Category: Music

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

There are over 400 files in my desktop folder called simply, “Spectrum.” Now, a fair number of them are little blurbs written for various List Inconsequential features or other group-built tallies, but there are still a lot of full-length pieces. Even counting up the number of instances of this weekly link-dump of personal reviews tells the story. According to the math done automatically by WordPress, this is the 144th post entitled “Spectrum Check.” I started writing for Spectrum Culture over three years ago and first took on some editorial chores about a year after that. As of the end of … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: The Feelies, “Waiting”

Dan Seeger

Though there have been many, many editions of “One for Friday” by now, my goal when selecting the weekly song is to stick with artists that haven’t yet been represented in this digital space. On occasion, however, I just wake up on the last day of the traditional work week with a certain band rattling around in my head. As I’m sure anyone who is reading this has already ascertained, that’s exactly what happened today. There are certainly far worse things than waking up with the Feelies jittering through my mind. I have a special fondness for the Haledon, New … Continue reading One for Friday: The Feelies, “Waiting”

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Top Ten Albums of 2013

Dan Seeger

I don’t know that I actually reviewed appreciably more albums for Spectrum Culture this year than the previous one, but it was enough that I sometimes felt I had a difficult time keeping up with my “outside listening.” I offer that as humble acknowledgement that my list is heavy with material that I specifically sat down and gave a close listen to in order to bang out a few hundred words extolling virtues and identifying flaws. (This may also be the spot where I acknowledge that I really don’t hear the supposed genius of Kanye West, no matter how hard … Continue reading Top Ten Albums of 2013

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Here comes the song I love so much

Dan Seeger

In each of the past three years, I’ve followed up on the Spectrum list of the year’s top songs by offering my modest addendum. Specifically, I’ve noted the highest-ranking songs on my personal list of the best of the year, cobbled together from the one hundred that were nominated by the various music writers for the site. My clear pick for the best song of the year was the same one we collectively selected, so I certainly have no major complaints. Still, I would have liked to see these songs get a little more love from my peers. Cults, “I … Continue reading Here comes the song I love so much

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

And so we come to the end of the publication year for Spectrum Culture, which meant a huge batch of “best of” evaluations of the pop culture from the preceding twelve months (well, okay, eleven-and-a-half). I had my couple cents in every last one of them, but I also had one more full-length review to put out there. I was cautiously hopeful about grabbing the new film from Neil LaBute. Though it’s been ages since I’ve liked one of his films, I used to like them, a couple quite a bit. And this new effort seemed like a back-to-basics outing, … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, “Cold White Christmas”

Dan Seeger

My absolute favorite time to be at the college radio station during my undergraduate years was winter break. I liked the isolation that came from being in the station alone, a sensation compounded by the stretch of time when the university was at its most severely underpopulated and the frigid temperatures outside meant that there was even an abatement of general traffic on the road past the windows of the hallway between studios. Although, I must add that there remained a slight problem with the situation until the calendar reached December 26th: I didn’t particularly like Christmas music, but I … Continue reading One for Friday: Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, “Cold White Christmas”

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Top 40 Smash Taps: “Go On”

Dan Seeger

These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. Over the course of his thirty-plus years as a recording artist, George Strait has recorded a total of forty-four #1 songs on the Billboard country chart, more than any other artist. It would be reasonable to assume, then, that he also had some amount of success on the pop charts, especially since the first of those country chart-toppers arrived in 1982, a time … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Go On”