Well, they're reuniting for three shows far away from me.

But since Tommy Stinson lives in Hudson, maybe one day they'll play a show near me. I can dream, can't I?

Over at the DG, I list the summer concerts I'm excited about.

Click here to see what they are.

I’ve been a Beatlephile (I’ve been told that’s what they call us; “Beatlemaniac” is undignified) since 1969 when I bought the 45 of “Get Back” as a seven-year-old. I had been very impressed by the film “Yellow Submarine” earlier that year, and off I went into Pepperland.  

I began my Beatles’ “jones” in earnest in 1976, when I starting purchasing their albums with my Long Island Newsday (NY) carrier money. At first, I bought the Beatles' Capitol L.P.s. But once I found out that the American albums had fewer songs on them (a mere 10 compared to the 14 tracks on their British counterpart label, Parlophone), I started buying the English album versions. If my local T.S.S. (Time Square Stores) didn’t have them, I’d have them special-ordered.  

I had just moved out to a new county (Suffolk) and a new school district (Middle Island) from Queens that summer, and it was hard to make friends as I entered my first year of High School. And so … the Beatles became my friends. They offered rock and roll and romance.   

I thrilled to the discovery of each new album, and was proud of my rarer selections: a German bootleg of a 1966 live concert in Japan (!); a Dutch version of Magical Mystery Tour (with the songs on Side 2 in true, rather than “reprocessed” stereo); a Parlophone album called “The Beatles in Italy," which featured the set list from their 1965 concert in Italy (not live, but I could settle for that).  

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Over at the DG, I list my favorite Beatles songs.

Here they are.

Over at the DG, I list five songs I'm totally into at the moment.

Click here to find out what they are.

Divinyls lead singer Christina Amphlett died Sunday.

Over at the DG, I list my favorite albums.

Here's an excerpt:

"Courtesy of the website The Awl, I learned that the Violent Femmes 1983 self-titled debut album came out 30 years ago this month. The Awl correctly identifies this album as 'one of the greatest albums ever recorded by anybody.' I discovered the Violent Femmes in middle school, as many kids do, and for years they were my favorite band. And though they’ve produced a number of fine albums and fine songs — I’m very partial to their 1991 album 'Why Do Birds Sing?', which contains the great song 'Out the Window' — their debut remains their best work: a sarcastic, aggressive, occasionally wistful blast of angst, sexual frustration and sneering punk-folk attitude. (Bandleader Gordon Gano wrote the songs on the debut when he was in high school, which might explain why generations of teenagers continue to discover this album and play it over and over and over again.)

Anyway, I found myself nodding my head in agreement with The Awl’s Violent Femmes piece, because the band’s 1983 album is definitely one of my favorite albums of all time. This made me wonder what my other favorite albums are, and I decided to put together a list. But when I sat down to type up a list, I quickly became stumped. For some reason, it seemed impossible to narrow my CD collection down to a list of five favorites."

Click here to read the whole thing.

Over at the DG, I write about the terrific concert put on by the Kansas City-based band Schwervon! the other night in Hudson.

Click here to read it.

Related: Tony Are explains why the Schwervon! album "Courage" is the best album of the year.

Over at the DG, occasional Rule of Thumb contributor Roger Noyes writes about his band's recent trip to Egypt for the jazz festival in Cairo.

Click here to read his piece.

Over at the DG, I write about the local roots music festival, which was pretty good.

Here's an excerpt:

"On Saturday I attended the fourth Roots Music Festival at The Linda in Albany, which featured a number of good local musical acts, and a Rhode Island-based duo who deserve more attention: Brown Bird.

I caught Brown Bird last year at Club Helsinki in Hudson, and was impressed with their darkly lyrical brand of folk, which mixes blues, bluegrass and Eastern European and gypsy music. A lot of contemporary folk music sounds the same to me, but Brown Bird was something different, boasting a broader range of influences, surprisingly complicated arrangements and unusually literate songwriting that evokes classic American novels such as 'Moby Dick' and the Bible. Also impressive is the full and forceful sound produced by Brown Bird: Dave Lamb plays guitar, drums and sings, usually simultaneously, and MorganEve Swain plays the upright bass, cello and violin. After watching the duo in Hudson, I picked up their 2011 CD 'Salt for Salt,' which has steadily grown on me.

Brown Bird has gotten even better since I saw them during the summer. The duo immediately impressed with their emotionally complex songs and technical virtuosity; for those who expect folk music to be gentle and pretty, their rhythmic, often aggressive sound probably came as a surprise. They played a number of songs off 'Salt For Salt,' as well as tracks off their upcoming album, 'Fits of Reason,' which comes out on April 2."

Click here to read the whole thing.

Toure makes the case.

Though we're well into 2013 at this point, I listened to enough great (or at least really good) albums in 2012 that I would be remiss if I didn't try to convince some people to give them a listen. In general, I thought there were a lot of good songs in 2012, but albums ... not so much. In fact, three of the albums I listened to most in 2012 technically came out in 2011:

This album came out so long ago (though still 2011) that Veronica Falls already came out with their next album a few weeks ago. There self-titled debut became my go-to summer album and I played it in the car with the windows down a ridiculous number of times. Though hailing from London, the band channels an American west coast vibe and their sound scratched a surf guitar itch that I feel every year when the weather starts to get warm. Stand-out tracks include "Bad Feeling" and "Come On Over." 

- YACHT: Shangri-La 

I would normally hesitate to recommend YACHT to the general populous. They're a bit weird and often profane. But this album reaches for a broader audience. There's still some weirdness here, but the title track (and album closer) is a ridiculously catchy pop wonder that will have you singing along by the second time the chorus rolls around. Plus, I'm always a sucker for any song that drops some "la la las."

And as for the albums that actually came out in 2012:

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Over at the DG, I list the five new songs I'm currently enjoying.

Click here to see what they are.

Over at the DG, I write about Tegan and Sara, and Sean Rowe.

Click here to read more.

Over at the DG, I review Saturday's Jeff Mangum concert at Mass MoCA.

Here's an excerpt:

"I didn’t get into the indie-folk band Neutral Milk Hotel until about five years ago, when their album, 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea,' marked its 10th anniversary, and the Albany band Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned performed it from start to finish at Valentines. I’d heard very little about the album at the time of its release, but in the years since it had gained an enthusiastic cult following, and Sgt. Dunbar’s energetic tribute made me an immediate fan.

The more I learned about Neutral Milk Hotel, the more intrigued I became. In 2008, the online magazine Slate ran an article on Neutral Milk Hotel frontman Jeff Mangum titled 'Jeff Mangum, the Salinger of indie rock' in which writer Taylor Clark described Mangum’s retreat from the public eye. Clark wrote that Neutral Milk Hotel, and its mysterious leader, had essentially disappeared, and that as 'Aeroplane’s legend began to build, Mangum kept himself busy by having a total nervous breakdown. Laura Carter, his then-girlfriend, told the Atlanta alt-weekly Creative Loafing that he spent entire days sitting in his house in a state of near panic, wearing a pair of old slippers and doing absolutely nothing. He became paranoid, hoarding rice for the inevitable post-Y2K apocalypse.' This bleak period was followed by a period of rebuilding, Clark writes, in which Mangum traveled the world, spent time in a monastery, and released a disc of field recordings of Bulgarian folk music. His reclusiveness angered some of his fans, who felt that Mangum’s failure to release a new album and tour was unnecessarily depriving them of a great talent.

Well, over the past few years Mangum has slowly re-emerged, and is now in the midst of his first tour in years. I saw him Saturday at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Mass., where he played a solo set before a rapt audience. He was engaging and friendly, though I wouldn’t go so far as to describe him as gregarious or effusive, and sang and strummed guitar with intensity and passion, breathing new life into Neutral Milk Hotel’s beloved songs. These rollicking songs are both deeply weird — 'In the Aeroplane Over the Sea' is said to have been inspired by Anne Frank, and the lyrics are contain bizarre, almost surrealistic imagery. For instance, in the song 'Holland, 1945,' Mangum sings, 'The only girl I’ve ever loved/Was born with roses in her eyes/But then they buried her alive/One evening 1945/With just her sister at her side/And only weeks before the guns/All came and rained on everyone/Now she’s a little boy in Spain/Playing pianos filled with flames/On empty rings around the sun.'"

Click here to read the whole thing.