In handing out plaudits around these here digital parts, the rundown of favored albums is typically followed by a set of similarly beloved tracks from the year just past. Unlike yesterday’s top ten assemblage, what follows here is not ranked, … Continue reading Five Songs from 2023
Taking one calendar off the wall to replace it with a new stapled-together procession of gridded-off months brings us back to this annual venture. I have no overarching observations about the year in music to tap out in this cursory … Continue reading Top Ten Albums of 2023
For the past few years, I come every Saturday to my little corner of the digital world to celebrate the pieces written by other people that most deeply burrowed into my brain when I read them during the preceding week. … Continue reading Outside Reading — Six from 2023
For the past thirteen years or so, I’ve known with certainty what would pop up in my little corner of the digital world every Sunday. It started when I stumbled upon a CMJ Radio Top Cuts chart that was published … Continue reading Countdown’s End
1. Go-Go’s, Beauty and the Beat (1981) The rejection letter was breathtaking in its condescension. By the time the Go-Go’s were sending their demo around to labels, they had already proved themselves and developing a growing following within their local … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #1
There are a lot of complimentary superlatives that can be heaped on the new song from PACKS, the project that serves as the main creative outlet for Toronto-based indie rock whiz Madeline Link. Rather than wind my way to any … Continue reading This Week’s Model — PACKS, “Paige Machine”
THE MOUNTAIN GOATS Jenny from Thebes (Merge) — Now that the Mountain Goats’ main man, John Darnielle, has solidified his successful side hustle as a nimble novelist, it makes perfect sense that he’s embracing similar deep-dive storytelling in his songwriting. … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Jenny from Thebes; Black Bayou
2. The Police, Ghost in the Machine (1981) After constantly operating under the nettlesome, intrusive scrutiny of their record label, the Police were finally given the opportunity to record a new studio album on their own terms. The trio, comprised … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #2
Michael Stipe Is Writing His Next Act. Slowly. by Jon Mooallem This article about the former lead singer of R.E.M. is a simply a masterful piece of profile writing. With unerring instincts for which details convey the most telling information, … Continue reading Outside Reading — We Are Hope Despite the Times edition
The band Yumi Zouma was formed in New Zealand, but its members are now spread all over the globe. They’ve acknowledged the difficulty in creating together over the course of the past few years, the challenge of geography compounded by … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Yumi Zouma, “Desert Mile”
Coffee for Two 