The New Releases Shelf: Shriek
(Picture credit.) I was nervous about the new Wye Oak album. I have significant admiration for the duo’s previous record, 2011’s Civilian, but it was clear that Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack were moving in a new direction, one seemingly … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf: Shriek
My Misspent Youth: Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra
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. This is another one of those instances where I need to … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra
College Countdown: The First CMJ Album Chart, 14
14. Hall & Oates, Along the Red Ledge The conventional wisdom is that the duo of Daryl Hall and John Oates didn’t hit their commercial stride until the early-nineteen-eighties. That’s hard to argue with, given that they topped the chart … Continue reading College Countdown: The First CMJ Album Chart, 14
From the Archive: Man on the Burning Tightrope
This review is taken from the same issue of The Independent as the review of the Mars Volta record from a few weeks back. I went ahead and loaded it up for this feature knowing that the title of the record was nicely well-suited for the way I’d feel as the closing of one of my most demanding work-weeks of the year was coming to an end. Led by former Cop Shoot Chop bassist Tod A., Firewater made a pebble-sized splash with their last effort, 2001’s Psychopharmacology. Much of this follow-up sounds as if they took the Tom Waits drunken … Continue reading From the Archive: Man on the Burning Tightrope
One for Friday: Graham Parker, “Don’t Let It Break You Down”
Sometimes in those especially busy work weeks, all I want (or maybe need) when we get to our fine One for Friday post is a bit of affirmation, a spirited kick to the soul and an assurance that the heavy lifting that remains will be accomplished with aplomb. Naturally, I prefer my affirmations to be a little more scabrous and cynical. For positivity and endurance framed that way, I can do no better than Mr. Graham Parker. Truthfully, anything I feel compelled to share about him and my gradual discovery of his music has already been shared in this space. … Continue reading One for Friday: Graham Parker, “Don’t Let It Break You Down”
Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Thirty-Six
#36 — Rififi (Jules Dassin, 1955) Though I’m aware enough of the facile nature of this statement that I prefer not to default to it, I have been known to deflect questions about what “kind” of movie I like by … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 50s — Number Thirty-Six
And you say you tried Jesus but it was too inconvenient
Fifty-first in a series… Do it yourself! Continue reading And you say you tried Jesus but it was too inconvenient
Top 40 Smash Taps: “The End of Our Road”
These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. As I write this, I’m too tired to count high, so I’m going to rely on the ever-shaky Wikipedia to provide some information. According to the crowd-edited website, Marvin Gaye reached the Billboard Top 40 a total of forty-one times, including three songs that topped the charts. Of those many hits, one of them qualifies for this series, just barely scratching into the … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “The End of Our Road”
Beers I Have Known: Capital Brewery Supper Club
This series of posts is dedicated to the many, many six packs, pony kegs and pints that have sauntered into my life at one point or another. The annual trek I undertake to my northern homeland has in recent years … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: Capital Brewery Supper Club
College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 15
15. 10cc, Bloody Tourists 10cc wasn’t a band that was going to let a little thing like a break-up slow them down. The quartet that started in the late nineteen-sixties and began formally using the name 10cc in 1972 reached … Continue reading College Countdown, The First CMJ Album Chart, 15
