back to (virtual) reality

Good Evening. Well, here I am, Mr Timothy Adrian Dodgers, Esq XIII, back from a small hiatus for marriage and a soujourn to Sydney in search of anonymity, mental sanity, and vinyl So my apologies for the last few weeks of absence, but I am more than certain that Richard MF took you listeners on a suitably fantastic audio journey.

Now that I'm back, and it's too cold to go outside, I will probably update this page quite frequently, just to vent my humble opinions on cult(sure) and the like... these pages really are too easy to get, and I suppose, thank goodness, as the sheer quantity probably stops people from exploring them and coming across the vain ramblings of another frustrated geek... but I digress.

The main point of this post is to encourage you all to open your wallets and ears to the new RYAN ADAMS album, Cold Roses. A double disc, and the first of three planned this year, old time fans will no doubt rejoice to find that Mr Adams has returned somewhat to the Whiskeytown era sound that made him famous. A sublime album that mixes Ryan's influences admirably (Neil Young, Gram Parsons, and classic West Coast singer songwriter - Jackson Browne et al), also does show his penchant for excess, but then again that's what ITunes is for and I find it amusing that critics are docking him points for releasing too much music... the fact is there are a couple of weak tracks but I'd take his shee-it over the best that most modern musick has to offer if modern means Rob Thomas and his leather pants. So if you, like me, were born two decades too late then pick it up and hit repeat... it's fawking brilliant. Lucinda William's released her live double album today too so it you get down with the honky skronk alt country no depression new country gangsterbilly shee-it then like Ry says "let it ride"...

Also got the new COMMON album on the down low today, and I swear it is going to be one of the year's best. Smoother than the frost on my driveway, Common drops the conscious - but not boring, told you so, drop the gats mofo, save the chid'ren - tip over commercially accessible Kanye and Jay Dilla beats. I would normally want Kanye to find himself in another car accident but you have to admit that for overground stuff he beats the tired West Coast James Brown sampling homophobic BS without turning up to the race, and Common, after finding most of his success on White Labels (ie. no cash) over the last few years finally finds focus in an album that really puts some soul back into hip hop... check The Food which has been around for a while (Chappelle Show, bitches) and feel the love everybody.

Ah, maybe I'm just on the worng planet. Brought back tons of vinyl from Sydney - if you are ever there check out Mojo Records, Red Eye Records, Birdland, and the JB HiFI in Victoria Galleries - cheap and nutritious. Picked up Marvin - What's Going ON, Aretha - I Never Loved A Man The Way That I Loved You, James Brown - Live At The Apollo (finally), Mingus Ah Um, Coltrane's Blue Train, Robert Johnson's King of the Delta Blues Singer, Iggy/Stooges - Raw Power, Wilco - Being There, At The Drive In - Relationship of Command, and an old, embarrasing fave Urge Overkill's Exit The Dragon for $10.

You'll hear a few tomorrow night so tune in... it's a celebration bitches.

Oh, and if you have a minute drop on by www.youami.net and download the Wodonga Concert to hear some good ol' fashined rawk'n'roll the way god intended, and totally FREE.

Timmy Dodgers
Guitar Media
Symphonic Violence For String Sympathetics