Feels Like Home is a lovely song written by Randy Newman. Who sang it best?
This morning, I was writing a review of Feels Like Home, an album Linda Ronstadt released in 1995. I was left with a somewhat mediocre impression of Ronstadt’s version of the title song, which I had originally heard sung by Bonnie Raitt on the soundtrack of Randy Newman’s Faust. Linda Ronstadt had also performed on that album, which […]
I had a disturbing realization last month. Disturbing, at least, from the point of view of a guy whose entire adolescent self-identity was wrapped up in the idea that he was ahead of the curve in all things pop music, that he could tell you with metronomic precision the Top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 at any given moment (at a time when the Top 10 actually changed from week to week – and not just due to the latest event single). At the end of the summer, I’m looking back on the music I’ve purchased and listened to this year, and I’m finding that a disproportionate number of my favorite records of 2008 are by old farts.
Willie Nelson. Photo by Kjell Ove Hattrem.
Now, I realize that as most people settle into their adulthoods and are faced with the imminent onset of middle age – dear god, I can already smell the despair-laced liquor and cigarette smoke at the hall of my 20 year high school reunion – with growing debt loads, and growing children with growing attitude problems, it’s perfectly natural for a guy to reassess his priorities away from discovering the hottest new pop thing. No offense, Katy Perry, but it’s perfectly natural, and even admirable, for a guy like me to spend his Sunday night watching an inspirational Disney movie on DVD with his kids and dogs rather than sequestering himself in his basement tracking the hit parade according to Seacrest. And as we settle into our cosy adulthoods, it’s perfectly natural to fall back on the favorites and golden oldies (like “Rock the Casbah”!) we grew up with.
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I mentioned the “dog days” in last week’s column, but this week’s set of releases appears to be just as, if not more lame than the one that preceded it. Anyway, since we’re about making lemonade out of lemons here, here’s this week’s hotlist.
The cover of Conor Oberst's self-titled new album.
Conor Oberst “Conor Oberst”-Since Conor Oberst basically is Bright Eyes, isn’t this a little like Trent Reznor making an album as “Trent Reznor”? I dunno. I can’t say that I know much about Bright Eyes except for the fact that the rock press loves him. Tons of friends have tried to get me into him on mixtapes and I just don’t get it. Too pretentious for me. But you can go ahead and like him. I won’t hate you.
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