The lead off track of this album by Rush, "The Spirit of Radio," was written for and about a Canadian radio station, and it perfectly captures a moment in radio history, between the payola of the 60s and the corporate conglomerates of the 90s. For those of us who grew up listening to radio in that period, the tune is bittersweet, especially the prescient ending wherein Neal Peart rewrites Simon and Garfunkel's lyrics from "The Sound of Silence" to lambast the emerging profit-only centered radio programming. It's a strong statement and song, and one…

Fri 23 Mar – Acoustic for Our Earth

We thought it a bit unusual that Bruce Cockburn would be playing a set at the Washington National Cathedral, but who are we to turn down an invitation to see an artist that we've liked for some time (I can distinctly remember hearing "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" in the mid-80s in Austin, and seeking out the album that it came from). We arrived to the cathedral right at concert time, so the general admission seats we got weren't the farthest pew back, but we might have considered getting…

I've listened to a bunch of live albums, but the one that continues to be my favorite of all is Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense.

Full review on my blog immediacy.

We went and saw Ben Folds last weekend, with a strange fellow named Corn Mo. More details at immediacy.

Probably my favorite album released last year. Full review on immediacy

I like it, but recognize that it's for the fans. Full comments at immediacy.

I thought I would add links here to the reviews I've written on some albums on my blog. I'll start with mentioning my favorite album, Darden Smith's Trouble No More, which I still get goosebumps to when I listen to it.

The review is here.

A small group of friends hang out on my discussion board (http://forum.engel-cox.org) and talk about some of these tracks. Contact me if you'd be interested in joining in.