King Sunny Adé and His African Beats – Juju Music (1982) I’m not quite sure what to say about this album. If you know about King Sunny Adé, you’re probably…
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
Yes. Fucking Pepperoni Pizzazaroli: You would think “Pepperoni Pizza Ravioli” would be good enough, or even “Pepperoni Pizzaroli,” but no. They had to add another Z in there, to make…
Jeff Giles
8 Min Read
I’ve been working up to a Ry Cooder Idiot’s Guide for awhile now. He’s one of my longtime, all-time favorites, but he’s released so many albums in so many different…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Behold! Isn’t modern technology wonderful? They’ve taken cheesy nacho, combined it with pasta, and put it in a can. Convenience at its best! They’ve even given us an easy-off, no-can-opener-necessary…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Meet The Boy: As of a few weeks ago, he and his mom are living with us, and since my eating habits tend to mirror those of a six-year-old boy’s…
Jeff Giles
5 Min Read
So, I heard the news this morning — David Foster is splitting from his wife of over a decade, Linda Thompson-Jenner. I read it about it first over at ohnotheydidnt,…
John C. Hughes
2 Min Read
In a nice bit of blog synergy, it seems everyone is talking about blue-eyed soul”¦which leads me to one of the sadder stories of the also-rans (at least in the…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
I realize I’m like five years behind the cool kids on Chuck Klosterman, but I’m loving this book: Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto All the same,…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Someone came to the site today through a Google search for “Maura Tierney butthole.”
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
Been a heady week here at jefitoblog — last week’s Stone of Sisyphus review was discovered by the folks at chicagofans.org, not to mention former Chicago guitarist Dawayne Bailey, not…
Jeff Giles
3 Min Read
The Refreshments Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy (1996) Here’s a little gem I stumbled across the other day while dusting my CD collection. You remember CDs, right? They were all…
Jeff Giles
9 Min Read
Talk about a guy who should have been huge. An accomplished guitarist and songwriter who paid his dues playing for established artists, worked his way up through the ranks, and…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
I haven’t been writing every day lately, on account of a few things: 1. Summer = disruption of my carefully constructed schedule 2. Full-time self-employment = less time for aimless…
John C. Hughes
2 Min Read
Talk about DIY — when club promoter and all-around Paris-Hilton-famous-for-merely-being-famous trailblazer Steven Strange didn’t like that there weren’t enough good songs to play on his club night, he grabbed some…
Jeff Giles
6 Min Read
I just got back from a last-minute business trip to Los Angeles (otherwise known as “my least favorite city in the world”), so I’m dealing with all the fun of…
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
Indigo Girls – Rarities (2005) They don’t get as much attention as they used to, but I think that’s more a function of short attention spans than a drop in…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Pete Wylie – “Sinful” It’s sinfulIt’s tragicIt’s sinfulIt’s tragic Hey Joe! I got the news tonightwell, should I laugh or should I cry or should I stay and fight?It’s sinful,…
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
I realize it’s been a long time since I did an entry on some new piece of dumb junk food, but our nation’s beloved conglomerates seem to have put a…
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
I realize it’s been a long time since I did an entry on some new piece of dumb junk food, but our nation’s beloved conglomerates seem to have put a…
Jeff Giles
7 Min Read
Now here’s a band that would be huge if the world made any sense. A trio of non-threateningly scruffy alterna-pop minstrels, singing songs about love and loss, hope and heartbreak,…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
I love Billmon. Have a happy 4th, kids — jefitoblog is back to normal operating hours tomorrow.
John C. Hughes
4 Min Read
The music business can be cruel and unforgiving — clichéd, sure, but as I found out years ago, very true. In 1985, William “Boogie Knight” Stroman was in the Top…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
AMERICA 1989 Rock has been driven underground. The authorities stalk pirate broadcasters and their followers. Those who are apprehended suffer severe consequences. Hey, kid! What are you doing? Haven’t you…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Newcleus had been bouncing around the early hip-hop/breakdancing scene since 1977 when they were part of a DJ crew calling itself Jam On Productions, but it wasn’t until 1983 and…
Jeff Giles
21 Min Read
“Randy Newman Finds Something New Under the Sun,” proclaimed the back cover of his 1968 debut, and even if that wasn’t entirely true — his music, after all, has always…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Ha! Check out the grossest piece of fruit you’ve ever seen: I wonder what Saxton Freymann would think of this. What a gorgeous Sunday. We got up this morning, hit…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
jefitoblog reader (and John Hiatt fan) Adam Schoonover is also one fine photographer. I like his stuff–go check it out.
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Laura CantrellHumming by the Flowered Vine (2005) Since making her debut in 2000, Cantrell has released a string of critically lauded albums. Her fascinating background story (late musical bloomer with…
Jeff Giles
4 Min Read
The slacktivist tells it like it is, and more powerfully than I could, so I’ll just stand back and let him rage for me: Style matters. Substance does not. Reality…