40. The Faint, Danse Macabre One of the things I’ve addressed with some regularity in the One for Friday feature was my old appreciation for what I considered to be great radio records. These were the albums that rewarded the … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 50 Albums of 2001, 40 and 39
The vast majority of the time, the reviewers at Spectrum Culture choose the material we write on, which means we sometimes build our own trends as writers. For example, I’ve already regularly claimed Vivian Girls and associated acts (including writing about the new Best Coast soon). Turns out I’ve also inadvertently developed a specialty for writing about movies centered on French prostitutes. Last fall, extremely positive festival buzz led me to ask for Bertrand Bonello’s House of Pleasures. Now my willingness to follow Juliette Binoche just about anywhere led to a more modern exploration of that particular European subculture. The … Continue reading Spectrum Check
When my new position in college radio in 2001 finally allowed me to freshly and fully explore new music for the first time in years, there was a dizzying array of unfamiliar artists to wrap my head around. Making it a little trickier for me, many of them were distinct, singular solo artists that adopted wholly different identities with names that would usually be affixed to a full band. This may have happened a generation earlier when I was a student DJ, but I surely didn’t remember it. Beyond the occasional, “Hi, my name is Steven Morrissey, but just use … Continue reading One for Friday: Badly Drawn Boy, “You Were Right”
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. “Tell Her She’s Lovely” was the third and final single from the California band El Chicano to appear on the Billboard charts. In 1970, they made it into the Top 30 with “Viva Tirado, Pt. 1,” essentially the title cut from their debut album. Two years later, they just missed the Top 40 with a cover of Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl.” “Tell … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Tell Her She’s Lovely”
42. Ben Folds, Rockin’ the Suburbs I was an early adopter of the music of Ben Folds. I read a review of the debut album from Ben Folds Five in CMJ New Music Monthly back in the day when I was scouring its pages for any palatable respite from the Pearl Jam wanna-bes that were flooding the playlist at the commercial radio station I worked for. The write-up was fine (although reading it now, it strikes me a surprisingly off-base), but it was the inclusion of the song “Underground” on the supplemental CD that came with the issue which sent … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 50 Albums of 2001, 42 and 41
Given my well-reported excursion to central Wisconsin to dive headlong into pop minutiae, I didn’t have much spare time to contribute to Spectrum Culture. In fact, the only words I strung together were for our monthly mixtape feature, writing about a new track from the Screaming Females. I’ll be back up to speed in the coming week with new reviews in both the film and music sections. On the film side, I’ll be writing about a dirty movie from France, which seems like a weirdly satisfying way to return to digital print. Continue reading Spectrum Check
Across all the various concerts and liver performances that I’ve seen over the years, I maintain that I’ve seen two genuine encores, two instances in which the band was done for the night and the enthusiasm of the crowd drew them back on stage. I’m convinced these two particularly encores weren’t contrivances of showmanship with the performers holding back one of their hits (or, in the case of the bands that I tend to go see, “hits”) to blow the roof off the dump when the lot of us went through the sham of clapping and cheering to bring the … Continue reading One for Friday: The Sundays, “Don’t Tell Your Mother”
As the preceding day’s posts undoubtedly conveyed, this is the first day of this year’s edition of The World’s Largest Trivia ContestTM. For the members of my tribe, only one song will suffice. Wikipedia even confirmed this fact at one point: I won’t post it, but I can surely share it. This song is undoubtedly available for purchase at your favorite local, independently-owned record store. Why not go and give the proprietor of that establishment several of your dollars. I know that’s on my agenda for today. Continue reading One for Friday: “Poor old Johnnie Ray…”
This weekend, I will once again participate in the annual staging of The World’s Largest Trivia ContestTM, the main fundraiser every year for the college radio station in central Wisconsin that is my most prized alma mater. At this time … Continue reading Trivia Answer of the Day: $2.50 for an Hour
44. Rival Schools, United By Fate As I’ve noted, I entered 2001 feeling somewhat detached from the college rock music that I once adored. Certainly part of that was just a natural part of growing older, but it also felt a little bit like a betrayal of my former self, the one who emphatically agreed with one of my collegiate cohorts who openly hoped that he wouldn’t be that middle-aged guy who was still calling the college station to request the music that he liked decades earlier. I had tacitly pledged to stay current, dammit! So it was a special … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 50 Albums of 2001, 44 and 43
Coffee for Two 