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”

Listen, we’ve all been there, reeling from some disastrous relationship. And for most college radio DJs, there are probably some wounds that are fairly fresh. So I always had a strange admiration for those bands that could tap into those feelings, not just because I could often relate to those songs, but because, on some level, I recognized that it was a great way for those artists to earn some airplay that may have otherwise eluded them. I’m not saying it’s all cold calculation. Many of the bands we played at the station were populated by individuals whose ages were … Continue reading One for Friday: Possum Dixon, “Watch the Girl Destroy Me”

When I search the word “Christmas” on my iTunes, only 43 songs show up, which seems like a fairly modest number given the size of my digital library. Most of those tracks are indeed yuletide offerings, albeit ones that have somewhat darker sensibilities or that otherwise allow me to keep the holiday in my way (or at least Crow’s way). However, there’s also a band in there that bears a name that they may not have chosen if they existed at a time when making sure you weren’t swamped out by other options in a Google search had to be … Continue reading One for Friday: Christmas, “Stupid Kids”

My favorite time of year at my college radio station was winter break. Though we were student-run and largely student-staffed, we were also proudly on the air every day of the year, including Christmas. We labored on with our skeleton crew, many of taking an on-air shift or two every day. It was dead-quiet like no other time of the year. During the summers, there were classes happening in our building, and the campus was infiltrated by a bevy of conferences, camps and other events that caused child prodigies and health nuts to mingle awkwardly with our lingering student population. … Continue reading One for Friday: Trip Shakespeare, “Snow Days”

Pere Ubu was one of those bands I couldn’t quite wrap my head around when I was at the college radio station. This was partially because the station’s music library, my giant encyclopedia of sonic wonders pressed into individual vinyl volumes, wasn’t especially well stocked in efforts by the Cleveland band, especially lacking in those releases that would be considered seminal like The Modern Dance or Dub Housing. But, truth is, I may have been so lacking in background knowledge about the group that they could have been there and I wouldn’t have known to give them a listen. Also, … Continue reading One for Friday: Pere Ubu, “Oh Catherine”