The Music of Today

Originally from Canada, rock and roll legend Neil Young took the
American music industry by storm in the 1970s with Harvest and After
the Gold Rush, not to mention his work with Buffalo Springfield and
Crosby, Stills, and Nash. Still pertinent in 2012, Young and his
life-long friends and band mates from “Crazy Horse” released a studio
album Americana in June, and they have another one, Psychedelic Pill,
scheduled for an October 30th release date.

Teaming back up together for the first time in over eight years, Neil
Young and Crazy Horse’s second 2012 release is a nine-track, double
album with a ton of long jams – one song as long as 27 minutes and
three over 16 minutes. Psychedelic Pill, as its name suggests, is sure
to have a ton of lengthy, dreamlike songs.

The artwork and song lyrics of these two 2012 albums have many Native
American motifs throughout.  Although Young himself has no Native
American heritage, much has been spoken about his “cultural
misappropriation” of Native American culture. Personally as a Native
American myself, I don’t think his songs are trying to slander the Native American community, because I think it has always been done in good taste.

At any rate, the eternally young and mobile, 66 year old rocker is
also coming to Austin next month, as he is headlining Austin City
Limits.  Even he is past the age of most peoples retirement, Neil is not planning on slowing down any time soon.  Constantly flailing and dressed down in jeans and ratty tennis
shoes, Neil Young will definitely be a memorable performance.

Just like Bob Dylan, Neil Young has clearly stood the test of time.
I’m really looking forward to hearing the upcoming two albums and
catching his performance at ACL next month. I think Crazy Horse will
most likely join him for the ACL set, especially considering that they
want to promote their new material. It’s sure to be an awesome show.