36. Iggy Pop, Naughty Little Doggie I think everyone in college radio was always rooting for Iggy Pop to make a great album, but man alive did he crank out some bad stuff. Of course, when those albums have centerpiece … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 36 and 35
I was kept plenty busy by Spectrum Culture, this week. For one thing, this week was a fairly uncommon instance of me having two films to review instead of one, although that was more a product of a slight tangle with the prior week’s schedule than any ambition on my part. So even though I shouldn’t have been scrambling to get it all in, that’s exactly what happened. I started with a significant disappointment: Lynn Shelton’s new film. I really enjoyed her prior directorial effort, but the new film is a mess, entirely wasting her best cast yet (and sadly … Continue reading Spectrum Check
I once had a clear sense of the proper life cycle of a musician. It started with a band, typically lasting a handful of albums, until just enough success was achieved that one or more of the members could move on to solo careers. And that was pretty much the whole story. Led Zeppelin didn’t get back together. The Who Didn’t get back together. The Band or Creedence Clearwater Revival? They didn’t get back together, even if their former members had only the most intermittent solo careers. Sure, the oldies revival in the nineteen-eighties meant there were a bunch of … Continue reading One for Friday: Bill Janovitz, “Shoulder”
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. I find it interesting that so much modern country music has shown up in this feature, as if the chart compilers at Billboard have felt obligated to acknowledge the widespread popularity of the genre, but only want to do it half-heartedly. “This is popular, eh?” the Hot 100 chart seems to say. “Here, it made it to the Top 40. Now leave us … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Brand New Girlfriend”
38. Reel Big Fish, Turn the Radio Off Good lord, just look at that hideous album cover. Turn the Radio Off is the sophomore effort for punk-ska band Reel Big Fish and their first after being signed to the Mojo … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 38 and 37
This week at Spectrum Culture, I did something that I can’t believe it never occurred to me to do before: I wrote about Too Much Joy. I can’t overstate how important the band was to me and the bulk of my friends and cohorts at the campus radio station, and yet I’d never previously thought to celebrate them when my turn came up in the Revisit/Rediscover feature in the music section. I’m pleased to report that what I turned in may be my favorite thing that I’ve written for the site. And it even caught the attention of Tim Quirk, … Continue reading Spectrum Check
I have my list. It’s not written down or recorded in any way. It floats freely in my head, taking on an losing names with the shifting tides of my memory and preferences. I presume most music fans have their own similar tallies. It’s those bands, performers, artists that I haven’t yet seen play live despite my strong desire to do so. There are loads of missed opportunities on the list (Sleater-Kinney, the White Stripes, and it seems Sonic Youth) and a handful that I’m actively plotting about (Arcade Fire). Last night, I didn’t necessarily cross a band fully of … Continue reading One for Friday: The National, “Start a War (Live at KEXP)”
For some indiscernible reason, today’s date is weighing on me a little more heavily than in past years. I think the pervasive attempts to use the ever-distancing tragedy of that 2001 day to prop up political agendas and inspire cheap shots against the other side have simply done me in this year. It’s worth noting that the disheartening spectacle is coming from all parts of the political spectrum, even from those I consider fairly closely aligned with my own views on the issues of the day. With that in mind, I’ll just yield the space to a track from what … Continue reading Clear blue holds its breath
40. Dog’s Eye View, Happy Nowhere Much as I complain about the monolithic grunge sound that dominated any radio station that aligned itself with the “alternative” movement in the mid-nineties, in some ways the real problem was that many of … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 40 and 39
Not that anyone’s likely to notice without me pointing it out, but I’m going to slightly jumble my usual order in listing off my latest contributions to Spectrum Culture in this weekly slot. For example, I usually position whatever list we’re track through as the last bit, almost as an aside. Instead, I’ll put our latest offering in the ongoing effort to count down the greatest greatest hits albums of all time right up front, if only to immediately note to a good friend of mine that I have now managed to make sure that anyone who chooses to search … Continue reading Spectrum Check
Coffee for Two 