LIVING WITH WAR

In case you haven't found this already, you can listen to Neil Young's Living With War HERE

THE COYOTE HOWLS

Thanks to Mario and his well-honed blog radar for pointing out a new Enchanted Land political blog "New Mexico Politics and Politicos."

It's published by a Santa Fe guy who calls himself "Coyote." All we know about him is that he also publishes a real-estate blog.

So far the blog seems to be concentrating, naturally enough, on the Robert Vigil trial. "This site is neither for Democrat or Republican. As long as there is corruption in New Mexico I plan on treating all politicians the same," the blog's masthead says.

He also compares Gov. Bill Richardson and Attorney General Patricia Madrid to well-known sitcom characters.

Welcome to Blogville, Coyote.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, April 30, 2006
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Where's Your Boyfriend At by The Yayhoos
Pimps of Polka by The Polkaholics
Nobody Cares by The 88
Centre for Holy Wars by New Pornographers
My Pretty Quadroon by Jerry Lee Lewis
Go to Hell on Judgment Day by The Immortal Lee County Killers
Bob's Party Time Lounge by Primus
Mimi by Maurice Chevalier

Let Freedom Ring by Terry Allen with Surachai Jantimatorn & Caravan
Gauntanamera by Los Lobos
An American is a Very Lucky Man by Fred Waring & His Pennsylvanians
Pissed Off by The Rodeo Carburettor
Praise God by Johnny Dowd
Bow Wow by The Fiery Furnaces
Plastic Fantastic Lover by Jefferson Airplane
The Farm by Howe Gelb

Roll With Me Henry by Etta James
Chained and Bound by Otis Redding
United States Got Us in Bad Shape by Big Jack Johnson
Will it Go Round in Circles by Billy Preston
Mean Old World by Sam Cooke
Two Little Fishes, Five Loaves of Bread by Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Night Train by King Curtis

Clouds Through Flame by Mbconn
Three Stars by KULT
Strange Uncles From Abroad by Gogol Bordello
The Sound of Failure by The Flaming Lips
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

JOSE, CAN YOU SEE?

Looks like the President of the United States, exercising his role as music-critic-in-chief, has weighed in on the controversy surrounding "Nuestro Himno," the new Spanish-language version of the national anthem.

But here's the question nobody is asking:

When Jimi Hendrix wrote the dang song, did he mean for it to be sung in Spanish?

THE SANTA FE OPRY PLAYLIST

Friday, April 28, 2006
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Fridays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell

OPENING THEME: Buckaroo by Buck Owens & The Buckaroos
Back from the Shadows Again by The Firesign Theatre
America First by Merle Haggard
Keep on Truckin' by Hot Tuna
The Song is Still Slipping Away by Shooter Jennings
Rolling Stone From Texas by Old 97s
Harder Than Your Husband by Frank Zappa with Jimmy Carl Black
Red Staggerwing by Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris
The Ballad of Jessie Jane by Alice Cooper
Trailer Park Liberal by Joe West

Tesla's Hotel Room by The Handsome Family
Looking For Love by Alejandro Escovedo
Old Dan Tucker by Bruce Springsteen
Rider in The Rain by Reckless Kelly & Joe Ely
Green and Cold by Raising Cane
Unoriginal by Hundred Year Flood
(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle Blow by Townes Van Zandt

A Man of God by Trilobite
Run by Eric Hisaw
Baby Do Right By Me by Danny Santos
(I Am Your) Destroyer by Gary Heffern
You Only Kiss Me When We Say Goodbye by Cornell Hurd
It's No Secret by Mose McCormack
Cold Dark Taverns by Jim Terr
Prayin' Hands by Elliott Rogers
Maryanne, Good Time Gal by Kell Robertson

Standin' in the Need of Prayer by Bethleham & Eggs
Maybe You Heard by Todd Snider
Power, Lust and Money by Bob Neuwirth
That Old Time Feeling by Guy Clark
Amsterdam by Jon Dee Graham
Space City by Drive-By Truckers
CLOSING THEME: Comin' Down by The Meat Puppets

Steve Terrell is proud to report to the monthly Freeform American Roots Radio list

HOW "ONE-DAY" STORIES LIVE ON

I wrote a sidebar for Andy Lenderman's story in today's New Mexican concerning Jan Goodwin's testimony at the Robert Vigil trial Thursday. My piece deals with the likely political fallout of that testimony.


A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
April 28, 2006

Testimony in former state Treasurer Robert Vigil’s corruption trial Thursday that state finance officials wrote a letter four years ago asking Attorney General Patricia Madrid to investigate possible wrongdoing in Vigil’s office is a “one-day story for the average reader,” a prominent New Mexico pollster says.


But such a story is likely to enjoy a longer second life in the form of unceasing campaign ads directed against Democrat Madrid’s bid to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, pollster Brian Sanderoff added in an interview Thursday.


“We know it’s going to be a negative, nasty campaign on the part of both sides, given the history of recent elections in the First Congressional District,” Sanderoff said. “Political opponents normally try to capitalize on the perceived weaknesses of their opponents.”

Jan Goodwin, who was director of the Board of Finance in 2002, testified Thursday that she wrote a letter to Madrid on behalf of the board, calling for an investigation of an apparent violation of the state’s procurement code.

The alleged violation was related to the hiring of California investment adviser Kent Nelson — a key figure in the alleged kickback scheme that ultimately resulted in 28 federal charges against Vigil and the guilty plea of a previous former treasurer, Michael Montoya.

“A letter makes a great graphic in a negative TV ad,” Sanderoff said.

However, a spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office said Madrid never received the letter and called the document Goodwin testified about a “draft.”

But well before Goodwin’s testimony, state Republicans persistently have been accusing Madrid of turning a blind eye to corruption in state government for years.

On Sept. 22 — less than a week after Vigil and Montoya were charged — the state GOP issued a news release criticizing Madrid for not investigating the Treasurer’s Office. That basic statement has been repeated by the GOP ever since.

Marta Kramer, executive director of the state GOP, said Thursday that Madrid’s failure to investigate the Treasurer’s Office will certainly be the thrust of campaign ads this season.


“The Republicans will continue to expose the conflicts of interest and the record of Patsy Madrid,” Kramer said. “It’s our job to point out her record. She didn’t have the will to investigate her friends and colleagues.”

Publicly, the Madrid campaign claims such allegations will have no affect on the campaign. “The attorney general has worked with the federal prosecutors,” campaign spokeswoman Heather Brewer said. “She indicted one of the key people in the scandal, Angelo Garcia.”

Shortly before Vigil and Montoya were charged, Garcia was indicted in state court in a fraud case alleging he and two partners cheated elderly people out of more than $900,000 in an alleged real-estate scam. Garcia, who has admitted to being a middleman in the alleged Montoya/Vigil kickback scheme, has pleaded guilty to federal charges and agreed to testify against Vigil.

The Madrid campaign has steadfastly blasted Wilson for taking campaign contributions from former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who stepped down after being indicted in Texas on charges of conspiracy to violate election laws.

Since her first election in 1998, Wilson received nearly $47,000 from DeLay’s political-action committee. Last year, she returned the $10,000 she’d collected from DeLay’s political-action committee in June — but not the $36,959 she received from the PAC between 1998 and 2003. Wilson campaign officials have said she won’t return that money.

TERRELL'S TUNE-UP: The 88 and Mbconn

A version of this was published in The Santa Fe New Mexican
April 28, 2006

Not long ago I was in my car with The New Pornographers’ first album, Mass Romantic, in the CD player. When it finished, I decided to pop in something I’d never heard of before from my new CD pile — Over and Over, by The 88.

When the first song, “Hide Another Mistake,” came on, for a moment I thought I’d made a mistake. I didn’t recognize the song, but I wondered: Could I have left the New Pornographers CD in the player? I’ve done dumber things before while trying to change CDs in the middle of traffic. (Or even away from my car. Ask any frequent listener of my radio shows.)

But no, this was indeed the right disc.

Like the Pornographers, this Los Angeles band, led by singer/songwriter/guitarist Keith Slettedahl, plays upbeat, hoppy-poppy, infectious rock — at least on their best songs. I probably should have known by the mod, à go-go, New Wavy album cover, which pictures a miniskirted model in sunglasses relaxing with oversized headphones in a red plastic Jetsons-style recliner.

Besides the Pornographers, you can hear echoes of The Kinks, T-Rex, perhaps The Beatles, and even a little Mott the Hoople in the mix.

One of the best tunes here is “Nobody Cares,” which features a prominent honky-tonk piano by Adam Merrin. Slettedahl has a hint of a yodel in his voice as he sings the refrain, “Nobody cares what you’ve been through and nobody cares how much you do and nobody cares what kind of drugs you’re on.”

It was only after listening to Over and Over a couple of times that I learned one of the songs, “Coming Home,” was being used in a commercial for Target discount stores. In these corporate times, this seems to be a major way that new bands are being introduced. (Remember The Shins and McDonald’s?)

I’ve yet to see the commercial, and I’m not sick of it yet, so “Coming Home” sounds great to me right now. It’s bouncy, extremely hummable — and bound to move a lot of patio furniture.

The 88 stumbles when it tries to go acoustic on “You Belong to Me” or slow and goopy on “Jesus Is Good,” where they sound like they’re making a halfhearted effort to evoke The Band.

The main trouble with this record is that Slettedahl and crew don’t seem to be able to keep the energy they lay down on the first several songs. Over and Over starts to sag in the middle. When they’re up, The 88 is a lot of fun. However, this album is burdened with too many forgettable tunes.

The 88 plays Monday, May 1, at the Launchpad, 618 Central Ave. S.W., in Albuquerque. Admission is $7. I don’t think they’re selling advance tickets at Target.


Also Noted:
From Black to Purple by Mbconn, This is one of the strangest, most weirdly satisfying CDs to cross my path in some time.

All I really know about the self-described “psychedelic noise rock artist” Mbconn is that his real name is Alex Loesche, he lives in Chicago, and he likes old Guns ’n’ Roses — though he’s glad that Nirvana usurped their popularity and that his music doesn’t sound much like either band.

An e-mail press release for the CD says, “After scoring a screenplay someone had left behind in a bar, spending years trying to start a band and not being able to find the right musicians, Mbconn decided to just record the album himself.”

From Black to Purple sounds like a soundtrack for a movie that could never be as good as its soundtrack.

The album has a homemade — but not sloppy — feel about it. I imagine a kid with an electric guitar and various other instruments locked in a bedroom and creating a dark universe of guitar, synths, and drums.

But despite the sonic darkness, there are light moments. When Mbconn sings, his lyrics are stream-of-consciousness, almost childlike verse that reminds me of Daniel Johnston (though his voice is closer to Dinosaur Jr.’s J. Mascis).

“From the bottle to the door/I poked holes in their folklore,” he drawls in the first song, “Thursday Night Crowd.” Later in the song, he sings about a woman who is “hoping all the rich guys will stare/’cause every time she stands up she’s showing off her underwear.”

Most of the songs are opuses that are at least six minutes long. There’s one almost pretty, three-minute piece called “The Breather,” and one raging 27-minute “hidden track” — “Troubadour’s Blues” — that doesn’t really hide very well.

This album might be challenging for some. I don’t foresee any of these songs being used in a television commercial. But it’s very listenable, the kind of music I like for driving at night on long, lonesome road trips.

(Check out Mbconn’s Web site . You can download several songs there, including “Troubadour’s Blues.”)