This should be true and not satire. Mary Fisher, owner of the Demon Bean in Kilburn, took desperate measures after an infestation of laptop-wielding ‘digital nomads’ threatened her business. She said: “They’d sit there, typing away, not buying anything. I had to take desperate measures,...
music
The great country songwriter Curly Putman is dead. He wrote such hits as "The Green, Green Grass of Home," "D.I.V.O.R.C.E" "Dumb Blonde" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today." Pretty amazing.
If you have not read this New Yorker profile of Leonard Cohen, do so now. Also, here's a great profile of the wonderful guitarist Mary Halvorson. We all need to.
Here's an interview with Laura Ballance, Superchunk bassist and CEO of Merge Records. Question for you. Is Merge the greatest label in rock history? I have to say that it is. In my view, it's up with the greatest labels of all time like Atlantic...
Another great musician is gone.
Time for one of my occasional catch-all music posts. Pitchfork released a list of the Top 200 Songs of the 70s. To say the least, this represents a hipster's modern.
The wonderful Irving Fields has died at the age of 101. Fields was a brilliant piano player and probably the last living man on the Catskill circuit of the postwar years who in the 1950s combined Jewish music traditions with Latin rhythms. His most famous...
Time for another Saturday evening music conversation. A few notes: Rob Wasserman has died. Best known for his work with Bob Weir, Wasserman was a truly great bassist. Pop Matters.
I've been so busy that I haven't done one of these in several weeks. I don't even really have any good stories to link to, but I have slowly listened.
The great Ralph Stanley died last night at the age of 89. Stanley was the last major living figure of the early bluegrass era. He began recording with his brother Carter in 1947. They never had major financial success--really only Bill Monroe and Flatt &...
It's Wednesday night and it seems like a good time to point out a cranky old man argument that I don't agree with but that should create an amusing thread..
The great British folk-rock violinist has died. Like Guy Clark, Dave Swarbrick did not exactly lead a life that one would call healthy. He was actually reported dead in the.