I'm going to see John Maus at the end of the month and I'm pretty psyched for it, even if it's a lousy show. At least there will be much beating of breasts and wrenching of hair. He's my wife's favorite musician and I find him endlessly listenable.

I'm seeing The Residents in February. If you don't know them and don't like avant garde stuff don't bother checking them out. I've seen them before, usually an interesting show. Half the strangest people I know will probably be there.

I've listened to Walking in the Rain by Orrin (Juice) Jones more than any other song lately. I've listened to it so much I've caught my 6 year old singing it quietly under her breath and have had a few coustomers bust out in chorus with it when it comes on. I caught it while I was making a mixtape of songs about SOCIAL PARANOIA. I'm amazed at how many 80's R&B songs have made it on the list Wait till the spoken word bit at the end before you give up on it. mk for a Walking In the Rain alert.

I've been reading Respect Yourself,v Stax Records and the Soul Explosion.

It's filled with interesting trivia. Stax shouldn't have become a big independent lable but repeated and remarkable things took it from a rag tag Scooby Doo Gang record lable to the top. Every chapter is a lesson on the land scape of R&B at one point in time. I'm listening to a dozen tracks each chapter.

I think Otis was the greatest talent on Stax but cats like Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, David Porter, Eddie Floyd, Al Jackson, Sam and Dave, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Issac Hayes, Booker T and more all have their place in Stax and R&B history.

Otis was transcendent.