48. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, I Love Rock ‘n Roll (1981) “I feel like I’ve paid a lot of dues,” Joan Jett told an Associated Press reporter when the title cut to her sophomore solo LP — and first … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #48 and #47
Annie Blackman does indeed sound like what anyone would reasonably expect from a young, Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter. “The Well,” her new single, has a tender, plaintive quality to it, spelling out the challenge of living and loving in the world as … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Annie Blackman, “The Well”
CAROLINE POLACHEK Desire, I Want to Turn Into You (Perpetual Novice) — The first words Caroline Polachek sings on her new album, Desire, I Want to Turn Into You, are “Welcome to my island.” Delivered in a tone that bridges … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Desire, I Want to Turn Into You; in|FLUX
50. The Replacements, Pleased to Meet Me (1987) According to bassist Tommy Stinson, the Replacements went to Memphis expecting, maybe even intending, to implode. Arguably, such an outcome wouldn’t have been a surprise to anybody. The Minneapolis band was as … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #50 and #49
53. New Order, Low-Life (1985) When Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris officially formed New Order together, they knew that the music they made under that moniker was going to be compared to their previous band, Joy Division. If … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #53 to #51
The Low-Stakes Magic of Trivia by Richard Morgan It’s always a pleasure — laced with a hint of the unreal — to see the trivia contest to which I’ve devoted ludicrous amounts of time and mental energy get an adoring … Continue reading Outside Reading — The Masters Are Here edition
In detailing the lore of the annual trivia contest staged by student-run radio station WWSP-90FM, I have previously shared that my beloved and notorious team that participates in said contest has an official theme song that just so happens to … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Dexys, “I’m Going to Get Free”
This coming weekend, I’ll participate in the fifty-third staging of The World’s Largest Trivia ContestTM. As per tradition, this week is filled with idle reminiscing about memorable answers in past years. In the early two-thousands, my partner-in-all-things and I saw … Continue reading Trivia Answer of the Day — Cat Power
56. Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians, Globe of Frogs (1988) “My songs are drawn from the same material dreams are,” Robyn Hitchcock told a reporter not long after the release of Globe of Frogs, his first album with A&M Records. … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #56 to #54
There’s no getting around it, “Together Together,” the new song from the L.A. duo Mediocre, calls to mind Wet Leg. It has the wry, understated sense of humor, the easygoing but buoyant cadence, and the sense that they’re tapping in … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Mediocre, “Together Together”
Coffee for Two 