December 2011
1 post
Haha I forgot I had a Tumblr
Guess I better start posting again. Finally have a computer after more than a year, finally have the will to write about music and life again. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM7lTXEncdk
April 2010
4 posts
What would Schrödinger's cat have to say about... →
Not many of my followers are big football (soccer) or even sports people, but you have to recognize the writing skill, here.
I don't usually say stuff like this but
Mark Richardson’s 33 1/3 book about Zaireeka by the Flaming Lips is really well done. Not only is it cleverly constructed, but it makes its case with just the right amount of personal/professional details and it makes one excited about the very idea of experimentalism. Only problem with the book: didn’t talk about the actual songs enough for my taste. But hey.
This from me,...
March 2010
9 posts
Music critic time machine question!
tomewing:
If you could have reviewed any record in history at the time it first came out, which would you choose and why?
(I originally asked this in Matt Perpetua’s ask box, but I liked it enough to ask more generally.)
Not even a single question in my mind.
“iitns asked: Hey i just got an amazon gift card and i wanna buy some of those $5...”
– Maura. Mine:
Daft Punk, Musique Vol. 1 R.E.M., Document LCD Soundsystem, Sound Of Silver Buzzcocks, Singles Going Steady Husker Du, New Day Rising
(via thediscography)
To which I can only add:
Aventura, Love & Hate
Dolly Parton, Live in London
Toots & the Maytals, Sweet and Dandy
Hall...
Anthony Is Right: Green Day - Berkeley To Broadway... →
Some context to help decide whether Green Day are sadder 20 years after their first album than most other bands who make it to such an anniversary (The Who were broken up in 1985, so they and any other band that waited till after the mark to reunite are disqualified from this exercise).
Rolling…
“NO ONE REMEMBERS IT”? YOU’RE PLAYING WITH FIRE NOW MAN.
thediscography:
Westerberg on Chilton in the Times. The death has been on my mind more than I expected, not debilitatingly so, but nevertheless. I wonder if it’s just that I’m getting older and starting to take death a little more personally?
Feelin’ you on this. Nicely written piece by Paulie Dubs too.
Blue Lines Revisited: Loot →
cureforbedbugs:
Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow: After some intriguing discussion of them on the Starship “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” Popular thread. It felt fun buying CDs again!
WHOA, I bought this yesterday, too! Was fairly disappointed with the album overall on first impression (not enough Grace! Too much hippy dippy folkie whateverness!), generally thought the...
Meet the real Shirley Henderson | Film | The... →
Still massive crush from “Topsy-Turvy”
“Martin Kavka, on March 10th, 2010 at 4:49 pm Said:
I believe this is the tenth...”
– Zinc ft. Ms. Dynamite, “Wile Out” (The Singles Jukebox). “I’m not surprised. It’s a good year so far for albums too, I think,” I replied. It’s true: I’ve already heard lots of good stuff, some of it potentially great. Last year I was not on board with the indie consensus (petulant as hell about it,...
mackro:
What is the darkest Madonna song?
Live to Tell!
Blue Lines Revisited: Last FM Paths →
1. Pick an artist.
2. Pick an act in the “Similar Artists” suggestions.
3. Do the same for their “Similar Artists”. (Not picking an artist you’ve picked before, if possible)
4. Repeat until you have a list of 10 artists. See how far away you can end up.
For instance:
Coldplay -> Radiohead…
Every time I try to do this with black or female acts, it just gives me other black and...
February 2010
10 posts
WatchDon’t front.
Today's Plan:
A. Pretend I have a lot more power than I do
B. Listen to obscure Brazilian albums on Lala.com while I edit and write stuff for work
C. Get home to fry the hell up out of some veggie burgers, bake up all the garlic and sweet potato fries in the house
D. Pajamas and women’s skating
E. Dream of a world in which this could be pretty much my full-time schedule, except substitute...
The Cave is back, more or less.
Here’s the deal, with blogging. I am back at it on Cave 17. A lot of good people (including BB and JC-L and I think maybe Dayan too) kept it going while I slacked off, but I have decided to re-dedicate myself. I know it’s an old-ass technology by now and I should be doing everything on here but I guess I don’t really understand Tumblr fully yet.
So anyway here I praise and bag...
Franklin D. Roosevelt. What a Wimp.: Hendrik... →
January 2010
15 posts
tomewing:
airgordon:
ittookseconds:
Five...
Chinua Achebe: What Nigeria means to me | Books |... →
So much more interesting than saying anything more about Vampire Weekend.
My Top 100 Albums of Last Decade List...
cureforbedbugs:
expresso2222:
…was some bullshit. I wish I’d never done it, or at least limited myself to pop or rock or world or jazz or metal or whatever. Combining them all was too hard, and I never should have done the “one album per artist” thing, and I left some things out because I already had too much in certain categories, and argh.
However, inspired by this, I guess I should repost...
My Top 100 Albums of Last Decade List...
…was some bullshit. I wish I’d never done it, or at least limited myself to pop or rock or world or jazz or metal or whatever. Combining them all was too hard, and I never should have done the “one album per artist” thing, and I left some things out because I already had too much in certain categories, and argh.
However, inspired by this, I guess I should repost the link...
Best Music Scribing Awards 2009 →
tomewing:
Jason Gross’ annual look at the state of the music writing nation. If I live to be 100 I will never know why he insists on the horrible word “scribing” in these pieces but they’re always good for turning up a few gems. And this year he leads off with a comprehensive, very interesting look at quite how bad - or in some cases, how not actually bad - things have got for the music writing...
Pop Couplets That Are Still 100% Chuckle-Worthy
maura:
“I was arrested, the car was impounded
There was no way for me to avoid being grounded”
This NEVER fails to crack me up. I think it’s the way the seriousness of the first line is DESTROYED by the utter teenage self-absorption of the second line. I have tried to point this out to people for more than two decades now only to be met with steely gazes. BUT NOW I AM REDEEMED.
The Rules of the Game: A Fuller Thought on J....
cureforbedbugs:
agrammar:
Yesterday I posted a fairly peeved note concerning Jessica Hopper’s Chicago Reader article about Vampire Weekend. (She’s responded to that note, very graciously, on her blog, but that seems to have vanished.) My note led to a spike in traffic, which was unexpected: if I’d realized it’d catch much attention, I might have explained myself more carefully. The essay below...
“De vento, de fogo, de água e sal” —Gilberto Gil, he wrote this.”
The First Nail in My Last Coffin.
No idea why this is, what this is. Probably turn into a thing where I talk about music but hopefully it will be more, or less. Can’t spend all day Tumblr-ing as I have a day job that very often turns into a night job too, too many people counting on me now. Including me.
But I still get super-excited when new discs arrive in the mail or the email for me to review, listen to, love, fail to...