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Category Archives: Music/Popular Culture

Final verdict on The Sing-Off season 3: A thing not worth doing is not worth doing well (and the bad things that happen when you hand your show over to record label A&R idiots)

Posted on 2011.11.29 by winterSmith 11 comments

The Sing-Off was a bit of a disappointment this year. Last season was the show’s high water mark to date, with four or five legitimate A-level contenders and two acts – Committed (the winner) and Street Corner Symphony (runner-up) – that stand head and shoulders above everybody else in the show’s three seasons to date. (And please, click those links

TunesDay: What the hell is going on in Boulder?

Posted on 2011.10.11 by winterSmith 3 comments

When I first moved to Boulder, Colorado in 1993 there were three big local bands: Big Head Todd & the Monsters, The Samples and The Reejers. BHTM were and still are an outstanding blues/rock band. The Samples were an alt act that reminded me at times of The Police and at other times of Johnny Clegg & Savuka (although both

Saturday Video Roundup: the quiet acoustic genius of Bert Jansch

Posted on 2011.10.08 by winterSmith 3 comments

Let’s listen to a song first.

If only there were an American Idol for grown-ups: how to market new, indie music to an adult audience?

Posted on 2011.09.25 by winterSmith 7 comments

Once upon a time, marketing music must have been so simple: in the ’50s you just bribed a local DJ and off you went. By the ’80s it was a little more complicated – in addition to cash you needed to bring coke and hookers, but still, it was a straightforward process and everybody understood the rules. Maybe that’s understating

Saturday Video Roundup: it was 20 years ago today…

Posted on 2011.09.24 by winterSmith Leave a comment

On September 24, 1991, a little-known band from Seattle released a CD called Nevermind. Nothing was ever the same again.

REMembering: from Reynolds Auditorium to Carver Hawkeye

Posted on 2011.09.23 by winterSmith Leave a comment

You’ve probably heard by now: REM, one of the progenitors of alt.rock has called it quits after 30 years and 15 albums. The first five REM records (Murmur, Reckoning, Fables of the Reconstruction, Life’s Rich Pageant and Document) deserve at least 18 stars out of a possible 20 and 1992’s Automatic for the People earned five more. By any standard, they

Music/Popular Culture

Former REM producer comments on the band’s break-up

Posted on 2011.09.21 by winterSmith One comment

Don Dixon and Mitch Easter co-produced REM’s first two (and arguably best) albums, Murmur and Reckoning. S&R contacted Dixon earlier today to ask if he had any thoughts on the band’s break-up. Here’s what he had to say. I’ll miss R.E.M. but I completely understand why they’re calling it quits. I haven’t spoken with anyone in the band yet but I

Music/Popular Culture

REMembering: from Reynolds Auditorium to Carver Hawkeye

Posted on 2011.09.21 by winterSmith One comment

Sunday Video Roundup: a 9/11 special

Posted on 2011.09.11 by winterSmith Leave a comment

Today, if we choose to listen, we’ll hear a great deal about America, about the last decade, about the lessons we’ve learned. Football will be played. Flags will be waved. Tears will be shed. And tomorrow we’ll be exactly what we were yesterday, only moreso. Maybe today is a bad time for critiques. Or maybe it’s the perfect time. Hard

Happy Labor Day: S&R salutes the American worker with selections from Whitman, Springsteen and Mellencamp

Posted on 2011.09.05 by winterSmith One comment

While our country has in recent times engaged in a relentless policy war against the working class I grew up in, there was a time when honest labor was a thing to be celebrated. America became the greatest nation on the planet for a period of time thanks to its workers, not its CEOs or its bankers. Our character is

Saturday Video Roundup: dead man partying

Posted on 2011.08.27 by winterSmith Leave a comment

I’m heading out for a friend’s all-day bachelor party event here in a few minutes. Back when I was DJing I did a lot of wedding receptions, and I always made sure to play three songs. Somehow, I never got punched once. So in honor of my buddy’s upcoming nuptials, here’s a matrimonial threefer. First, I knew the bride when

What CD have you listened to more than any other?

Posted on 2011.08.26 by winterSmith 18 comments

We all have our favorite artists and songs and albums. Even those of us who listen to a lot of different styles and have thousands of CDs in our collections undoubtedly have a few we keep coming back to more than others. While I have never really had this discussion with anyone, I imagine that there are all kinds of

Saturday Video Roundup: a tribute to Stacy’s really hot parents

Posted on 2011.07.30 by winterSmith Leave a comment

I think we all understand that Stacy’s mom has got it going on.

3x3x3: Amy Winehouse joins rock & roll’s celebrated 27 Club

Posted on 2011.07.24 by winterSmith 2 comments

If there’s a rock and roll heaven, you know they’ve got a hell of a band. – Alan O’Day and Johnny Stevenson British neo-soul superstar Amy Winehouse joined The 27 Club yesterday. If you haven’t heard of this select group, the term refers to all the musicians who have died at the age of 27. It’s a pretty famous crowd.

Saturday Video Roundup: RIP, Amy Winehouse

Posted on 2011.07.23 by winterSmith Leave a comment

Amy Winehouse is dead at 27. Sadly, it was only a matter of time, and my friends, who have heard me crack wise time and time again about whether she would live to record another CD, knew that I wasn’t really joking. Goodbye, Amy. We hate how it went down, but we celebrate your music.