Record albums aren’t novels. They aren’t films or plays or anything else that needs to follow the rules of traditional — or, for that matter, highly non-traditional — narratives. There is zero necessity for a compelling thesis statement or a … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Historian
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 1966, Dean Martin appeared in four … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “A Million and One”
956. Velvet Elvis, Velvet Elvis (1988) Velvet Elvis formed in Lexington, Kentucky, largely because aspiring singer-songwriter Dan Trisko needed an outfit to deliver the tunes he was cranking out with admirable efficiency. The band played through the reasonably robust club … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #956 to #953
I remember it as a slow, melancholy dimming of the lights for a certain kind of record collecting — or, being precise about the era, CD collecting, I suppose. Paul Westerberg was just a few years into his solo career, … Continue reading One for Friday — Grandpaboy, “Psychopharmacology”
960. Plasticland, Wonder Wonderful Wonderland (1985) It’s treacherous to draw heavily drawing on distinctive rock subgenres layered with dust. By the time Plasticland formed — as the nineteen-eighties dawned in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — the version of lush, layered psychedelic rock … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #960 to #957
Twenty-four hours from the moment I am typing these words out, students will be marching. They are marching in anger. They are marching because of their unyielding conviction. They are marching because they are engaged. They are marching because they … Continue reading One for Friday — Patti Smith, “People Have the Power”
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. Toad the Wet Sprocket had the right … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Something’s Always Wrong”
Find the mid-nineteen-nineties version of me and ask him to indulge in a little pop culture forecasting. Specifically, get him to name the titans of alternative rock who’ll be still be around twenty years later, dishing out new music just … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — What a Time to Be Alive
964. Sid & Nancy soundtrack (1986) I haven’t done the research to confirm my theory, but I believe Gary Oldman is the first and only winner of the Academy Award in the best actor in a leading role category who … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #964 to #961
Well, we should come up with something appropriate to the day, shouldn’t we? Once again, I raid my former online home, specifically traipsing through the two hundred installments of weekly exercises in crowdsourced music lists. Below is the prompt I … Continue reading From the Archive — Five for Friday, Guinness for Strength edition
Coffee for Two 