Ho Ho Who: It's Otis Redding. If you don't know who he is, you're probably just reading a blog post about pop music because you're getting paid to leave a spammy link in the comments. Released in 1968, the year after Redding died in a plane crash, this Christmas covers single never charted. But it [...]

For the rock & roll collector—and the hard-toking Bonnaroo-goer—concert and festival DVDs have become essential stocking stuffers, even though many are subpar. Films of music festivals, in particular, "have become warmed-over buffets, in which you get one number each from a handful of bands (often not the best number, either) along with obligatory crowd-pans and [...]

Dear Arts Desk readers,
As approximately 62 of you know, I've been spinning a Friday Soul mix via the old Twitter account. Man is it groovy! I'm even linking to videos. The playlist so far:

Otis Redding, "Shake" (live at Monterey Pop, 1967)
Raphael Saadiq, "Let's Take a Walk"
Laura Nyro, "And When I Die"
James Brown, "Super Bad"
Buddy Guy, [...]

Sharon Jones' first record, Dap-Dippin' With Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, was a driving soul LP penned almost entirely by her ace bassist, Bosco Mann; metronomically speaking, it clocked in between 100 and 140 beats per minute. Her sophomore effort, Naturally, was a more mannered affair, with Lee Fields doing his best Otis Redding impression [...]

I'm fascinated by the notion of influences and inspirations, especially when they're mashed up and twisted by geographical and cultural differences. Listening to any The Soundtrack Of Our Lives album conjures up bits from the historical nature of rock n roll—how it was served like a flaming tennis ball across the pond to Britain by [...]