone. And the last track, the conclusion, usually assumes the role as a summary imploring the listener to take heed or take hope. In this case the lead-off track Evrybody capably fills the role exploding out of the gate and getting the foot tapping immediately suggesting that Global may be upbeat and spunky. The outro is a moody intellectual piece called This Island Earth which offers a sober counterpoint to the Ancient Aliens hoopla suggesting instead that we are all on our own, that it is up to humanity to save the planet as well as ourselves.

Most of the songs on Global are built around catchy choruses and there really are no instrumental solos (save for a screeching sax on Blind) or those patented bridges for which the artist is so well known. This appears to be a conscious decision as Rundgren opts to utilize a more simple approach tweaked with futuristic pings. Holy Land and Skyscraper are especially memorable tracks featuring lyrics that actually mean something. Soothe is a classic ballad that offers a dose of aural tonic for those in need (in other words, all of us!).

The juxtaposition of guitar god and mystic healer with disco DJ has always perplexed many of his followers, but then again, maybe all this EDM biz is akin to Hodja and his whirling dervishes whipping themselves into a physical frenzy allowing for a spiritual epiphany. At the very least most of us Baby Boomers don’t mind a nice soundtrack to motivate us to walk off those extra pounds and shed some angst (but better watch that volume on the iPod!).

There are sure to be plenty of old Rundgren fans, the stubborn faithful, who will be disappointed that he has chosen to stick to the computer as his primary musical palette. In fact the only guitar that these ears (admittedly not so sharp these days) hear on the entire recording is a couple of crunchy chords in Evrybody. Considering that he remains one of rock’s most admired players, this is both eyebrow-raising and intriguing. In the end the listener can choose to either embrace or reject this offering. However I would suggest that it would be a mistake to reject it after only a few listenings because, as with most recordings, it takes several listenings before all the little sweet parts are revealed and the hooks get a little stickier and start to kick in. Given half a chance these tunes quickly become earworm melodies that you just can’t seem to shake out of your head.

Rundgren, best known for his early pop songs (I Saw the Light, Hello It’s Me, Can We Still Be Friends, Love Is the Answer) and the novelty stadium anthem Bang On the Drum all Day as well as his many productions (notably Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf and XTC’s Skylarking), is actually experiencing a renaissance of popularity with the younger musical explorers of today. Many up-and-comers have cited him as an influence and he has become the fashionable remixer-in-demand. Modern recording techniques have allowed him to become involved in various projects without requiring a time commitment from him or even his very presence. These virtual gigs probably fit his temperament as well as his attention span which is notoriously short. On the other hand, his actual presence is vividly experienced during the slew of recent Ringo Starr tours as well as the live full orchestra recordings of his songbook in Amsterdam a few years back not to mention all of his various live solo incarnations.

The guy gets around, both literally and virtually (Note: Runddans, the collaboration with Hans-Peter Lindstrom & Emil Nikolaisen is scheduled for release in early May).

Personally I can’t help but feel that Todd Rundgren (as well as a handful of other contemporaries – Neil Young immediately comes to mind) has earned the right to follow his muse in whatever mode or method he currently finds appealing. If that’s what it takes to inspire him to create new music, then by all means, follow your bliss and create. Add to the oeuvre, speak your mind, and the audience has the right to either tune in or tune out. The hermit of Mink Hollow never seems hesitant to abide.

Global is a reminder that in the end all we’ve really got for sure is the dwindling resource of time and one another. Might as well celebrate our existence while we can because we’re all together again... carry on, Todd!

Lou Reed: Beautiful Conjecture

Like countless others my first exposure to Lou Reed was from the unlikely Top Forty success of Walk on the Wild Side. I was only eleven or twelve years old when somehow program directors in America’s Heartland found it within themselves to squeeze that piece of gritty streetwise doo-wop in between Rock the Boat and Already Gone. When you think about it there’s never really been another hit song like it, one that, if not exactly celebrates, then casually reveals (revels?) a musical portrayal of alternative lifestyles. Only much later did I find out that David Bowie was involved in the song and so perhaps his involvement opened the door for radio to at least give it a listen. After all, Bowie was already enjoying his own popular success at the time.

The first Lou Reed album I bought was New Sensations. In retrospect I doubt that there are too many Lou Reed fans that can say their own long strange trip with the man began with that particular recording from 1984. But I will sheepishly raise my hand and now admit that personally I never particularly cared for the exalted Velvet Underground anthems that so many claim as manna. Sure, I have an appreciation for Sweet Jane, Heroin and Pale Blue Eyes, of Nico and John Cale and the entire Warhol thing, but that just wasn't my experience. And for a time throughout the 80s and 90s (a long time) the VU was so often mentioned as an influence for up and coming bands that I suspected that no one wanted to be left off that hip graffiti-smacked subway train. It almost became a cliché to mention the VU as an influence.

But for me it was You broke my heart and you made me cry and said that I couldn’t dance...

I bought just about every record that followed and would have to state that for me the man’s masterwork was 1989s New York. A complete artistic statement regarding the streets he mostly loved but sometimes loathed and the city's huge role in its representation of the American (mis)Ideal & Dream. It wasn’t all blowjobs in the back alley – there was the statue of bigotry pissin’ all over everybody and NASA even blew up the moon. Straw Man and Dime Store Mystery were both huge musical statements that summarized and punctuated that wonderful recording.

Now the guy was never really a guitar wizard unless you considered the right note at the right time pure genius (I did) and appreciated three or four (sometimes five) chords delivered with feeling and perfect tonal feedback. Yet despite all the grit, all the punk growl and junkie spin, Lou Reed always seemed more than willing to expose his raw and vulnerable side. The fact of the matter is Lou Reed’s music is sweet. 

Everybody took their own unique ride with Lou and I took mine on the back of that GPZ cruising through the mountains and the Delaware Gap. We even stopped at a hillbilly diner and had us a burger and a coke. Now I’m not saying my ride was the right one or the best one but it certainly was mine and I fuckin' own it.

I've been reading some tweets about Lou since his death was made public and one stands out. Somebody tweeted I knew his nephew who said he was always looking out windows. 

So what was he looking at? 

It would be easy to just reply ah hell, who cares, we’ll never know but then again there’s this sprawling musical legacy that he gifted us with which offers rough hints and glorious clues. So although I can say that I have my own suspicions the rest will always remain beautiful conjecture. 

Carry on my good man...

Obligatory Late-As-Hell Best of 2012 List



in chronological order:

Nada Surf / the stars are indifferent to astronomy

A Winged Victory For The Sullen / a winged victory for the sullen

Craig Finn / clear heart full eyes

Air / le voyage dans la lune

Field Music / plumb

Julia Holter / ekstasis

Todd Snider / agnostic hymns & stoner fables

It Bites / map of the past

Beach House / bloom

Patti Smith / banga

Mike Keneally / wing beat fantastic

The dbs / falling off the sky

Rhian Sheehan / seven tales of the north wind

Stars / the north

Ben Folds Five / the sound of the life of the mind

Hammock / departure songs

Beth Orton / sugaring season

Donald Fagen / sunken condos

The Sea And The Cake / runner

Comments: if I had to pick just one as the best I'd go with the Todd Snider. The db's was actually a disappointment and the Beach House, a critic's darling, wasn't that great. Nice to see BFF back as well as Beth Orton.

Warm In The Wake: The Silver Moon Take

Warm In The Wake

These guys are really good. I don't know too much about them but happened upon Joseph Campbell which I immediately liked. Below are eight of my favorite tracks from this band:

1. Joseph Campell (American Prehistoric)

2. Dark Gypsy Moth (American Prehistoric)

3. Hearts Versus Heads (Gold Dust Trail)

4. Good King (Gold Dust Trail)

5. Skeleton Friend (Gold Dust Trail)

6. Money Dreams (Night Wounds)

7. Fall Your Way (John Smith's Lament) (Night Wounds)

8. Meriwether (Night Wounds)


All tracks should be available on itunes and emusic.

Kevin Kendle's After Christmas Gift

A couple years back I was weaning myself from my usual post-Holiday splurging blues... from all that sugar, the endless libations, the mystical high I always yearn to attain (yes, I always get a little down after December comes and goes - funny how a couple of weeks of time transforms the stark landscape from glittering wonderland into bleak tundra). So I was searching through Emusic for a little midwinter pick-me-up and came across Kevin Kendle's Winter.

I was immediately struck by how nicely the music fit the songs titles and conjured a meditative mood that really helped me ease into the new year and embrace the small offerings of beauty that winter truly offers. I find myself returning to the CD each January and actually look forward to it.

Later that same year I checked out Kendle's Autumn release and was equally enthralled. It is described as a haunting atmospheric album that evokes images of ethereal, magical landscapes of the season of mists and I enthusiastically agree. 

Now Kendle has a new CD coming out in 2012 that sounds very intriguing:
The Leaves of Paradise: a collaboration with the Joao Santos. Check out the incredible digital landscape images at the Kevin Kendle web site!

If you enjoy meditative electronic music or spacey new age and need a little shot in the arm to pick up your spirits, I recommend the music of Kevin Kendle! Now pass me a cup of hot chocolate...

Kevin Kendle Amazon Store

2011: The Year That Was

New music releases I enjoyed the most:

Hammock Longest Year
Doug Powell The Apprentice's Sorcerer
Ron Sexsmith Long Player Late Bloomer
Paul Simon So Beautiful or So What
The Sea And The Cake The Moonlight Butterfly
Bon Iver Bon Iver
Daryl Hall Laughing Down Crying
Jonathan Wilson Gentle Spirit


Other artists whose albums I listened to but they didn't really knock my socks off:

Joseph Arthur, Fow, Rundgren, Waits, Buva, Neon Indian, Kate Bush, Fleet Foxes. Rundgren needs to get back to basics... Waits needs to flee them.



Probably the recording I listened to most last year was:

Eden Ahbez Eden's Island

My soundtrack of the summer from hell!!!


Odds and Sods (mostly Sods):

Songs from 2011 you must download now!

The Copper Top Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat / Burden of Tomorrow Tallest Man on Earth / Beachcombing Typewriter / Perfect Day Cassettes Won't Listen / Hold That Thought Nik Freitas / Soft Washed Out / Dancing Barefoot Todd Rundgren



Best Shows I Saw (aka Only Shows I Saw):

Steely Dan at the Starlight Theater in KC
Ben Folds with the OKC Philharmonic and Paul Simon both at the beautiful Civic Center Music Hall within a few days of each other.

Made Me Quite Merry: Carla Bley Carla's Christmas Carols

A band I'd like to check out more in 2012: Balmorhea

Personal MVP of 2011:

Would have to be Paul Simon. I've spent a lifetime fending off the guy but there's no denying it now... he's one talented sob. His album was great and the impromptu show he gave us in the lobby of the Civic Center while the sound system was being fixed was magical. Showed he had stamina, versatility and most importantly... heart.

Silver Moon's Orange Glow: BOO!

In honor of tonight's OKC Ghouls Gone Wild parade I've compiled some Halloween picks:
http://c.itunes.apple.com/us/imix/silver-moons-orange-glow-boo!/id476603699


The Gleaming Armament of Genatalia - Chrsitmas on Mars - The Flaming Lips
--- no March of a 1,000 Skeletons this year at the Ghouls Gone Wild OKC parade and that's really too bad... this is the theme music.

Manu Christi - Music for "Blood" - Stan Rdigway & Pietra Wexstun
--- this is really creepy... a little bit goes a long way.

Bonfires On The Heath - The Clientele
--- it can't be Halloween without something burning somewhere, right?

Halloween Spooks - Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
--- an old favorite... odd, silly yet captures the spirit!

Monsters of the Id - Snakebite: Blacktop Ballads - Stan Ridgway
--- the really scary things lie within (as Stan well knows).

Lockjaw - A Capella - Todd Rundgren
--- Todd's always good for a laugh. I wouldn't lie.

Edgar Allan Poe - All The Things You Are - Reynold Philipsek
--- a little gypsy jazz on a dark spooky night.

The Raven - Lou Reed
--- spoken word piece that follows Reynold very nicely.

Frank's Wild Years - swordfishtrombone - Tom Waits
--- had to include some Tom somewhere... dig the Halloween imagery at the end and just imagine its October 31st.

Halloween 2009 - Songs for the New Depression - Loudon Wainwright III
--- no double dip yet but late 2008 was damn scary... Woody woulda liked this one.

The Cask - The Raven - Lou Reed
--- another spoken word piece with nice musical enhancement featuring the distinctive voice of that funny-lookin' little guy, Steve Buscemi.

Great Pumpkin Waltz - Vince Guaraldi Trio
--- a little cliched perhaps but its time to wind down and chill.

Pumpkin  Man - Superheterodyne - Rock E. Rollins
--- is it really already all over? This soulful little piece bids adieu to spooks, falling leaves and October.

Do you know who I am?....

Daryl Hall - Laughing Down Crying

Daryl Hall's new album is damn catchy. I can't seem to get these songs out of my head. The guy has always had a knack for writing great songs and he knows how to sing them. Alot of people I know like to dismiss Hall as just a pop song writer but that's only because he had so much success with Hall & Oates back in the 80s. You can't blame the man for producing hit after catchy hit. The truth is he's always surrounded himself with incredible musicians including Robert Fripp (check out Sacred Songs), Todd Rundgren (War Babies for starters), G.E. Smith (he was the H&O lead guitarist during their incredible 80s run), the late great T Bone Wolk and even the underrated John Oates. On top of that he's always had an experimental side to his work (see Fripp & Rundgren). Soulful pop, sing-along ballads, melodious rock - Laughing Down Crying has it all.


available from the Silver Moon aShop



The Best Songs of 2011 (so far...)

Recommended for immediate downloading from your favorite vendor:

The Movement of Cherry Blossom Shadows - Le Concorde

Come A Rain - Kevin Welch

Not Too Late - Freebass

Burden of Tomorrow - The Tallest Man On Earth

You Say It Too - Buva

Magic Lantern - Doug Powell

Drinking Beer On The Roof - The Handsome Family

Like New Year's Day - Matthew Ryan & Hammock

Mr. Let's Find Out - The Caribbean

The Magic Place - Julianna Barwick

Late Bloomer - Ron Sexsmith

Kiss Like Your Kiss - Lucinda Williams

Love And Hard Times - Paul Simon

Up On The North Shore - The Sea And Cake

Someone You'd Admire - Fleet Foxes

Always Like The Son - Release The Sunbird

Perfect Day - Cassettes Won't Listen

The Copper Top - Bill Wells & Aidan Moffat

Towers - Bon Iver

Horses - Joseph Arthur

Cemetery Guns - Fountains of Wayne

NOTE: many of these can be downloaded for free at

 http://www.magnetmagazine.com/category/free-mp3s/

Ron Sexsmith - Long Player Late Bloomer

Ron Sexsmith writes songs that get into your head and once they do they tend to stay there. His tender vocal stylings underscore his very insightful mature lyrics. His new release Long Player Late Bloomer is perhaps his most sonically accomplished and is filled with plenty of catchy pop sing-a-longs and his typically heartfelt acoustic ballads. As a relative newcomer to Sexsmith I have not heard his complete catalog but from what I have heard I surely believe this guy is an artist who deserves to be heard. Available from the Silver Moon aStore.

Below are a Silver Moon Baker's Dozen of great Ron Sexsmith tracks to download NOW from your favorite online vendor:

~ Maybe This Christmas ~ Not Too Big ~ Thumbelina Farewell

~ Keep It In Mind ~ Brandy Alexander ~ Not About To Lose

~ For The Driver ~ Wishing Wells ~ Jazz At The Bookstore

~ Hands of Time ~ Spiritude ~ I'll Believe It When I See It

~ Michael And His Dad

Doug Powell - The Apprentice's Sorcerer

Somehow Doug Powell's latest release slipped past me until I stumbled upon it about a week ago on emusic. Released fittingly back on Halloween 2010 The Apprentice's Sorcerer is a concept album that turns the world of magic and belief upside down while scrutinizing the essence of light and its impact on what is and is not revealed. It's easy to interpret these songs as an extension of Powell's ongoing spiritual quest as they probe the concepts of belief, deception and ultimately faith. He's become quite the wizard in the studio as the production is top-notch and the songs sound dynamic, provocative and crystal clear. Most of the tunes are hyperactive toe-tappers but Doug squeezes in a couple of touching ballads that really shine in contrast. The album ends with The Professor's Nightmare which features a spoken-word intro by a Stephen Hawking-like drone whose computerized voice creates a synthetic non-human approach to the spirit world yet morphs into a lively piano solo that seemingly incorporates all of humanity's passion and potential and, perhaps, even a bit of its madness. And then suddenly, it's over: all matter has at long last fallen apart along the edges and God has left the building.

Or has He simply emerged from another door?

Available from CD Baby.

New Music from Buva

Buva has released his third full-length CD Not Scary! Friendly which is available from CD Baby. Reminiscient of 70s era Beach Boys with a modern sheen and his typical dynamic arrangements.

Utopian Dreams

The following is a not so impartial review of Utopian Dreams, the new release of an old live-in-the-studio recording by Moogy & the Rhythm Kings, Long Island, March 1972.

The set opens with the rollicking locomotive grind of Midnite Train. Next up is the funky Tonite I Wanna Love Me A Stranger that sports a cool Dr. John vibe. The soulful confessional Dust In The Wind follows which is without question one of Moogy’s best-known and beloved compositions. The instrumental Heaven On Earth is a jazzy delight, reminiscent of some of that era’s better prog-bop tracks. Woulda fit in nicely in Mickey Rourke’s Barfly flick. The great Ralph Schuckett takes center stage for the next two tunes, the street-wise shuffle of Gimme That Bread and the bittersweet ballad Welcome To My House that’s sure to be a fan favorite, especially in light of the fact that 38 years after the actual performance most of us Boomers can relate to the beautifully expressed sentiment. Just a wonderful song. The following four are all Moogy standards (I Can Love / Cryin’ In The Sunshine / Kilpatrick’s Defeat / The Man At Ease) delivered with typical soulful flare and tight arrangements. I’m A Ram is an all-out rock-funk jam with plenty of electric piano and organ solos. Makin’ The Rounds At Midnite is a self-professed hunk of funk with a tip of the hat to Jerry Lee. The set concludes with Raised On An Island which starts off with a distinct Siomos drum beat, then John Siegler falls in on bass, then Schuckett on organ, and finally Moogy offers his “humble lick on the piano.”

“We’re gonna rock and roll all day, we’re gonna rock and roll my friend,
We’re gonna rock and roll all night, then we’ll rock all over again!”

It turned out to be more than just a Utopian Dream, it laid the foundation for one of the most respected and creative musical forces of the era – a few years later the mother ship landed and out popped Todd with his spacey guitar and Utopia became a reality. And now thirty-eight years later the founding father is still rockin’ – Keep On Rockin’ Moogy!

Utopian Dreams is brought to you by Moogy Klingman and Silver Moon Music and is available for purchase from the Silver Moon web site. NOTE: the performances are grand, the sound quality not exactly pristine. My suggestion is to dial down the bass, bump up the treble, crank the V and enjoy with a Newcastle Brown or three.

Tom Getter Slack - Looking Glass

One of the nice things about having released a few CDs on my Medicine Park label is that I've had the priviledge to make some musical friends along the way. One of those is a fellow from Pittsburg named Tom Getter Slack who recently sent me his new CD Looking Glass. Wow - this is really a very nice effort best described as melodic, peaceful, even sweet. There are a couple of instrumentals tossed in but most songs are concise introspective vignettes. Available from CD Baby for only $8.99. Recommended!

Top Picks for 2010

Some of these might have actually been officially released before 2010 but these are the ones I listened to the most. All are available at the Silver Moon aStore.

BEN FOLDS & NICK HORNBY - Lonely Avenue

CROWDED HOUSE - Intriguer

HAMMOCK - Chasing After Shadows

THE HOLD STEADY - Heaven Is Whenever

JEN OLIVE - Warm Robot

LAST DAYS - Safety Of The North

LAURA VEIRS - July Flame

LYLE WORKMAN - Harmonic Crusader

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS - The Life of the World to Come

PETER MULVEY - Letters From a Flying Machine

SETH SWIRSKY - Watercolor Day

SPOOKEY RUBEN - Mechanical Royalty

TOM PETTY - Mojo

THE WEEPIES - Be My Thrill

WILLIAM BRITTELLE - Television Landscape

The Flaming Lips 2011 Freak Out !!

I haven't made my plans yet but this is very tempting:

Reynold Philipsek - Vienna Blues

Some nice holiday cheer from Reynold Philipsek:

Keep Moogy In Your Thoughts and Prayers

Moogy Klingman wrote some of the more memorable songs from the 70s including Bette Midler's signature "(You Gotta Have) Friends" (with Buzzy Linhart) and the bluesy confessional "Dust In The Wind" which leads off side 4 of Todd Rundgren's magnum opus "Something/Anything."

Moogy has served as Bette's musical director and was the executive producer of the "Music From Free Creek" super-session that featured Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Keith Emerson and many others.

Moogy provided the musical foundation for Todd Rundgren's Utopia with his own group Moogy & the Rhythm Kings and was a very large influence over the first two Utopia recordings.

Moogy played live with frickin' Lou Reed and that's a show worth risking the perils of time travel (you know, wormhole navigation and molecular regeneration) to go back and see!

Moogy jammed with Jimi!

Moogy was kind enough to write and record two wonderful songs for our Medicine Park projects.

Moogy wrote and recorded a plethora of funky, soulful, spiritual, rollicking rock and roll tunes in the 70s and has continued to write and perform in New York City to this very day.

And now Moogy is involved in a very serious health battle and needs our support.

"Moogy wants to play a solo so let's give him a chance."

Please send your thoughts, prayers and positive vibrations to Moogy Klingman. Thank you.

Moogy Klingman CDs can be bought at Moogy Music.

Last Days - The Safety of the North

One of my recent discoveries is the electronic musical unit known as Last Days. Their musical world is one of moody dark passages that border sometimes on the bleak but that suits me just fine as given my disposition I am usually rendered calm and introspective upon listening. The vast majority of their work is instrumental and thus the titling of each song suggests some kind of inspiration or feeling that they are attempting to conjure. Even the name of the musical entity seems to bring a sober reckoning to the table.

the city failed / may your days be gold / new house / fracture / thoughts of alice / run home / life support / your silence is the loudest sound / this is not an ending / the fields remember my father /
missing photos / nothing stay the same, nothing ends / you are stars / blue and white flowers / onwards

Available the Silver Moon aStore.