For this edition of Air-Conditioned, we will hear The Specials, and lead singer Terry Hall’s other band, Fun Boy Three. I’ve also rounded up tasty tunes by Jimmy Cliff, Hortense Ellis, Eddy Grant, The English Beat, Etta James with Harvey Fuqua, Desmond Dekker, and Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. 1/3

Taking a break from the noise to share this lovely restrained and deeply emotional performance of Chopin's "Raindrop Prelude" performed by Yumeka Nakagawa. www.youtube.com/shorts/4i1Xs... www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0-U...

Yumeka Nakagawa: Crying while playing Chopin Raindrop Prelude

YouTube video by Dr. Mephisto

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Heather Cox Richardson reports on the swaggering racism of this White Supremest administration and the Smithsonian. I look for the day this cruel bunch of arrogant thugs are drummed out of their positions, and where applicable, brought before a jury. open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

July 27, 2026

On July 22, Sam Fortier of NOTUS reported that the Trump-appointed judges of the Presidential 1776 Award competition, emceed by Education Secretary Linda McMahon, apparently rigged the competition to ...

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Anne Applebaum’s reflection on the World Cup and Christopher Nolan’s version of The Odyssey is a worthwhile read. Like Heather Cox Richardson, Applebaum is a great source of thought provoking insight. Follow her Substack. @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu substack.com/@anneappleba...

One-Eyed Monsters

Why we watch them together

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Sinead O’Connor was an amazing artist who sang with fierce passion and disarming vulnerability. She passed away three years ago this week. This edition of Air-Conditioned will shine some lovelight on her. 1/3

Ray Charles and Mose Allison always lift me up when I hear their unique blend of southern blues, boogie-woogie, jazz, and soul. Charles’s delivery is totally committed, heart and soul, while Allison’s approach is playfully deadpan. Along with Mose and Ray, I rounded up 1/3

A person canvassing for Tennessee Democratic Representative Justin J. Pearson knocked on my front door to talk about my voting for Justin. I told her Justin wasn't in my district and that Chaz Molder was running here. #gerrymandering 1/3

I’ve been in a Randy Newman mood. If he had only recorded his first four albums (12 Songs, Sail Away, Good Old Boys, and his debut, Randy Newman), I would regard him as one of the great American songwriter/artists. Not only does this edition of Air-Conditioned celebrate Newman’s artistry ... 1/3

I stumbled upon an old rockin’ T-Bone Burnett track I've always loved, which led me to Dave Alvin, Jason & The Scorchers, James Luther Dickinson, and Lou Ann Barton. Soon, I dug up Lucinda Williams, Rod Stewart, Buddy Miller, Guided By Voices, Loretta Lynn, James McMurtry, and Billy Joe Shaver. 1/3

The Nashville Tennessean posts that U.S. Transportation Sec Sean Duffy visited Elon Musk's underground "Music City Loop" will "be done at 'trump speed'." I guess it will be a matter of time before it fills up with swamp goo and sewage. I'm sure Marsha Blackburn will be at the entrance cheering.

This edition of Air-Conditioned celebrates melodic Power-Pop/Rock with some great tracks courtesy of The Beatles, Dwight Twilley Band, Smithereens, Bangles, Tommy Keene, Adrian Belew, XTC, and The Wonders, who in Tom Hanks’s cinematic 60s music love letter, That Thing You Do. 1/3

We’re in peak Summer here in the South. If ever there was a time for a show called Air-Conditioned, it is now. To help tune the air, this edition brings you XTC, Carly Simon, Sly & The Family Stone, The Kinks, Bobbie Gentry, and War. 1/3

I'm grateful to AMC for submitting "Before The Sky Split In Two" for this year's Emmy Awards. This was a labor of love created for a scene in the final episode of Season 4 of Dark Winds. We recorded and mixed the song at Brook Sutton's Studio Nashville. 1/5

Remember your first concert? As a 12-year old Memphis boy, I witnessed James Brown live at the Ellis Auditorium in Aug 1965. As unforgettable as it was watching women throwing their underwear at him, the precision-funk of Brown’s amazing band and his electrifying performance was life-changing. 1/4

It's sad to see Ardent shut down. Ardent was the most important and successful studio in Memphis, beginning in the late 1960s. I spent a lot of time there and have many fine memories. I loved that the studio and my hometown were a magnet for so many artists. news.radiofacts.com/memphis-hist... 1/2

Alison Krauss & Union Station! This 251st edition of Air-Conditioned shines some love light on them as well as a compliment of fine soulful artists: Justin Townes-Earle, Tommy Emmanuel & David Grisman, Bruce Springsteen, I’m With Her, Randy Newman, Beth Nielsen-Chapman, and Rosanne Cash. 1/3

I was mulling over my 250th episode of Air-Conditioned, and Lassie showed up and yelped a few requests. As a result, The Velvet Underground, Jan & Dean, The Rutles, George Carlin, The Move, Randy Newman, Elvis Presley, Mothers of Invention, and Firesign Theatre somehow ended up in this pile. 1/3

Harold and Maude are wondering what this latest edition of Air-Conditioned is all about. Well, I enlisted The Marx Brothers, John Prine, Tom Waits, Julie Andrews, and Dick Van Dyke, along with The Golden Gate Quartet, Alex Chilton, Slim Harpo, Elvis Costello, and Johnny Kidd & The Pirates. 1/3

I spent last week in New Mexico, where I co-produced Levi Platero, with Levi and Rio Grande Recording studio owner Ken Riley. This was for a scene for next season. That's all I can share, but here are a couple shots I took to give you a glimpse into the world of making Dark Winds. #DarkWinds

I was sharing my love for Elton John’s 1970 album Tumbleweed Connection with some friends the other day, and I figured I should turn up the love light for his earlier recordings for this week’s edition of my weekly music dive called Air-Conditioned. 1/3

Recently, I’ve been listening to Squeeze and really enjoying the tunes, and I thought it’s my turn to foist their music on someone, and my weekly WYXR-FM show, Air-Conditioned, seemed to be the place to do it. 1/3

Where this is going? I don't know, but it makes me wonder why should I bother releasing my own music into the world that devalues it to nothing and then make what I create vulnerable to being scoured by AI and turned into some bloodless facsimile? www.hifinews.com/content/mach...

Machine music

An AI-generated song has topped the country charts in the US. Barry Willis, who grew up reading comic books warning of a dystopian future, knows exactly where this is headed...

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This 246th episode of Air-Conditioned goes out to my Vietnam traveling buddy, Deryle Perryman. While I’m thinking of what to do for my upcoming Vietnam episode, I figured I’d to a little tribute episode to Eddie Hinton, whose music Deryle and I both love. 1/4

Tonight’s 60 Minutes gave Trump plenty of time to blabber about the assassination attempt and, once again, reveal what a self-involved asshole he is. He has no problem treating Nora O’Donnell with utter disrespect. I hope this guy, and the party that supports him, are trounced for years to come.

This deeply unserious carnival barker occupying the Oval Office even manages to trivialize assassination attempts to sell his next vanity project with his name festooned on it. In this case, it is the bunker ballroom.

This week’s episode of Air-Conditioned is a round-up of great singer-songwriters and interpreters. Out journey into acoustic music from the heart includes Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Matraca Berg, Randy Newman, Paul Simon, and Linda Ronstadt. Also on board are 1/3

A winter storm blew through the Pacific Northwest last week. As Prince once wrote, “Sometimes It Snows In April." Meshell Ndegeocello, a deeply soulful creative, sets the tone of this week's Air-Conditioned with her gorgeous interpretation of that Prince song. 1/4

For this 243rd weekly musical journey, I call Air-Conditioned, we start in Memphis, TN, with Sid Selvidge, Fred Ford, and Reigning Sound, and end there with Big Star, Tommy Hoehn, and Van Duren. Along the way, we hear Françoise Hardy, Colin Blunstone, NRBQ, and Bud Powell & Don Byas. 1/3

This edition of Air-Conditioned shines some love light on Arthur Alexander, an artist who wrote and created music that made fans out of The Beatles (who recorded his song “Anna”), The Rolling Stones, and Elvis Presley. 1/4

Priorities! When will this country get it right? open.substack.com/pub/zeteo/p/...

Trump Wasted $3 Billion on Tomahawks to Attack Iran. Here's What Americans Could Have Got Instead.

The US government has deployed 850 Tomahawk missiles to fight Trump's illegal and brutal war on Iran, and it has done so as it continues to slash funding for public services at home.

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