By the time I reached my second radio home–my stay in commercial radio didn’t count as a home, I was just renting–I felt a little detached from music. I still listened, I still collected, I still tried, but it was incredibly difficult to stay in tune with new material. Like a lot of people, I suspect, I wound up largely sticking with familiar artists from my college days, even when their releases constituted an ongoing audio demonstration of the concept of diminishing returns. Without the constantly updated wall of new that resides someone in every good college radio station’s broadcast … Continue reading One for Friday: Death By Chocolate, “Magpie”

Over the years, I’ve devoted far too much mental energy towards the machinations behind late night television talk shows. I watched with rapt attention when Johnny Carson unexpectedly abdicated his throne, and NBC was left to make a public choice between the mercurial genius who’d spent about a decade patiently auditioning for the job and the devoted company man who’d proven his willingness to subvert whatever edge he had in the name of crafting happily bland entertainment. I raced through Bill Carter’s book on the subject and found myself draw to the skillful HBO movie adaptation whenever I caught it … Continue reading One for Friday: Matthew Sweet, “Do Ya”