This is as it should be. I feel like a band that had its official home base in the same ZIP Code as me (or one of the nearby ones within our shared city limits) should give me this this … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Disq, “(With Respect to) Loyal Serfs”
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. As the devoted listeners at Central High clearly know, it’s nice to be able to efficiently satisfy … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Monkey DJ for Monkees Records
SOCCER MOMMY Sometimes, Forever (Loma Vista) — For her third full-length album as Soccer Mommy, Nashville-based singer-songwriter Sophie Allison enlisted fairly unlikely help from Oneohtrix Point Never’s Daniel Lopatin as producer. Her earthy, moody material seems somewhat at odds with … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Sometimes, Forever; Beatopia
152. Joe Jackson, Look Sharp! (1979) David Ian Jackson was around one year into his scholarship-funded studies at the Royal Academy of Music when he decided classical music composition wasn’t what he wanted to do with his life. He knew … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #152 to 150
It’s been nearly ten years since I reviewed Caitlin Rose’s sophomore LP, The Stand-In. It’s a good record, and I wrote as much. In the time since, though, it’s grown on me considerably, the clarity of Rose’s songwriting and the … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Caitlin Rose, “Black Obsidian”
Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. Well before Conan O’Brien … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Andy Richter Stumps for Thin Lizzy
155. Missing Persons, Spring Session M (1982) Some of the folks from Frank Zappa’s backing band were a little bored with the esoteric, intricate music they were charged with playing. They started Missing Persons when guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and drummer … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #155 to 153
There’s always a lot of chatter about summer songs. Don’t the other seasons deserve songs, too? Just as the first tracks suited for accompanying bright, shiny days start appearing a few weeks before anyone would reasonable declare summer to be … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Carla dal Forno, “Come Around”
HORSEGIRL Versions of Modern Performance (Matador) — It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that Versions of Modern Performance, the debut album from the Chicago band Horsegirl, starts exactly as it should: Gigi Reece’s thumping drums all alone for a few … Continue reading Medium Rotation —Versions of Modern Performance; Farm to Table; Remember Your North Star
This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves. Around a decade ago, an idea struck one of my fellow alumni of the student-run radio station … Continue reading Radio Days — Reunion 10
Coffee for Two 