932. Rush, Signals (1982) I think the prevailing opinion is that the nineteen-eighties demolished the prospects for classic rock bands, especially as MTV took almost complete control over determining which songs were worthy of upward chart movement. There’s some truth … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #932 to #929
I had this project, you see. After several years of operating motor vehicles equipped with outdated technology in the dashboard stereo, I finally graduated to a car that had a CD player and an input jack for an iPod. To … Continue reading From the Archive — Smells Like a Mix Tape
Since I invoked Lyle Lovett in yesterday’s album review, it seems an appropriate time to return to him in this weekly act of music-sharing. Lovett first entered into my little cohort of favored artists with the release of his second … Continue reading One for Friday — Lyle Lovett, “L.A. County”
I can’t claim to understand the vagaries of what drives country music radio, but the apparent middling affection for Kacey Musgraves is perplexing to the point of aggravation. Despite the Texas native’s place in the Universal Music Group Nashville stable … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Golden Hour
936. Skinny Puppy, Cleanse, Fold & Manipulate (1987) It bizarre for me to think of industrial titans Skinny Puppy as edging towards cuddly mainstream acceptance, but that’s arguably what was happening around 1987, the year the Canadian released their third … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #936 to #933
In my music collection, I have many versions of “A New England.” I think it’s a natural, perhaps inevitable result of being a Billy Bragg fan in good standing. The song he wrote when he was twenty-one years old — … Continue reading One for Friday — Kate Nash and Billy Bragg, “Foundations/A New England”
From the jump, Jack White always had the air of huckster about him. That he kept his music shiny and new through regularly applications of snake oil wasn’t a problem. Indeed, it was a major part of the appeal. Through … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Boarding House Reach
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. In the spring of 2007, few artists … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”
940. Dead Kennedys, Frankenchrist (1985) Frankenchrist, the third album from Dead Kennedys, should have been a celebratory return to recording for a band that helped define hardcore punk. The group had withdrawn from active engagement with making their own music, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #940 to #937
In the late nineteen-sixties, New Zealand club owner Ken Cooper wanted a house band. The patrons shuffling in and out of The Plaice were fans of psychedelic music, so that’s the sound Cooper sought, assembling a handful of local musicians … Continue reading One for Friday — The Avengers, “Everyone’s Gonna Wonder”
Coffee for Two 