The many layers driving "Layla"

I’m not much of a fan of so-called classic rock, but there are 20-30 standards from the 50-80s that I can listen to repeatedly and still find something fresh. One is Derek & the Dominoes’ “Layla,” a song whose beautiful melodies are driven by some amazing, nuanced musicianship.

A peek into that musicianship is captured in this great video interview with producer Tom Down and Dominoes guitarist Eric Clapton. There’s a wonderful sense of rediscovery as Dowd, sitting at the mixing board 30 years after the fact, isolates instrumental tracks to peel back the many layers of genius inside “Layla.” We’ve heard the stories of guitarists Duane Allman and Clapton feeding off each other in taking their performances to new heights, but the detail in their technique jumps out in a dramatic way when Dowd plays them in isolation.

Sometimes the behind-the-scenes story can remove too much veneer from the masterpiece. That’s not the case here: Dowd’s backstory only adds to the depth of a song that seems to get better with age.

Paste's Top 50 Albums of the Decade

Music geeks are suckers for lists, and Paste Magazine has another good one as we close in on the end of the first decade of the 21st Century.

Paste's Top 50 albums of the decade makes for some great discussion, as well as a holiday shopping list for stuff I need to discover. And also some discs I already own that I need to re-examine.

Let's cut to the top: I was overjoyed to read that Paste ranks Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois" as its top pick of the decade. Bravo. If I had to put together a Desert Island Discs list, "Illinois" would be on that Top 10. It's  brilliant top to bottom. It's both eclectic and inviting, appealing to music fans of all ages and genres. (Here's a more detailed Paste look at "Illinois").

Sufjan Stevens' "Illinois" (aka "Illinoise") is well worth your money I already own 19 of the Paste 50:

• No. 1. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois
• No. 2. Wilco: Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
• No. 4. Radiohead: Kid A
• No. 6. The White Stripes: Elephant
• No. 9. The Avett Brothers: I and Love and You
• No. 12. Spoon: Kill the Moonlight
• No. 14. The Strokes: Is This It
• No. 18. Amy Winehouse: Back To Black
• No. 20. The National: Boxer
• No. 28: Paul Westerberg: Folker
• No. 32. The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
• No. 33. Coldplay: A Rush Of Blood To The Head
• No. 34. Various artists: O Brother Where Art Thou?
• No. 39. Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
• No. 40. TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain
• No. 45. Radiohead: In Rainbows
• No. 47. Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
• No. 48. Loretta Lynn: Van Lear Rose
• No. 49. Libertines: Up the Bracket

But it's interesting how many of those are not in my regular rotation. "Kid A" remains almost unlistenable to me, but I'll go back and give it a few more tries in light of this Paste ranking (I much prefer the more accessible "In Rainbows"). And I like Wilco, but "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot isn't that good. "The Avett Brothers disc, which just came out, is ballad heavy but great. And I pull out Arctic Monkeys or Amy Winehouse every few months to jumpstart my energy, but most of those others on the list get played once or twice a year.

I'll have to think about discs I think should have been on that Top 50. Give ma a few days and I'll post an update.

In the meantime, feel free to share your lists or take advantage of the lala players Paste has embedded with each listing and try out this great music yourself. 

The Dope Sheet

The Dope Sheet is loaded with detail about the Green Bay PackersBrett Favre's return to Lambeau Field is huge in so many ways, but for Pakcers fans like myself, it's secondary to what is a huge game for the Packers' playoff chances this season. 

If you're a Packers fan, you might be familiar with The Dope Sheet, a weekly publication the Green Bay Packers began distributing to the media way back in 1921. In recent years, they've posted it on their website for all to read. It's information overload but in this day and age, it's a welcome read for fans who can't get enough (here's the 27-page PDF version for today's game).

In the old days, TDS might have been a dozen pages. For today's game, it's 27 pages. And, yeah, since it's coming from the team, there's some biased reading. But there's also insights and detail you can't get anywhere else. Makes for good preparation, something you won't get from all the talking heads who are clueless most of the time.