winterSmith’s Best Albums of 2018
I found lots of music to like in 2018. Here’s a brief overview, plus a link so you can sample it all yourself.
Read moreCategory Archives: Music/Popular Culture
A day of mourning for George HW Bush
It’s a new world order.
Read moreBohemian Rhapsody: your mileage WILL vary
The new Queen biopic is deeply flawed and powerfully rewarding all at once. Sorta. Maybe.
Read moreIt’s Election Day. Go Vote.
Vote. It matters more than it ever has in your life.
Read more2018 album release notes: Fiction 8, The Lost Patrol, Mod Hippie, Hot Nun and The Well Wishers
And now, some other bands who are kicking ass this year…
Read moreIs Greta Van Fleet ripping off Led Zeppelin? Both sides, just stop it.
Some love the neo-Zep sound and others hate it, but both sides are missing the point. Greta Van Fleet, a young Michigan-based rock band featuring three brothers with a friend on drums, have been ripping the lid off the joint lately. As of this moment the video for “Highway Tune” has well over 20 million views. They’re playing all the
Read moreU2: Songs of Relevance and Irrelevance
U2 is my favorite band of all time. But they haven’t been relevant since the early-to-mid ’90s. I think I have a clue as to why. Good is the enemy of great. Around 1984 The Police, my previous favorite band of all time, was calling it quits, and U2 released The Unforgettable Fire, hot on the heels of 1983’s War and the live EP Under
Read moreWhat are your three favorite Elton John songs?
This is one of the hardest music questions I’ve ever been asked. A few weeks ago my girlfriend asked me this one. And I thought – what a hateful question. Seriously – three? With some effort I might be able to get it down to ten or fifteen. But it was a music question. So I thought. And pondered. And listened
Read moreThe Year in Music: @Doc’s top albums of 2017
As always, it was a great year for music – for those willing to put in a little effort, anyway. [UPDATED 1/12/18] Radio and the music industry have long since abandoned any pretense of developing or presenting quality tuneage, so if you sit passively and wait for it to come to you then you’re likely going to conclude that music
Read moreBlade Runner 2049: a brief reaction
Blade Runner 2049 is a very good film, although it would have benefited from more threatening villains.
Read moreAny way the wind blows…
This is the best thing you’ve seen all week.
Read moreTwin Peaks: The Return and the Red Room: a collaborative reverse spoken word
David Lynch inspired a generation of genius TV. And a moment of unfettered silliness.
Read moreSaturday Video Roundup: this week in 3MS
Saturday Video Roundup – it's the 3rd Millennium Sound
Friends, Romans, Countrymen – lend the 3rd Millennium Sound your ears. I recently introduced 3rd Millennium Sound (3MS), a Facebook group devoted to sharing and discussing a particular strand of really interesting emerging music styles, including Electro-Pop, Darkwave, Industrial, contemporary Trip-Hop, Shoegaze/Dreampop, maybe a little EDM, perhaps some TrancePop, etc. Group member contributions have been wonderfully illuminating – even I had no
Read moreChuck Berry, RIP
Sad news on a Saturday evening – the legendary Chuck Berry is gone. There are barely words to articulate Berry’s importance to Rock & Roll. A genius in his own right, his songwriting, his showmanship and his innovation with the electric guitar influenced everyone who followed. In truth, there had never been anything like Berry and there hasn’t been anything
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lullaby pit 