These posts are about the songs that just barely failed to cross the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. There were many clearly identifiable results of … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Wide Open Spaces”
The first time Frances Quinlan released recorded music for the listening pleasure of a larger community, she did so under the guise of a band. I suppose the curious might have considered the moniker Hop Along, Queen Ansleis to belong … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Likewise
556. Guadalcanal Diary, Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man (1984) The members of Guadalcanal Diary claimed that the title of their debut album derived from some misheard lyrics from a gospel groups performance at a street festival. The … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #556 to #553
“Describe,” the new single from Perfume Genius, opens with the lush, thunderous, bass-heavy wall of sound once glowed down a possible pathway, Emerald City–like, viewed by alternative music after the haze of grunge lifted. In these tones, power and beauty … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Perfume Genius, “Describe”
Thinking about the history of the Black Lips, it was probably always just a matter of time before the band flicked their hair grease onto some corn pone. Specialists in raucous, retro rock ‘n’ roll as raw as fingertips ravaged … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Sing in a World That’s Falling Apart
560. Queen, The Game (1980) Producer Reinhold Mack told Queen it was time to use a musical tool they’d resisted to that point. Across seven prior studio albums, the flashy, British rock band made bigger and bigger sounds, always noting … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #560 to #557
I could type out a million words about the new Waxahatchee single, offering babbling descriptions of every favorite moment: the easy, melodic stroll of the intro, her delivery of the lyric “marking the slow, slow, slow passing of time,” the … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Waxahatchee, “Lilacs”
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. I think it’s possible … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Steve Martin, “Grandmother’s Song”
564. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, O.M.D. (1981) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark were very busy in 1980. Starting as a duo comprised of bassist Andy McCluskey and keyboard player Paul Humphreys, the band released their first two full-length studio … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #564 to #561
The Original Renegade by Taylor Lorenz There’s a long, miserable history of pop culture appropriation that swipes innovations from their creators to earn riches for performers more immediately palatable to the masses. Digital interconnectivity has only turbo-boosted that process as … Continue reading Outside Reading — The Jalaiah Harmon School of Dance edition
