Around the Blogroll and Elsewhere: Focus on Music edition

Today is the penultimate day of my mini "putter around the house" vacation; it's back to work on Tuesday. As usual, I started with a list as long as my arm of things I wanted to get done, and only did a fraction of them. And of course it's never what you actually DO that counts, only what you don't do. But it has been a lovely week, capped by yesterday's belated Valentine's Day dinner at the awesome and fabulous Lodos in New Milford, New Jersey, where the hummus is silken, the bread is fresh, the olive tapenade is briny and explosive with garlic, and the braised lamb shank is fall-off-the-bone melt-o-licious. There are many advantages to holding off Valentine's Day observances until the weekend, not the least of which is that roses plummet in price, so the house can be aromatic with a dozen red and a dozen pink blooms and the restaurants are far less crowded. This year, the "What Do Women Get Their Spouses For Valentine's Day" question was solved with a small assortment of Michel Cluizet and Amadei chocolate. Not only does this stuff make you realize just how crappy the swill they sell in bags in the supermarket really is, but it also makes you understand how you might actually want to have a sommelier of chocolate (and wonder just how you can get such a gig).

But it's Sunday, it's cold, I have to do taxes today, and it seems like a good day to break from political madness and enjoy some music:

Howie Klein blows your mind by digging up a 1963 version of Carmina Burana played on a 5-string banjo. And here you thought Béla; Fleck's Perpetual Motion was a stretch:

Now admit it: You've just learned to love the banjo.

Leonard Cohen's Everybody Knows may be the perfect song for cynical times, but I'm not sure this version posted by Skippy adds anything significant over the original.

And last Tuesday, Skippy posted a little something from the most unlikely musical pairing since, well, baroque and banjo: Robert Plant and Allison Krause. (One of the unexpected pleasures of our hi-def service from Dish Network is the Rave channel, which aggregates televised concerts. Last night they ran one with this duo, and damn it if it doesn't work.)

Monkeyfister has something for those of you who miss the hallucinogens you took when you were young.

Only Driftglass could find a video of Tom Waits singing about Valentine's Day.

Carl at Simply Left Behind thinks Watching the Detectives is an appropriate musical selection for the FISA debate.

I just bought a copy of Once for four bucks from the local Shop-Rite video store's going out of business sale. I haven't watched it yet, but you can take a peek of one of the film's songs over at Gristmill.

And because spring training started this week, here's John Fogerty, Bob Weir, and Jerry Garcia, with Steve Jordan on drums, and Randy Jackson (yes, holy shit, it's THAT Randy Jackson) on bass from 1989:

And yes, it's from 1989, so the last part of Fogerty's intro doesn't come from the Obama campaign.

And speaking of THAT Randy Jackson, here's a selection from "bootee" Josiah Leming for our friend and sometime contributor jurassicpork:

Now think about that when some screeching would-be Mariah Carey clone wins the whole enchilada.

Have a tuneful day!