Category: Music

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The New Releases Shelf: Pure Comedy

Dan Seeger

To a degree, Josh Tillman has always positioned himself as a man out of time when performing in his Father John Misty persona. There’s a wounded troubadour embrace of classic pop that’s always been the shiniest threads running through the fabric of his songs. There’s also been a sense of humor that clangs against the opposing guardrails of bleak and boisterous, but mostly Father John has long sounded like a guy on the brink of collapse, and not in the James Brown grand showman way. The existential agony is what’s getting him down. Even happiness sows aching confusion. Tillman quadruples … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf: Pure Comedy

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College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 46 – 44

Dan Seeger

46. Romeo Void, “Never Say Never” Romeo Void were still early in their career when they found themselves working with Ric Ocasek, then exceedingly well-versed in the creation of hits thanks to his prominent place in the Cars. According to Deborah Iyall, lead singer and chief songwriter of Romeo Void, Ocasek became a fan of the band because a roadie kept playing their music of the Cars’ tour bus. After a meeting at a Boston gig, the band eagerly agreed to Ocasek’s offer to record together, and they showed up after a tour with a handful of songs. Because it … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 46 – 44

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From the Archive: Five for Friday, This Machine Kills Fascists edition

Dan Seeger

In my former online home, I had a little weekly feature called “Five for Friday.” The basic concept was — of course — shamelessly swiped from elsewhere. I’d post a list of five songs under some loose category and ask others to respond with their own quintet that fit. In response to what felt like it was about the millionth straight week of astonishing transgressions against the fundamentals of the republic, I raid that old feature for a list of tunes written and delivered in a fine later of indignation.This was first posted in 2006, so some callousness of the part … Continue reading From the Archive: Five for Friday, This Machine Kills Fascists edition

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One for Friday: Blue Rodeo, “5 Days in May”

Dan Seeger

The discovery process with music never ends. That’s one of the truest joys of being a fan. Even a band that has been studied and loved can provide a surprise, and an album that was listened to and appreciated can suddenly suddenly pop with genius when heard again at the right time, in the right way, probably with the right set of emotions swirling around inside. Blue Rodeo was a favorite band during my college radio days. It started, gently, with the albums Diamond Mine and Casino that arrived within my first couple of years at the station, but truly … Continue reading One for Friday: Blue Rodeo, “5 Days in May”

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One for Friday: Glass Eye, “Cecilia”

Dan Seeger

I’ve written about the allure cover songs had — still have, maybe — for college radio programmers. Much as there’s a fierce instinct for the new, new, new, there’s a reason most commercial radio stations default to a mere handful of songs that cycle eternally. The familiar stirs a powerful craving. Discovery is great, but we all want to sing along. So as much as I’d like to champion one of the originals included on the Austin band Glass Eye’s Christine EP, which hit the student-run radio station during my first semester there, the reality is that I gravitated to … Continue reading One for Friday: Glass Eye, “Cecilia”

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The New Releases Shelf: Swear I’m Good At This

Dan Seeger

Crushes on bands are a thing, right? Certain songs, certain albums, certain riffs and vocal howls can set the heart aflutter with something that transcends taste and appreciation and escalates to full-on swooning adoration. I feel like that used to happen to me about every other week when I was a devoted staff member at the college radio station, eons ago. Every undiscovered album dropped over the spindle or CD fed into the player held the potential of triggering a rapturing affair of the psyche. For whatever reason, album rarely leave me reeling in that way any longer, probably because … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf: Swear I’m Good At This

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College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 49 – 47

Dan Seeger

49. Tears for Fears, “Everybody Want to Rule the World” Bands beholden to major labels are often told they need to buckle down and try to write a hit song. As they were prepping material for their 1985 album, Songs from the Big Chair, Tears for Fears were given even more specific instructions than that. They were charged with writing a single that would appeal to the U.S. market. That single was “Everybody Wants to Rule the World.” “We did the song to have an American hit,” Roland Orzabal, guitarist and vocalist for the band, conceded at the time. “It’s … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 49 – 47

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One for Friday: Sister Carol, “Wild Thing”

Dan Seeger

I’ve written about Jonathan Demme quite a bit this week, but I’ve only briefly touched on one the most celebrated elements of his work: his use of music in his movies. While tagging him a strong director when it comes to music might seem obvious considering his oversight of Stop Making Sense, a film unlikely to ever be topped in the pantheon of concert films, Demme’s ability to integrate pop songs artfully into his fiction efforts was dazzling. Martin Scorsese arguably stood as Demme’s only real competition in this often underappreciated facet of filmmaking, but the latter’s far more esoteric … Continue reading One for Friday: Sister Carol, “Wild Thing”

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College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 52 – 50

Dan Seeger

52. Primitives, “Crash” Before the Primitives got around to recording their first album, they’d already decided that “Crash” was one of their less significant songs. “We wrote that very early on and then we dropped it from the set,” explained Paul Court, the band’s guitarist and chief songwriter. “We had a lot of songs like it, three chord style Ramones numbers, and then our producer Paul Sampson said it was a good song and that we should resurrect it.” That was only the beginning of Lazarus-like capacity for revival that the song had. It was definitely a college radio hit … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 52 – 50

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From the Archive: Flashback Friday – 1973

Dan Seeger

I’m a little too weary to elaborate, except to note that this was originally published in my former online home. In 1973, I lived in a household that had a lot of records. There were so many, in fact, that they basically defined the decor. Entire walls were obliterated from view by the shelves of albums. There was even one wall that was basically nothing but albums, effectively extending the hallway by several feet just as capably as 2x4s and drywall. Obtaining every chunk of the unfolding evolution of rock ‘n’ roll was the obsession of my first stepfather (don’t … Continue reading From the Archive: Flashback Friday – 1973