There are always going to bands and performers that are inextricably linked with their eras. For me, The Cure represents one side of the nineteen-eighties and R.E.M. is the flip side. Nirvana’s Nevermind dirges are so embedded in the early nineties that it’s almost a shame that the album wasn’t actually called The Waning Days of Bush I or some such thing. Much of this music is still great, and even has some qualities that could be called timeless, but they also speak so clearly for their musical moment that playing them causes calendar pages to flip back like a … Continue reading One for Friday: The Smithereens, “Kiss Your Tears Away”

I suspect there’s a tendency to always see the time when you’re following music most closely–probably those years around high school and college–as a time of particular tumult and transformation. It’s a natural side effect of close scrutiny combined with a passionate connection with the artists. Every shift in a lineup or full-on dissolution of a band is major news, like the borders of a country being redrawn after a war. The whole landscape changes, or at least that’s what it feels like. At around the time I started at the college radio station, both Husker Du and The Smiths … Continue reading One for Friday: Antenna, “23”

When I was at the college radio station, there were several bands I loved, those that seemed to sing my thoughts with every song. Then there were those bands that I admired. They didn’t necessarily hit me in my gut in the same way, but something about their passion, their intensity, their readily apparent ethic in each and every one of their songs stirred me differently. I didn’t become devoted to them in the same way, but I was always glad–even oddly proud–to play their music on the radio. Buffalo Tom was one of tho It’s hardly an unorthodox choice, … Continue reading One for Friday: Buffalo Tom, “Taillights Fade”

I’ve probably seen Ani Difranco live more than any other performer. Basically, it’s built right into the terms of my marriage. Ani came with the package, like a stepchild or a beloved feline. The affection may have faded somewhat over the years–new albums are no longer automatic purchases for our household–but seeing Ani perform live remains an obligatory outing. This isn’t a problem, by the way. She’s a helluva songwriter and a terrific performer, equal parts fierce and adorable with a charisma that amazingly plays best to the back seats and moves forward. She brings herself unguarded to the stage, … Continue reading One for Friday: Ani Difranco, “Most of the Time”