[share_ebook] All Over But The Shoutin’ Rick Bragg

Un cane come Speck è una vera sciagura. Un randagio impossibile da addestrare, incapace di recepire i comandi. È quasi cieco da un occhio e se si gira troppo in fretta da quella parte va a sbattere contro un palo della staccionata, o il fianco di un furgone in corsa; il suo udito è lacunoso, tutte e due le orecchie sono state strappate all’attaccatura durante la sua ultima lotta seria tra cani, anche se, per qualche miracolo, è sempre in grado di sentire le parole “spuntino” e “biscotto”; e anche il suo olfatto è un po’ compromesso… Speck è incorreggibile: corre dietro alle auto, litiga con i gatti, sguazza nella merda di asino, armeggia con le carcasse, importuna i corrieri a domicilio, attacca briga con il bestiame… Eppure, forse ci voleva un cane come lui, sopravvissuto alle più sporche meschinità, ai momenti più bassi e difficili della vita, per far sembrare il fiume di malinconia che ha attraversato Rick Bragg una semplice pozza di fango in cui sguazzare felici..

Must I Paint You a Picture is a generous, two-disc, 40-track survey of Bragg's career to date (this limited edition has a third disc of 10 rarities). The tracklisting was apparently assembled with the help of Bragg's fans, who were asked to vote for their favourites on Bragg's website, but this democratic initiative has only been taken so far: while "Little Time Bomb", for example, was a more popular choice than, say, "The Boy Done Good", the latter is included and the former isn't. It would, of course, be uncharitable to suggest that this is reflective of the authoritarian instincts that lurk inside most socialists.

Vocalist Tracy Thorn and multi-instrumentalist Ben Watt began making music together as Everything But the Girl in the early '80s while students at Hull University in the U.K. By the '90s their spare-yet-sensual, jazz-inflected tunes evolved nito a richly textured fusion of pop and electronica-"Pop-Tronica"-that shimmered with diverse musical idioms. A favorite both in the clubs and with critics and aficionados, the duo's innovative sound has become iconic to the genre.

Beloved singer/songwriter and Grammy winning producer Joe Henry has confirmed the release of his thirteenth album “Invisible Hour”. The album follows a busy period for Henry who produced songs for Bonnie Raitt's Grammy-winning 2012 album “Slipstream” (including covers of two of his own), and produced Billy Bragg's acclaimed 2013 album “Tooth & Nail”. Henry also produced albums for Rodney Crowell and Mary Karr, Natalie Duncan, Hugh Laurie and Over the Rhine. In 2013 Henry released “Furious Cool”, his much-praised book about Richard Pryor's life and work, co-written with his brother, David Henry.