As a rule, I acknowledge trends in music only grudgingly, believing the creative process is ultimately far more elusive — and operating on chronologies likely quite different from that suggested by the release schedules — than perception bias allows. The … Continue reading Top Ten Albums of 2018
800. Cindy Bullens, Desire Wire (1978) There was a lot of slow build music business background preceding Desire Wire, the debut album by Cidny Bullens, then performing as “Cindy” while living apart from his true gender identity. Bullens was a … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #800 to #797
The airing of the Kennedy Center Honors this week kicked up all sorts of online enthusiasm for Adam Lambert singing Cher’s “Believe” and Kelly Clarkson paying tribute to Reba McEntire by belting out “Fancy” (which strikes me as more of … Continue reading From the Archive — Ben Folds Five
Thirty years ago, in the autumn of 1988, Was (Not Was) released the album What Up, Dog? Officially the third full-length from the group, the album showed up just as one of the two individuals who adopted the last name Was … Continue reading One for Friday — Was (Not Was), “Somewhere in America There’s a Street Named After My Dad”
804. Propaganda, A Secret Wish (1985) In the early nineteen-eighties, the West German electronic pop outfit Propaganda was signed to a fledgling label based out of the U.K. And there they quickly got a strange lesson in the twisty economics … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #804 to #801
Thirty years ago, in the latter half of 1988, the Saints released Prodigal Son in the U.S. In the official count, Prodigal Son was the eighth full-length studio album by the Australian band, but it was already fully understood that … Continue reading One for Friday — The Saints, “Grain of Sand”
These posts are about the songs that just barely failed to cross the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. At the 2010 CMT Music Awards, held … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “The Story of Us”
808. Shoes, Present Tense (1979) Shoes were always interested in making records, first and foremost. Hailing from Zion, Illinois, the band largely skipped the common step of playing lots of rock club dates to hone their craft. “There’s no way … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #808 to #805
Thirty years ago, in the autumn of 1988, the Go-Betweens released the album 16 Lovers Lane. It’s probably overstating it to proclaim the record the Go-Betweens’ version of Rumours, but there are some distinct similarities. There was a lot of … Continue reading One for Friday — The Go-Betweens, “Was There Anything I Could Do?”
“I break bricks with my heart/ Only a fool would call it art,” Jeff Tweedy sings on “Some Birds,” a track from his new album, Warm. In the most accurate determination, the album is Tweedy’s proper solo debut, though it’s … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Warm
Coffee for Two 