February 2012
1 post
4 tags
#RECENTMEMORY // ADEN - Black Cow (TeenBeat, 1999)
By the end of the 1990s, TeenBeat Records, of the then exceptionally great independent music city of Washington, D.C., had developed a distinct set of aesthetics that defined their roster of artists’ look and sound. Consummate indie-pop with crisp, clean production packaged in label-head Mark Robinson’s high-concept, font-nerd cover...
January 2012
1 post
4 tags
#RIP // TOM ARDOLINO (1955-2012)
(Tom Ardolino pictured above at the old Mystery Train Records in Amherst, MA)
At some point yesterday, musician and Springfield, MA resident Tom Ardolino passed away. Ardolino was best known as drummer for and Western Massachusetts’ connection to the long-running rock n’ roll outfit, NRBQ - a band who occupied the strange space between either being...
#BESTTHINGS2011 // JOHN FAHEY - Your Past Comes Back To Haunt You: The Fonotone Years [1958-1965] (Dust-To-Digital)
A portrait of the artist as a young man, Your Past Comes Back To Haunt You: The Fonotone Years [1958-1965] showcases John Fahey - our hero - in his formative years. Well before he would become the master of his own invention - long form solo guitar compositions played in a folk...
December 2011
11 posts
#BESTTHINGS2011 // BEACH BOYS - The SMiLE Sessions (Capitol)
Conversely both the most anticipated and least likely to actually exist #bestthing2011 was the first official release of Brian Wilson’s thwarted 1967 “teenage symphony to God” - The Beach Boys’ SMiLE as the behemoth The SMiLE Sessions boxset. 5-cds, 2-lps, 2 bonus 45s, a poster, and a hardcover book (the set...
5 tags
#BESTTHINGS2011 // REAL ESTATE - Days (Domino)
American indie rock is a genre pretty much made by and for the (mostly) white middle class of this country. It’s stuff born of private liberal arts colleges, access to subcultural resources like independently owned record stores and independent records (often found in private liberal arts college towns) and comfort in general. This is why it...
5 tags
#BESTTHINGS2011 // KURT VILE’s Lyrics
Aside from releasing yet another stunner of an album in Smoke Ring For My Halo (something Kurt Vile seems to be able to do on the reg), the Philadelphian singer-songwriter took a distinct step forward in developing a lyrical aesthetic fitting for his signature slacker-psych style. Finding influence in the laconic whine of American underground’s...
6 tags
#BESTTHINGS2011 // ROBERT ELLIS
Actual country. Actual Texan.
I first caught wind of Robert Ellis through a tip from the excellent website Aquarium Drunkard (www.aquariumdrunkard.com). The post on Ellis began with this statement:
Considering what passes for “country music” in Nashville these days (not to mention “country radio”) it’s easy to forget there are true heirs to the old masters...
5 tags
#BESTTHINGS2011 // BILL CALLAHAN “Riding For The Feeling” (Drag City)
It may seem unfair to highlight just one song off an album that in and of itself qualifies as a #bestthing2011, but it would be more of a disservice to not give a song as perfect as Apocalypse’s “Riding For The Feeling” its due. Classic in its post-Smog era Bill Callahan formula,...
4 tags
#BESTTHINGS2011 // OUR LIVES ARE SHAPED BY WHAT WE LOVE: Motown’s Mowest Story, 1971-1973 (Light In The Attic)
By the dawn of the 1970s, Motown founder Berry Gordy had begun cutting ties with his hometown of Detroit - the city that had been the scene of his many successes throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The Motor City was on the downturn and Gordy was moving on. The music mogul had...
4 tags
#BESTTHINGS2011 // FUCKED UP - David Comes To Life (Matador Records)
When Fucked Up announced they were working on a narrative-based rock opera last year, to say I was feeling trepidation about the project is to put it lightly. A hardcore band releasing an 18 song, 78-minute rock opera? The statistical possibilities for failure are almost overwhelming. But counting the ways in which David...
4 tags
#BESTTHINGS2011 // METAL MOUNTAINS - Golden Trees (Amish Records)
Metal Mountains’ debut album Golden Trees is an exercise in meditation, in developing a sound and allowing it to grow. Out-scene vets at this point, the group is comprised of Helen Rush, Samara Lubelski and Patrick Gubler all of whom cut their teeth in the 90s proto-New Weird American band Tower Recordings. As Metal...
6 tags
#BESTTHINGS2011 // DRAG CITY Reissues
Eternally cool indie rock label Drag City got pretty deep into the reissue game this year. Focusing mainly on singer-songwriters from a few decades back, you can really hear in each the influence on contemporary Drag City mainstays like Will Oldham and Bill Callahan that the Chicago label built its reputation on.
Mickey Newbury - Looks Like Rain (1969),...
October 2011
1 post
July 2011
2 posts
CAROLINE PEYTON - Call Of The Wild (1977)
The...
P.G. SIX - “High, Low & In...
January 2011
1 post
December 2010
5 posts
joepolicy asked: Do you think the singer/songwriter will ever be palatable again? Can you give a detailed chronology of the death of the singer/songwriter genre? Also, if there are any good artist out there could you please recommend.
Pretty Much Sums Up How I Feel About The Beatles
“All you need is love / Love is all you need” - The Beatles, All You Need is Love, 1967.
“Tell me the last time love ever bought you clothes” - RUN-DMC, It’s Like That, 1983.
Pretty Much Sums Up How I Feel About Led Zeppelin
“Sometimes words have two meanings” - Led Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven, 1971.
“Should a word have two meanings? What the fuck for? ” - Minutemen, Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth?, 1984.
From my Twitter account:
RT @matloaf: Just listened to the whole 2nd lp from Anthony Braxton’s For Alto album on 45rpm by accident. #nerdfail
November 2010
10 posts
“Never in my wildest dreams woud I imagine that as a grown-ass man I would still...”
– Sam McPheeters is still a raw dog. (via outofhopeoutofropeandoutoftime)
First reblog! Congrats, Josh!
FILE UNDER: Albums That Sound Like Cocaine /...
1.) Fleetwood Mac - Rumours
2.) Love - Forever Changes
3.) Fleetwood Mac - s/t
4.) Dennis Wilson - Pacific Ocean Blue
5.) Fleetwood Mac - Tusk
NOTE TO SELF:
Buy more Arthur Doyle records.
trashcanland asked: is "Prove it All Night" the best song ever that features a lame guitar solo?
Told ya' I'd start Tumbln' soon
This’ll be used mainly for music related posts. Youtube clips, audio, and micro-criticisms mostly about American underground, outsider and sub-popular music from 1970-onward. Bruce Springsteen counts, too, though.