Monday, November 2, 2009

A cultural respite...


Dan the man...

I'm going to step away from my usual rants, bloviating and general smart-alecky...ness to tell you about something other than politics, economics, war, and all that other blah-blah stuff you just can't get enough of from the 24/7 world of talk radio, cable TV and blogs. (Oh, the blogs...)

If you are smart - and I know you are because you are one of my 1.2 million regular, devoted readers - then you will go out to your closest Amazon.com or iTunes mall outlet and buy, buy, buy Dan Kelo. Well, not Dan per se (his wife and kidlet probably wouldn't appreciate that), but his latest musical offering, "The Freshman."

First, full disclosure: Dan and I go way back. Back in '68, I pulled him out of a foxhole during the Tet offensive seconds before an enemy mortar round landed smack-dab where he had been moments before. Ever since, he's followed me around as my man-servant. There was a brief period during the '70s and '80s when we lost touch with one another (sometimes only meeting as we played on opposite sides of the chessboard in international tournaments)...but I digress. Actually, during another time in our lives, we worked together at a university (where we created the Internet...but that's a story for another day).

In addition to being a fine musician - which you'll pick up after just a bar of "The Freshman" - you'll also be wowed by an interesting set of pipes that give the song a raw, emotional treatment that drives it into your marrow. Originally laid down by The Verve, Dan takes a song probably lost to the dustbin of vinyl (OK, Compact Disc) history and makes something memorable of it. It's a recording that deserves attention, now, and if you're smart you'll latch onto it. You'll thank me because when this song ends up attached to a movie soundtrack or some other high-visibility vehicle, you'll know you got in on the ground floor of something good.

About now, you're wondering where the typical review of the song went...where my careful dissection of each line/phrase/breath is. You ain't gonna get it. Discover what it means to you. Don't listen to some dolt explain it to you (or expect a music maven like me to draw you pictures).

Go here, do yourself a favor and listen to the demo. Then do the right thing and buy it. You'll thank me.

2 comments:

Debbie Z said...

Extremely talented guy, our Dan. Dapper, too. I hope he'll produce more.

Kim said...

I saw he had that out. I'll have to check it out.