Not the Deputy

More geeky publishing humor ...

Storytelling Shape

In pursuit of “off-scale happiness” ...

... Kurt Vonnegut on the simple shapes of stories.

Septuagenarian!

Happy Birthday, Bob! ... May you be forever young.

Melody and Manic Pop with The Feelies

The Feelies put on another energetic and entertaining show last night at Middle East in Cambridge, Mass. Their two sets, plus the usual multiple encores, featured many old favorites from their back catalog, as well as several songs from their new release, Here Before, their first CD in 19 years. The band has been playing a few of the new songs from Here Before on their brief tours in recent years, but last night’s gig featured more of them, including the impressive slower-tempoed title track.

Here’s the band’s spirited rendition of one of my favorite tracks, “Higher Ground,” from last night’s show.

The song originally appeared on 1988’s Only Life CD, the band’s best in my book.

The Feelies have always been known for their creative choice of covers in live performance, often drawing upon choice cuts by The Beatles, The Velvet Underground, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Wire, R.E.M. and others. Last night, was the first time I’d ever heard them do this classic, opening track from Exile on Main Street.

Not your typical Feelies type tune, but they pulled it off pretty well, I think.

Check out my full review of last year’s Feelies’ show at the Middle East here. I don’t think last night’s show quite matched the spark of last year’s (or the six encores!), but it was still a strong performance and a good time. I hope to be able to continue seeing them every year or so. The time is right!

Read It in Books

Good for Bob Dylan, taking to the typewriter ... err, computer (maybe) ... to set the record straight regarding alleged censorship by the Chinese government during his recent concerts in the People’s Republic (which “people” is that exactly?). True to form, old Bob does a wonderful job of subtly skewering both the (lazy/sensationalistic) media, as well as a certain (unnamed) concert promoter.

But my favorite part of Bob’s rare personal note addressing the whole affair, published today on his website, is his concluding paragraph: characteristically sarcastic yet clearly written with a twinkle in his eye:

Everybody knows by now that there’s a gazillion books on me either out or coming out in the near future. So I’m encouraging anybody who’s ever met me, heard me or even seen me, to get in on the action and scribble their own book. You never know, somebody might have a great book in them.

Read the Homer of Hibbing’s full note on the matter here.