Oh give me pretty song, oh let me have that sound tonight
Yesterday I posted a list of my top ten albums of 2014. My other year-end tradition centered on music involves presenting some of my choices for the best songs of the year, a process a little complicated by the absence of the methodology that’s helped me make the selections. Previously, I highlighted some of the tracks I stumped for to no avail in Spectrum Culture’s process to determine their collective year-end tally. Since I’m not longer hanging my writer’s hat on their coatrack, I wasn’t privy to any of that, but I’d still prefer to use this regular post to … Continue reading Oh give me pretty song, oh let me have that sound tonight
Top Ten Albums of 2014
And here we come to the end of another year. Though I tried to keep up with new music without the outside impetus of a website compelling me to write record reviews, I definitely fell behind. That’s led to a lot of cramming in the past few weeks and a tally I will present with the shakiest of conviction. Except for the work of art at the top of the list. That’s the best album of the year. I have no question or qualm about that. 1. St. Vincent, St. Vincent — This what Annie Clark has been building to all along. … Continue reading Top Ten Albums of 2014
My Misspent Youth: Fantastic Four by Scott Lobdell and Alan Davis
I read a lot of comic books as a kid. This series of posts is about the comics I read, and, occasionally, the comics that I should have read. As I occasionally must, I’ll note that this entry abuses the … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: Fantastic Four by Scott Lobdell and Alan Davis
All our little wishes have gone dry, made it to the water, waded in the lies
In one respect, I stand before Into the Woods as a novice in evaluation before a master of composition. I feel like I can break down what does and doesn’t work in a film with the best of them, but … Continue reading All our little wishes have gone dry, made it to the water, waded in the lies
College Countdown: Rockpool’s Top 20 College Radio Albums, November 1988, 1
1. The Feelies, Only Life I will likely never be able to accurately identify the first song I ever played on the radio. For one thing, it was probably a jazz song, grabbed at random from the stacks by someone … Continue reading College Countdown: Rockpool’s Top 20 College Radio Albums, November 1988, 1
From the Archive: The Last of the Mohicans and Mr. Saturday Night
This was written for The Pointer, the student newspaper of the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. I tended to pair up a couple of different releases for my weekly column, trying to find some tenuous connection, as I did here. Looking … Continue reading From the Archive: The Last of the Mohicans and Mr. Saturday Night
One for Friday: Meow Meow, “All I Ever Got”
One of the things I miss most about living on the air in college radio is the sense of perpetual discovery. This part of the experience is undoubtedly leavened somewhat by the intense availability of information about bands, music, and albums across the untamed wilds of the internet. Getting background and inside stories is mere keystrokes away at any given time. That’s useful, but it strips away some of the fun, some of the intense, thrilling mystery of it all. There was nothing quite like opening a slew of packages from record labels and promotion agencies to create a big … Continue reading One for Friday: Meow Meow, “All I Ever Got”
No crib for a bed
Fifty-seventh in a series…. (via) Continue reading No crib for a bed
Tomorrow’s What I’m Waiting For…
…but I can wait a little more. Merry Christmas! Continue reading Tomorrow’s What I’m Waiting For…
Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number One
#1 — A Face in the Crowd (Elia Kazan, 1957) I would like to think that a satire of mass media — of television, in particular — wouldn’t still be pertinent some fifty years later, that five decades of intellectual evolution … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number One
