The hype machine for music was very different in the late eighties when I was at the college radio station. (And The Hype Machine was nonexistent.) New releases from artists we considered significant could actually sneak right up on us, unheralded by the major music magazines and produced without any mention whatsoever from the glossy drones on MTV. The album would just arrive in the mail, or occasionally show up alluringly on the CMJ upcoming releases list that periodically provided a month’s advance forecast on the back page. Even then, it was only the name of the artist with some … Continue reading One for Friday: Syd Straw, “Think Too Hard”

I’m a bad sleeper. I’ve been a bad sleeper for years. That’s actually an official diagnosis. Back in the mid-nineties, my problems were so pronounced that I sought out a sleep disorder specialist, went to several appointments with her, wore a bizarre contraption on my noggin one night so she could get data on what my sleep patterns were like. In the end, she said there was nothing wrong with me that was nameable or treatable. She shrugged her shoulders and said, “Some people are just bad sleepers.” At the time, I was compounding my difficulties by working fifty to … Continue reading One for Friday: Bic Runga, “Get Some Sleep”