Hints of Oak, Licorice, Zagnut? The End of Music and Movies as we Know It.

A brief late night overture to the mass-conflicterati; or Wiki, Wiki, Wiki, throw your hands up in the air. The bright lights of some off-Broadway scene beckon, though the gravitational pull of the tides keeps us firmly tethered to shore. Nature is our only obstacle. The framed illustration is from early May 2003 (5"x7", pen & ink/w/c).

Current Rotation:

1. Phish/ Junta: Essential listening! For here the "meddle" that is Phish is forged. Quite honestly the studio material that most rivals the live recordings.

2. Porcupine Tree/ Fear of a Blank Planet: Knowing that Robert Fripp plays on this album, and their drummer Gavin Harrison is on the Crimson warm-up tour, this album was given repeated listens. This is one of those records that must be un-locked, but upon doing so you realize that the mantal of progressive rock has long been tranfered.

3. Meat Puppets/ Too High To Die: Early cerebral indie-gods deliver a tasty buffet of alternative rock, with the hidden track "Lake of Fire."

4. The Bluebird Sampler 1990: Besides boasting a who's who of hip jazz, this album feature's what I consider one of the all-time best tunes ever recorded, the May 17th, 1947 version of Jack Teagarden with the Louis Armstrong Allstars performing "St. James Infirmary."

5. Allman Brothers Band/ Shades of Two Worlds: Produced by Tom Dowd this muscular album furthers strengthens the argument that this was a truly lethal line-up for the band, on an album dominated by Dickie Bett's tunes.

.