I doubt there’s anyone who considers Tin Machine to be first tier David Bowie. That includes myself. Even still, I hold a great deal of affection for the digression into clattering rock that Bowie made in the late nineteen-eighties. If Bowie dominated the seventies, the eighties proved to be a touch more complicated. For one thing, his remarkably prolific creativity ebbed somewhat. Bowie issued eleven solo studio albums during the seventies, and only four during the eighties. While he still had hits — he never had as strong of a showing with a trio of consecutive tracks on the U.K. charts … Continue reading One for Friday: Tin Machine, “Baby Can Dance”

I recently noticed that Little Hits is gone. As anyone who’s been scoring along at home might know, Little Hits was a music blog that went a long way towards inspiring this weekly feature. Updated regularly, the blog shared MP3s and reminiscences about the songs and bands they contained. My affection didn’t simply stem from the fact that I enjoyed the music shared there, nor was it the genial, knowledgable essays that earned my devotion. I did like the songs and the writing, but it was the actual nature of the selections that thrilled me, specifically the way in which the name … Continue reading One for Friday: Smart Remarks, “Mary’s Got Her Eye On Me Tonight”

Well, there’s no real reason to start the new year with something chipper and upbeat, is there? The Builders and the Butchers are a beautifully artful and occasionally morose folk-rock band out of Portland, Oregon. Led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Ryan Sollee, the band deliver music that is at once strangely timeless and sharply current. At first listen, it can seem like they’re engaged largely in a act of preservation, but there are layers that which make it clear that they are simultaneously committed to moving forward, exploring the dark corners of songs in a protracted attempt to make their music singe with the … Continue reading One for Friday: The Builders and the Butchers, “No Roses”