Author: Dan Seeger

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Lou Reed, 1942-2013

Dan Seeger

I have a special fondness for the music that flooded college radio in the first six months or so of 1989. That’s partially a byproduct of my position at the station at the time, still fresh in my overall tenure and gifted with an atypically early ascension to the director staff level, specifically with responsibilities that related to reviewing new music. (Lorne Michaels has mused that everyone’s favorite Saturday Night Live cast is whichever one was in place when they were in high school. Surely, there’s a corresponding truth to college radio: everyone thinks the music scene was peaking the … Continue reading Lou Reed, 1942-2013

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

Though I was otherwise up to my Adam’s apple in cleaning, painting and other coordination involving a distant house, I still had a couple contributions go up this week at Spectrum Culture. First, I had a new film review, covering a horror flick from the director of Splice. I selected this because a certain member of my household always welcomes a new cinematic excursion into horror, even though they often disappoint. That was certainly the case in this instance, although I’ll admit that it had a promising enough premise that a few changes could have made it into something interesting. … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: The Heathens, “Stickin Around”

Dan Seeger

I first left Florida–meaning left with a car full of belongings and no real expectation of returning–over six years ago. At the time, there was something even more significant than changing the state in the union that I called home: I was fairly certain I was leaving radio behind for good. It had been a major part of my identity since I started college myself, even in the interim years when I couldn’t by any stretched interpretation of the word call myself a broadcaster. And it was was certainly central to a professional reinvention that began in the middle of … Continue reading One for Friday: The Heathens, “Stickin Around”

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Beers I Have Known: The Native Brewing Company The Eleven Brown Ale

Dan Seeger

This series of posts is dedicated to the many, many six packs, pony kegs and pints that have sauntered into my life at one point or another. I’ve previously lamented the dearth of quality beer options at my disposal back when I resided in Florida (admittedly the most meager of the myriad of problems associated with being a Floridian), but I assumed that the craft beer revolution must have had some effect on the state I once called home. On the available evidence gathered in a visit to a central Florida liquor store, whatever dent has been made is quite … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: The Native Brewing Company The Eleven Brown Ale

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

In only had one full-length review at Spectrum Culture this week, but it was a fairly big one. When music reviews for the week were handed out, I picked up the new album from Cults. While I think the writing sums the record up well enough, I struggled to figure out the numeric ranking. On a gut level, it felt a little lower than the 4.0 I wound up with, but aside from one blip of a song, I also couldn’t find anything particularly problematic with the album. We’ll see how it ages for me. I also pitched in a … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: The Wonder Stuff, “Closer to Fine”

Dan Seeger

As I’ve acknowledged previously, I and my college radio brethren shared a certain susceptibility to cover songs. That weakness increased immeasurably when the song getting the cover treatment was something that already fit into our alternative music format, a track we’d played exhaustively in its original derivation. It’s not like the Pixies had trouble getting airplay on their own, but covering a Jesus and Mary Chain song could make even their most skeptical fans in college radio (that would’ve been me) swoon. At my station, it was also sort of a stealth means to get around programming policy designed to … Continue reading One for Friday: The Wonder Stuff, “Closer to Fine”