528. Any Trouble, Where Are All the Nice Girls? (1980) “Any Trouble we had difficulty with, because they just looked so ordinary and people were really kicking back on the ordinariness of them,” Stiff Records promotional ace Sonnie Rae said … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #528 to #525
“Brooklyn,” the new single from U.K. singer-songwriter Katie Malco, starts out slow and relatively spare. Against her prowling guitar and a steady, stealthy drum beat, Malco start sharing memories of time spent with a friend, against the many backdrops of … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Katie Malco, “Brooklyn”
532. Lene Lovich, Flex (1980) A resolute oddball, Lene Lovich is an unlikely figure to have heightened commercial expectations attached to one of her projects. That was precisely the case, though, with her sophomore album, Flex. Her debut, Stateless, was … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #532 to #529
In this time of disconcerting norm erosion, when the user’s manual for global society is being rewritten on the fly, at least we have Randy Newman to see us through. A sardonic chronicler of human failings for over a half-century, … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Randy Newman, “Stay Away”
This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves. When I showed up at my college radio station, the music was still predominantly played off of … Continue reading Radio Days — CMJ Reviews
536. The Psychedelic Furs, The Psychedelic Furs (1980) When Richard Butler started seriously making music with his brother, Tim, the original band names adopted glancingly referred to the long history of recorded music. First known and RKO and Radio, the … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #536 to #533
In the photo, team members for the Chicago-based organization My Block, My Hood, My City are with a truck newly loaded with more than fifty boxes of supplies that will be taken to elderly residents as part of their Senior … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Mavis Staples, “All In It Together”
540. Re-Flex, The Politics of Dancing (1983) Formed in Birmingham, England, in the early nineteen-eighties, Re-Flex was a band that wanted to have its chart success and simultaneously scoff as pop ate itself. With regular Roxy Music studio collaborator John … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #540 to #537
I think this bloke says it best: Stephen William Bragg has spent the last forty years, give or take, surveying a tumultuous world and making sense of what he sees through the grounded poetry of his lyrics, often accompanied by a trusty acoustic guitar. Politically astute, socially empathetic, and a whip-smart thinker, Bragg has a way of getting straight to the core of a problem and finding the emotional poignancy that resides there. As we all keep our distance for the greater good, Bragg expresses the melancholy that arises from all the missed events and commemorations. Like the bulk of … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Billy Bragg, “Can’t Be There Today”
Although it’s hardly a new debate, recent years have seen an uptick in snappish back and forth about the wisdom of separating artists from the art they create. Primarily driven, of course, by the near-constant lifting of heavy rocks to … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Miss Anthropocene
Coffee for Two 