One for Friday: An Emotional Fish, “Celebrate”

For a time in college, we always knew what the final song on a party mix tape would be. In my circle, these were usually parties thrown by and for the staff of the student-run radio station, meaning that mixes were often assembled in the station’s production studio, with the entirety of an impressive music library to draw upon. Still the closing song of the anticipated last tape was always assured: “Celebrate” by An Emotional Fish. An Emotional Fish was (and perhaps still is) a band from Dublin, Ireland, signed by U2’s Mother Records, which guaranteed a certain amount of … Continue reading One for Friday: An Emotional Fish, “Celebrate”

Top 40 Smash Taps: “Back When My Hair Was Short”

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. Gunhill Road was a band from the Bronx that released their debut album (under the slightly different name Gun Hill Road), First Stop, in 1971. It experienced modest success at best, but did well enough that were given another shot one year later, releasing a self-titled LP that was produced by Kenny Rogers, then still releasing albums with the First Edition while moving … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Back When My Hair Was Short”

Spectrum Check

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

One for Friday: The Feelies, “Waiting”

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”

Top Ten Albums of 2013

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

Here comes the song I love so much

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