Author: Bob Benz

Kill Your Idols

I read Kill Your Idols a while ago, but it’s worth a mention. It’s a series of essays by Generation X and Y rock critics. The premise is pretty simple. Take aim at classic rock icons and open fire.

It’s a lot like shooting trout in a barrel. The essays range from fun to obvious to annoying. The best one (and I’m prejudice here) is by my friend Leanne. She takes on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Pronounced” album. But she turns it more into a commentary on Southern culture, which is incredibly on the mark. To quote:

“I’m here to tell you that the definitive Southern rock band is handing you an F-350 truckload of bombastic, sentimental bullshit. Its vision of the South as a land of rebels resisting all things modern, intellectual and Northern is as outdated as hoop skirts, and was even when the band made its debut in 1973.”

Other essays tackle everything from the Dead Kennedys to the Byrds. It’s fun in the way top 100 lists are fun. I didn’t even realize some of these albums were part of the canon. There were several I’d never heard. And when you look at the critics’ favorite albums in the back of the book, it’s amusing to note some of them list music that’s targeted in “Kill Your Idols.”

Definitely worth picking up for anyone who grew up with classic rock as their soundtrack …

Now Playing: Long Black Veil from the album The Pizza Tapes by Jerry Garcia, David Grisman & Tony Rice

Music Bob Techno Bob

Wireless tunes …

I finally broke down and bought an AirPort Express, Apple’s cool little wireless base station. I put it off for a while because I bought an AirPort Extreme that I was never able to get to work properly.

This was a completely different story. I purchased it so I can stream music from my computer to our stereo. The setup went flawlessly, and now I’m listening to the new CDs I purchased and loaded onto the computer. It’s much cooler and easier to access music through iTunes and stream it to the stereo than it is to sift through hundreds of CDs and load them into a CD player. My iTunes music collection is now more than 4,600 songs (about 14.5 days worth of music), and I have quick and easy access to all of it.

During a recent flight, I listened to CSN&Y’s Deja Vu through my iPod and was floored by what an incredible CD it is. It had been a while since I’d listened to it. That’s put me on a CSN&Y binge, during which I purchased:

— “If I Could Only Remember My Name,” a solo album by David Crosby that includes most of the members of the Grateful Dead, several folks from Jefferson Airplane, Neil Young and Graham Nash. It’s awesome. I’d never heard of it until I caught a tune from it on WDVX. It’s now on regular rotation.

— Manassas by Stephen Stills. I’ve only listened to it once, but I like it already. I really wanted a copy of Super Session with Mike Bloomfield but CD Universe didn’t have one (is it even out on CD? If not, it should be. Their version of Donovan’s Season of the Witch is incredible.)

— Four Way Street by CSN&Y. Another great purchase.

And one departure from my binge:

— “Shuffletown,” by Eric Taylor. He’s right up there with Townes Van Zandt in my book. Incredible songwriter.

Now Playing: Cowgirl In The Sand from the album Four Way Street (Disc 1) [Live] by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Travel Bob

Kiosk chaos

When the airlines started switching to kiosks for check-in, I was ecstatic. This made things faster and had a definite appeal to my inner geek.

On Friday morning, I learned painfully that most people still prefer interfacing with humans. As a long line snaked out in front of the Delta kiosks, “normal” people grappled with technology. And the humans weren