DAGGER 24 Hour News Service

An early festivus present arrived this week in the form of Tom Waits' Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards. I wrote about it and an interview he did with the Guardian UK in an earlier post on DAGGER News but that was before it was released. I have now had the pleasure of listening to it a few times and would like to write about just one of the masterpieces in this collection.

Road to Peace
Track 10 on Disc 1 Brawlers

With a Dylanesque arrangement in the background Tom delivers you from the front page of the NYTimes to a war torn village in the Middle East and lets you stand amongst the chaos. His voice is hauntingly soothing like a lullabye from beyond the grave. The bass is full and bouncy which belies the story being told. The lyrics reveal the man beneath the persona. They reveal a wise and learned man with twinges of empathy for the used and downtrodden. His delivery of the lyrics is nothing less than masterful. This is a man who has studied everything about us, how we talk, walk, stagger, and yes how we die.

It is said that a few years after the turn of the century there is always an amazing artistic awakening in man. Perhaps this is the spark that lights the flame for this generation's awakening I do not know. What I do know is that Road to Peace will teach you a few things about yourself and the world we currently live in.

by Jim Staro (crossposted from KOS)

NPR's 'Talk Of The Nation'

Will have a show on Military Mental Health tomorrow, 12-7-06, this is the forward from site:

Well we've spent some time programming our radio station for you.  The current playlist includes:

John Scofield, CCR, MMW, Miles Davis, Radiohead, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Bill Frisell, Derek Trucks, Alice Donut, Mahavishnu John McLaucghlin, Wilco, Tom Waits, Frank Zappa, Pearl Jam, Herbie Hancock, Anthony COleman, Garage Mahal, Jarret Churner, Marc Johnson and loads more.

Every day we refine the station a bit more.  If you'd like to suggest some personal favorites please do and we'll add them to the playlist.

Internet Radio is here to stay and we'd like to be a part of it.  If you are listening from other parts of the world we'd love to hear from you too.  Music and musicians can become important ambassadors for music education and culture.  Our station is a tip of the hat to those musicians we feel have made or are making their mark on society at large.