I was a relative latecomer to the kingdom of Beyoncé, but I’m a devoted subject now. Given the opportunity I will expound at tedious length on why Lemonade is rivaled by only Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters in any … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Beyoncé, “Break My Soul”
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. Elvis Presley starred in three movie released … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “All That I Am” and “Raised on Rock”
182. The Three O’Clock, Arrive without Travelling (1985) After the Three O’Clock’s 1983 album, Sixteen Tambourines, grabbed the attention of student programmers, I.R.S. Records came calling. Perhaps no other label was so sharply focused on assembling a roster of acts … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #182 to #180
Because I, too, am sometimes ready to rage. Gnosis, the eighth album from Chicago trio Russian Circles, is scheduled for release in August. Continue reading This Week’s Model — Russian Circles, “Conduit”
This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves. In my most recent return to the broadcast booth of my adored college radio alma mater, WWSP-FM, … Continue reading Radio Days — 90FM’s Top 35 for June 16, 1989
MJ LENDERMAN Boat Songs (Dear Life) — The new album from Asheville-based singer-songwriter MJ Lenderman is a revival triumph for the era of sloughy dudes with guitars and an attitude grounded in sardonic misery. Boat Songs, the third solo album … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Boat Songs; Headful of Sugar
This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves. As I am occasionally privileged to do, I returned to my college radio alma mater last night … Continue reading Radio Days — Then and Now: Retro College Countdown from June 1989
185. Big Country, Steeltown (1984) Big Country has the kind of debut album a rock act longs for. Boosted in part by the surging influence of the new cable network MTV, The Crossing and its single “In a Big Country” … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #185 to #183
For music fans with a long enough memory, I think there’s probably no way for the new Laura Veris single, “Eucalyptus,” to avoid comparisons to Suzanne Vega. A lilting female voice engaged in plain, crisp storytelling using a staccato rhythm … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Laura Veirs, “Eucalyptus”
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. In 1957, General Electric pitched their line of radios by noting that they made perfect companions for … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — General Electric “College Roommate” print ad
Coffee for Two 