Raw

Last night was completely lacking in any of the whackiness one would expect from the Friday night and full moon tag team. Very mellow, and I had a good time.

John Lennon's birthday is today, and KBOO had a Lennon marathon starting at midnight. I'd been dreading it. Yes, I can understand and appreciate that the Beatles made absolutely incredible pop music, and were brilliant in such a varied and sustained fashion that to even call them "the best band ever" is almost an insult, because it implies that they can even be compared to other bands. There's the Beatles, and there's everyone else.

I know this, I understand it, and I agree with it.

And I also would be entirely happy if I never heard another Beatles song in my life.

But tonight, thank fully, the guy didn't play much from Beatles studio recordings. Whole lot of bootlegs, especially of Lennon alone or with a drummer. Experiments in tape loops and cut-ups. After tonight, I now understand why people are so into his stuff (I'd listened to very little of his solo stuff before).

I'm totally on board - John Lennon was the shit, even more ahead of his time than I'd ever realized. I'd never got just how experimental a musician he was, I always saw him more as a guy who did a lot of drugs with his hippie girlfriend and bastardized pre-existing genres (not that there's anything wrong with that). Which, of course he was, but he also was up to some really neat shit, too.

If only someone would devote a similar night to Brian Wilson.

So basically I listened to the radio last night.

Speaking of pop genius, though, the inimitable Lord Uncooked will be making a rare appearance this afternoon at The Hostel (2334 E Burnside), provided the front-man can wake up on time. Word on the street is that he's a cab driver too, you should check it out.

Show's from 3-7 PM, there will be good food and many other excellent musical acts.