Eclectic Grooves

The eighth episode of I Hear a New World is finally ready to be downloaded at: http://ihearanewworld.podOmatic.com This is a special two-hour Christmas edition of I Hear a New World that I have been compiling over the past few weeks. It includes a wide range of styles including blues, folk, old-timey, jazz, easy listening, rock, rockabilly and many more. Artists include Lightnin' Hopkins, Arthur Lyman, 5, 6, 7, 8's, Red Red Meat, Cottontop Mountain Sanctified Singers and Loretta Lynn. I have to give a huge shout out to the various Christmas blogs because this Christmas podcast would not have been the same without the songs I downloaded from their blogs. Thanks goes out to A Christmas Yuleblog, Ernie Not Bert, Big Rock Candy Mountain, Christmas A Go Go, 77 Santas and Dartman's World of Wonder. I hope you guys enjoy this special edition of I Hear a New World. For those of you who would like a tracklist, please let me know in the comments. Be on the lookout for my Best ...

To my utter amazement, the streets of Portland were completely covered with snow before I stumbled out of bed this morning. According to my calculations, it has snowed about three or four times every winter that I have lived here, so it caught me off guard. My girlfriend Verity was born and raised in Oregon so it is an exciting thing for her whenever it snows in Portland. Since I am from the chilly midwest (Peoria, IL to be exact) I don't get nearly as excited as she does about the magical white powder that falls from the skies. Nevertheless, we ventured outside to experience a winter wonderland filled with youngsters snowboarding and sledding down the steep hills of our neighborhood park. I thought that I was well prepared for the treacherously cold weather, but I could have used a face mask to block the cold wind that was slapping me in my face. Apparently, temperatures are expected to remain cold throughout the week with a high likelihood of more snowfall by Wednesday. Damn, I j...

It's been a long time since, well... since I've posted something new on here. During October I was pretty prolific with the posts, but I had a feeling that the frequency of posts would go down after I began two new jobs in the middle of November. Since I received a few negative comments on the last post, I have decided to put the kebash on anonymous posting. I thought long and hard before coming to this decision, but I ultimately felt that it was the best thing to do. Once again it is that time of the year where I gather together a comprehensive list of my favorite albums for the year. This year's list promises to be one of the most eclectic lists since the inception of Eclectic Grooves. I haven't figured out the logistics yet, but I plan on featuring this list before Christmas this year. Also, I have some re-ups including Jimmy Smith Christmas Cookin' and a stellar compilation of blues christmas tunes called Blue Yule, in addition to a few other new Christmas goodi...