Renaissance, the new album from Beyoncé, had me cackling with glee from it’s first moments. The opening track “I’m That Girl” springs to life with an electronically manipulated intonation of “Please, motherfuckers ain’t stop–, please, motherfuckers” and variations on the … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Renaissance
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. After drummer Darren Costin left the group, … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “To Live and Die in L.A.”
This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves. I went back to my favorite place last night. Due to the ongoing generosity of both the … Continue reading Radio Days — Then and Now: September 4, 2022
149. XTC, Black Sea (1980) “We find that once you’ve done something, you’ve tried it and you should move on,” Andy Partridge, frontman of XTC, declared not long after the release of Black Sea, the band’s fourth studio album. “Actually, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #149 to #147
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
Coffee for Two 