Oh, I love that song. How many times have you been talking about music and somebody says hey, what’s your favorite tune by [fill in the blank]? I have no idea how many times I’ve asked or tried to answer that one, but many. Many many. I thought it might be fun to do a little post where I confront
Read moreApocalyptic neo-Symbolism. With some tangential comment on the pedestrian state of contemporary poetry.
Read moreYou have to have a plan, but happiness depends on how well you roll with the punches. The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley – Robert Burns No plan, however well conceived, survives contact with the enemy. – Military Adage Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. – Mike Tyson
Read moreNo one could possibly be THE voice of Gen X, but Cobain was certainly A voice of my generation. In their seminal 13th Gen: Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail?, published in 1993, Neil Howe and William Strauss argued that the only thing Generation Xers really agreed on was that there was no such thing as Generation X. Given the inherent irony
Read more
Pussy Riot’s commitment to social justice in the motherland is more than admirable. It perhaps merits a spot in Russia’s artistic canon. The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia closed today, and if you set aside the homophobia and generally strong-armed approach to governance by the host, one Vladimir Putin, these games were remarkable in just about every way. The
Read moreNormally I try and show you “official” videos when I write about bands, because that’s where you get the best audio fidelity. I think you’re going to see why I opted for the live vid in this case, though. Sweet lord a’mighty.
Read moreA few days ago I offered up volume one of stuff that should have been in my best CDs of 2013 note, but wasn’t. So now we arriveth at volume the second, whereupon I apologize to Adam Marsland. Adam has been one of my absolute favorites for a long time. I’m a sucker for the sub-genre we call Power Pop,
Read moreIt’s easy to see how the mid-1980s Roots revival could have shaped Nashville into something completely different than the wasteland it is today. Not long ago I was lamenting the embarrassing state of Country & Western music, and if you track down through the comments of that post you’ll see a couple folks, including our boy Otherwise, recommending that I
Read moreYep. Check out #5. Sic ’em, Alex.
Read moreNewman is pretty darned good. But it’s too early to know if he’s the dude Amy Winehouse or the dude Duffy. A few days ago BuzzFeed up and wet itself over Brit Soul-Pop wunderkind John Newman, calling the 23 year-old singer the “Dude Version Of Amy Winehouse.” As a famous man once said, “simmer down, Beavis.” Comparing Newman to 27-Clubber
Read moreIf C&W had a soul Jason Isbell would be the biggest thing in Nashville. Keith Urban is a judge on American Idol. Blake Shelton is on The Voice. Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and the rest of these prancing pinup models are the stars of the moment. Meanwhile, down in Alabama, Jason Isbell has produced as good a set
Read moreA wonderful recent discovery. They might remind you of Death Cab for Cutie, and there are moments where I might compare them to The Shins, Ben Folds Five or Jets Overhead, even. Thoughtful, literate Chamber Pop from my new city.
Read morePeriodically we find ourselves needing to remind everyone about our comment policy, which is quite a bit different from what you find on other sites. This isn’t a problem for a vast majority of those who visit us, but every once in awhile… So, here’s the link to the policy, which not only lays out how we do it but
Read moreWhat do Rammstein, The Dixie Chicks, Rick Springfield, The Beatles, U2, Uriah Heep, Toots & the Maytals, Talk Talk, Shiny Toy Guns, Primus, APC, the band that eventually turned into (shudder) Maroon 5, and a bunch of other bands, many of which you never heard of (445 in all) have in common?
Read more
lullaby pit 