Due to a random Facebook post, i went deep, deep into a Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven hole. I’ve been listening to most of the older Camper records that i’ve loved for years and “discovering” the more recent Camper releases. The earlier stuff was both dumber and better than i remembered and i LOVED them at the time. But the more recent records are just great recordings. The songwriting is still distinctive, literate, funny and novelistic. They’re even better players now, balancing good, tasteful restraint with just enough showiness.

I kind of stopped listening to Cracker after Kerosene Hat for some reason, so i’m going through the Cracker catalog now and really enjoying getting to know the songs. New to me.

Lowery is one of my favorite writers. He’s way more than a musician; i keep hoping he’s going to turn to novellas, short stories or an autobiography.

I really enjoyed this three hour (!) podcast with two writers from the National Review (!). And the 300Songs.com site is new to me, but you can find a travelogue of sorts masquerading as blog telling the backstory of the Camper Songs.