Thursday, July 1: What I’m Listening To

Now that I’m on vacation, I spend a lot of time writing and editing on the computer; consequently, I have the chance to listen to a lot more music than I did during the school year. Some of it is quite good:

• Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, by Wilco, a mainstream rock band which is hailed by the critics, and deservedly so. In an era of less commercialized radio this band would surely be big stars.

• The Dark Side of the Moon, by Pink Floyd, my favorite all-time album ever, so naturally I take it out and listen to it periodically. You should do so too.

• The Police: Live contains two concerts, one early in their careers and one right before the breakup. They were a fabulous band but like so many others were broken up by conflicting egos. If nothing else, listening to them in their prime reminds me of just how boring Sting has gotten in middle age.

• Premonition, by John Fogarty, who was highly-underrated as leader of Creedence Clearwater Revival because many people assumed they were only a singles band–definitely not true!–and is underrated now because he only releases an album every five-to-ten years. This live album is evidence of just how good he has always been.