In this space, I tend to venerate the music spun with vigor on college radio during my first year as a member of the brethren of left of the dial broadcasters. I think that’s fairly understandable. Most music fans cling … Continue reading One for Friday: The Triffids, “Holy Water”
In November, Randy Newman will turn seventy-four years old. Despite his advancing years, he sounds exactly the same as he always has in his latest full-length release, Dark Matter, his eleventh studio album. That’s not a testament to virile youthfulness … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf: Dark Matter
7. Siouxsie and the Banshees, “Peek-A-Boo” One of the biggest hits ever crafted by Siouxsie and the Banshees began as a mistake. Following a string of splendid studio efforts through the the late-nineteen-seventies and the first half of the eighties, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 7
Some songs that arrived at my college radio station had a remarkable number of attributes, all converging to make it nearly irresistible to the eager young music fans that took turns on the airwaves. “Religion Ruined My Life,” from the … Continue reading One for Friday — Brian Ritchie, “Religion Ruined My Life”
When I first heard songs from Reflektor, the fourth album from Arcade Fire, I was left a little cold. The long run-up to that album, the Montreal band’s follow-up to the surprise Grammy winner The Suburbs, doled out songs one … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf: Everything Now
8. Thomas Dolby, “She Blinded Me with Science” Ray Milton Dolby was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1933. A sound engineer by training and by trade, Dolby spent the early nineteen-sixties working as a technical advisor for the United Nations, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 8
On this Saturday, I am giving myself over to the cultural sensation of our time. so I reach back to the little diversion I once cooked up (or co-opted, anyway) for a weekly bit of relief at the end of … Continue reading From the Archive — Five for Friday, Let’s Put on a Show! edition
One of the gifts of discovering a deep and abiding love of music right around the time a necessary transition to adulthood looms is the sudden access to a dazzling universe of sonic art that can provide a vocabulary of … Continue reading One for Friday: The Weakerthans, “Tournament of Hearts”
When I arrived at college, it took me some time to use the university library for academic purposes. That’s not wholly accurate. I spent an adequate number of hours in that bulky building partaking in endeavors that were associated with … Continue reading My Writers: Lester Bangs
Today’s political news wore me out. That’s happened a lot in 2017, but today miraculously delivered a whole other set of devastating blows. I’ve been struggling through much of the afternoon and evening to figure out which of the frivolous … Continue reading Chin Up, Always Up
Coffee for Two 