THE MOUNTAIN GOATS Bleed Out (Merge) — Presumably, John Darnielle has somehow eradicated the need for sleep. A Nobel is surely forthcoming. How else to explain the amazing output in recent years from the previously prolific and now practically omnipresent … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Bleed Out; 2007; Natural Brown Prom Queen
131. Hüsker Dü, New Day Rising (1985) Following their creative breakthrough with the double album Zen Arcade, Hüsker Dü felt they were ready to produce their next album entirely on their own, something they hadn’t done since Land Speed Record, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #131 to #129
Hacked to Bits by Jaya Saxena Writer for Eater, Jaya Saxena explores the culture of creative tinkerers who use the online menus of chains restaurants and coffee shops to concoct wild variants of the businesses’ standard fare. Because they post … Continue reading Outside Reading — Off the Menu edition
An empowerment anthem about rejecting a personal tendency for diminishing self-judgment, “Flip It” is a prime blast of Bleached. The single is grounded in a chewy pop-punk and spins on the axis of an irresistible singalong chorus, siblings Jennifer and … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Bleached, “Flip It”
SYLVAN ESSO No Rules Sandy (Loma Vista) — On their prior albums, it was sometimes difficult to discern whether Sylvan Esso wanted to master or deconstruct pop. They decisively elide that question on their fourth studio full-length, No Rules Sandy, … Continue reading Medium Rotation — No Rules Sandy; In My Car
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. If an advertisement is measured by how much it makes a person crave the product peddled, I … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Sammy Davis Jr. for Suntory Whisky
134. Fine Young Cannibals, Fine Young Cannibals (1985) Guitarist Andy Cox and bassist David Steele didn’t know their band the Beat was breaking up. Vocalists Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger had already decided they were moving and started recording their … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #134 to #132
The Supreme Court Is Blowing Up Law School, Too by Mark Joseph Stern My master’s degree program included a class in constitutional law. It didn’t really make sense that it did, but I greatly enjoyed the class. In his lectures, … Continue reading Outside Reading — Unsettled Law edition
“Should be easy to remember cuz it’s the same day Taylor Swift is putting out her album,” Carly Rae Jepsen joked from the Radio City Music Hall stage recently when reminding fans of when her newest full-length studio effort will … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Carly Rae Jepsen (feat. Rufus Wainwright), “The Loneliest Time”
This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves. Several years after I hung up the studio headphones for the last time as an undergraduate student … Continue reading Radio Days — WPRK’s Top 30 for October 7, 2002
Coffee for Two 