I want to write about Julien Baker’s new album, Little Oblivions, without bringing up the singer-songwriter’s bandmates in boygenius. It’s so hard, though. Just like her cohorts, Baker spun away from that indie dream group with a readiness to expand … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Little Oblivions
374. Yaz, Upstairs at Eric’s (1982) Following the breakup of her group the Screamin’ Ab Dabs, Alison Moyet was a singer without a band. She followed a practice common to musical strays at the time by placing an ad in … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #374 to #372
I wonder if it’s even accurate to use the term side project to refer to Bachelor, the new band formed by Ellen Kempner, frontperson of Palehound, and Melina Duterte, who performs under the name Jay Som. Maybe those categorizations no … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Bachelor, “Stay in the Car”
The world shutting down brought out the productivity in Cloud Nothings. The Cleveland band have never been especially slack when it comes to recording new music. In the twelve years they’ve been banging out tuneful noise, they’ve only let more … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — The Shadow I Remember
377. The Pogues, If I Should Fall from Grace with God (1988) The Pogues had a mess on their hands. Somewhat surprisingly, given their reputation — or, to be clear, the reputation of their lead singer — the mess wasn’t … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #377 to #375
I have only the barest interest in the annual spring ritual of gathering college athlete to dribble their way across a bracket in the name of good fun and shoveling money into the coffers of a mildly exploitative national organization. … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Bloody Your Hands x Self Help, “Santa Monica”
380. XTC, Mummer (1983) Not long after the release of Mummer, the sixth album by his group XTC, Andy Partridge mused on the band’s place in the pop-music infrastructure. “I like people to kind of discover XTC,” explained Partridge. “An … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #380 to #378
Based in Melbourne, Australia, the band CIVIC has been kicking around for a couple years, building a strong local following among those who are happiest when they’re leaving a cramped club with sweat-drenched clothes and ringing ears. EPs have been … Continue reading This Week’s Model — CIVIC, “Tell the Papers”
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. In March 2013, Beyoncé logged on to … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Flawless” and “Daddy Lessons”
383. The Style Council, Internationalists (1985) The Style Council scored a major hit with their sophomore studio album, Our Favourite Shop. The LP debuted atop the U.K. album chart, and three of its singles made it into the Top 40. … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #383 to #381
Coffee for Two 