122. Sting, The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985) “There’s no way I was going to allow just free jazz,” Sting said of his debut solo album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles. “There’s a discipline to pop music that … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #122 to #120
In this week’s news, a great band remains great. This Stupid World, the next album from Yo La Tengo, is scheduled for release in February. Continue reading This Week’s Model — Yo La Tengo, “Fallout”
These posts are about the songs that fell just short of crossing the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. Jerry Lee Lewis wasn’t so sure about … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee”
125. Pretenders, Pretenders II (1981) No one expected the Pretenders self-titled debut album to be a hit, or at least not a hit at the level it reached. The Pretenders only produced one Top 40 single in the U.S., the … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #125 to #123
That guitar. It snarls to life so beautifully. Then the bass and drums join in, like nineteen-fifties hoodlums falling in line for a strut down the city block to signal neighborhood sovereignty. By the time Lexi McCoy starts in with … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Suzie True, “Backburner”
128. Haircut One Hundred, Pelican West (1982) Guitarist and vocalist Nick Heyward and bassist Les Nemes cycled through a few different bands together during the latter half of the nineteen-seventies, none of them really amounting to much. After a move … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #128 to #126
In the time since Caroline Polachek moved on from the breakup of her band Chairlift, it’s sometimes seemed like she’s everywhere doing everything. Her debut solo album, Pang, was released in 2019 to widespread acclaim, but it’s more than that. … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Caroline Polachek, “Sunset”
This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves. There were two times per year that we preempted the entire weekend schedule at WWSP-90M, the student-run … Continue reading Radio Days — 90FM’s Jazzfest
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
Coffee for Two 