College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #796 to #793
796. The Motels, Little Robbers (1983) The Motels had their earliest rumbling in 1971. That’s the year a charismatic, distinctive singer and guitarist named Martha Davis connect with several other California musicians to form a band called the Warfield Foxes. … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #796 to #793
From the Archive — Hard Candy
Our household is in the usual movie-viewing mad scramble that happens around the end of the year, striving to catch up with all of the titles we missed that could be a factor at the Academy Awards and in our … Continue reading From the Archive — Hard Candy
One for Friday — The Weeds, “Dicked”
According to the official tally within the digital machinery of this humble corner of the online megaplex, the post that went up one week ago today, boasting a downloadable MP3 of a Was (Not Was) track, was the five-hundredth globule … Continue reading One for Friday — The Weeds, “Dicked”
Great Moments in Literature
“Time of a summer evening when the world is being downsampled toward grayscale. The air cooling, a change that seems to be caused less by the setting of the sun than by the fading of color; and the legions of … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature
Playing Catch-Up — The Endless; Crazy Rich Asians; Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
The Endless (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, 2018). The directing team behind the cleverly subversive horror film Spring train their storytelling on a strange commune in the hills that beckons back a pair of brothers (as if not busy enough, Justin … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — The Endless; Crazy Rich Asians; Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Five Songs from 2018
As usual, the final reflection on a calendar year’s worth of music comes in the form of a quintet of songs. I’m not offering these as my personal choice for the best five tracks of 2018. Instead, these are just … Continue reading Five Songs from 2018
Top Ten Albums of 2018
As a rule, I acknowledge trends in music only grudgingly, believing the creative process is ultimately far more elusive — and operating on chronologies likely quite different from that suggested by the release schedules — than perception bias allows. The … Continue reading Top Ten Albums of 2018
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #800 to #797
800. Cindy Bullens, Desire Wire (1978) There was a lot of slow build music business background preceding Desire Wire, the debut album by Cidny Bullens, then performing as “Cindy” while living apart from his true gender identity. Bullens was a … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #800 to #797
From the Archive — Ben Folds Five
The airing of the Kennedy Center Honors this week kicked up all sorts of online enthusiasm for Adam Lambert singing Cher’s “Believe” and Kelly Clarkson paying tribute to Reba McEntire by belting out “Fancy” (which strikes me as more of … Continue reading From the Archive — Ben Folds Five
One for Friday — Was (Not Was), “Somewhere in America There’s a Street Named After My Dad”
Thirty years ago, in the autumn of 1988, Was (Not Was) released the album What Up, Dog? Officially the third full-length from the group, the album showed up just as one of the two individuals who adopted the last name Was … Continue reading One for Friday — Was (Not Was), “Somewhere in America There’s a Street Named After My Dad”
Coffee for Two 