Get It Off Your Chest

A recent This American Life broadcast featured recordings of calls made to the Apology Line, a fifteen year project of the late Allan Bridges. Mr. Bridges recorded over 1,000 cassette tapes full of people's anonymous confessions to his answering machine like this one:

"I'd like to apologize for...for being such a sorry person. My preacher's wife was counseling me on alcoholism. They're a married couple. I'm thirty and they're thirty. And I had a sexual encounter with her. And I feel sorry, and I need to apologize to somebody...for messing up her. Her husband was almost impotent. In which I attacked the woman. I had oral and physical sex with her. And I feel just plumb damn guilty like I should...just...end it all. Thank you."

I don' t think we'll get anything quite that detailed or heady from the new advertainment site launched by Method, the folks that attractively packaged soap. But it is oddly fun to see what people choose to get off their chests. Go see for yourself at comeclean.com.

Meet the Beastles

Go grab 'em here while you can. If they get pulled, I'll post copies on the SpinSouth server.

Sellout's Steal of the Week: The Heartless Bastards

In a Popeye's-Grolsch-Enchilada-and-Margarita fueled state of bliss last weekend, Red Chuck and I enthusiastically embraced the new Heartless Bastards album. Bruce at the Money Shot played us an advanced copy of the record, which he recorded earlier this year.

Now back at home and back on a more sensible diet-exercise-alcohol regime, I still love it. Here's a track from the upcoming (early 2005) Fat Possum Records release called "Onions."

The Heartless Bastards:
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The Money Shot Studio, Water Valley, Mississippi

Ain't a-goin' down to Oxford Town

In 2002, Fat Possum Records put out "Don't Give Up on Me."

It is a brilliant album, recorded by one of my favorite engineers, featuring songs from some of my favorite songwriters, played by some of my favorite musicians, and sung by the legendary Solomon Burke.

Over the past several years, the label has also released records by R.L. Burnside, the Black Keys, Junior Kimbrough, Grandpaboy, and Thee Shams.

So I've gotten all fired up about heading down to the Fat Possum recording headquarters this weekend to play (along with Red Chuck) on a new album by Jim Mize. For one thing, it'll be fun to be "just the bass player" on a session. But we'll also be within striking distance of a few notable North Mississippi spots:

Square Books
Rowan Oak
Zebra Ranch
Taylor Grocery

In preparation for the weekend in and around Oxford, I re-read As I Lay Dying and finally got around to reading Father and Son, a deeply disturbing but addictively great book by the late (as of a couple of weeks ago) Larry Brown.

I would have said that it made me never want to drink a drop of alcohol again, but I just downed two Fat Tires while writing this entry.

P.S. Harbs, sorry we didn't connect last weekend. This weekend it will happen.

Sellout's Steal of the Week: 607

The hands down highlight of the Easys Halloween show this year was an appearance of local rapper 607 (formerly of Traumah Team). He sat in on two songs ("Capital I Heart Letter You" and a brilliant freestyle against a song Isaac wrote on the spot) and brought the house down.

We had so much fun we're in the planning stages of making an album together. Will keep you posted.

So, with the Grammy nominations this week (don't get me started), here's two from 607. The first is his "ode" to Grammy's favorite son this year, Kayne West. The second lifts another Grammy nominated song, Britney's Toxic (my favorite song of the year, btw).

607: "Kayne Dis":
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607: "Britney Spears":
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P.S. I've added an index of previous Steals of the Week over there in the sidebar. Download away and send the RIAA a Christmas card.

I Think My Son May Be a Yankee

I've heard folks up north put cheese on their apple pie. Julian's favorite meal these days is shredded apples and cheddar cheese.

Of course he's also really big on that rice and gravy at the Pete Harris Cafe.

THIS is why I love the iTunes Music Store

So I've been a huge Kevin Russell fan for almost 20 years now. Arnold and I used to frequent shows at Enoch's where The Picket Line Coyotes showed us how to be a rock band and Kevin showed me how to try to be Bob Dylan in a rock band.

Fast forward to about 1996 or so and Kevin returns with The Gourds. Dem's Good Beeble goes into heavy rotation for several years and some of those live dates from back then go down in my personal history of greatest shows ever. But then Jimmy thinks he's the Southern Tom Waits and starts singing about pickles. My interest fades.

BUT NOW, iTunes music store gives me the option to ONLY BUY THE KEVIN SONGS! Problem solved, I love the Gourds again. And to make it even better, early reports are that this album is a return to form for Kevin.

I'll have to synchronize my trips to the bar Saturday night (they're playing in town) with Jimmy's songs.

P.S. Sellout's Steal of the Week: The Gourds--"Lower 48" (wherein Kevin manages to recite all 48 states in a musical fashion):

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So Much for Moving to Canada...

We may have W.,but Canada has McRorie, One Man Live!
Quicktime posted for your enjoyment...

The Culture War:A Report from the Mess Tent

I keep hearing about the culture war being fought right here in the U.S.
Today, it became very real to me.

I pride myself in making a fine vegetarian chili from a recipe I've been perfecting over the past few Arkansas winters. I'll spare you the details (fresh cilantro, etc.), but I begin with a secret I learned from my mom: Bear Creek's "Damn Good Chili" mix.

This year, our friends at Bear Creek have renamed said package "Darn Good Chili." Look, if my mom wasn't too offended to buy the original, I can't imagine it hurt their sales that much.

I like to imagine that James Dobson was involved in the name change.

A Creature of Habit

I love ritual. Perhaps it's part of getting old, but I think it goes deeper than that.

There's something about drinking two cups of coffee in silence in front of nytimes.com every morning-- if it doesn't happen my whole morning is shot.

I have lots more examples, but I'm not especially chatty right now.