No Song is an Island

Neil Young with Crazy Horse – Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere: I’m a sucker for long songs and Everybody has two great ones in “Down by the River” and “Cowgirl in the Sand.” The guitar solos are stellar, and that’s coming from a guy who hates guitar solos. Gracie Abrams – Good Riddance | The Secret of Us: I can’t… Read more »

Mitski – Puberty 2: Last year, I tried and failed to understand why people like Mitski. This week, it clicked with Puberty 2. The record keeps my attention from start to finish, and it gets better with every pass. “Happy” is the early standout. Loscil – Lake Fire: I listened on a plane while waves of clouds burned below us… Read more »

Ethel Cain – Preacher’s Daughter: My first reaction was that this could be about the women in Grateful Dead songs. No, Jack Straw didn’t ride a Harley and rob ATMs, but roll it back 100 years and the women he and Shannon shared could be here. Mac DeMarco – Salad Days: This reminds me of Weezer, Beck, and John Lennon,… Read more »

Gloorp – Gloorp ‘Em Up: I’ve listened to Gloorp ‘Em Up three times now. If I’d heard it in 1992, I would have gone bananas over it, but I don’t have that reaction in 2025. What I like, though, is that Garrett Burke physically played pretty much everything here. Is it novel? No. Is it cool? Yes. And that leads… Read more »

Nils Frahm – Paris: I had the privilege of seeing him in a beautiful concert hall with amazing sound, and I picked up Paris at the merch table. He opened both the recorded show and the show I saw with the haunting “Prolog” and the only thing the recording doesn’t capture is the excitement of watching him create it live…. Read more »

Carlita – Fabric Presents Carlita: I’ve kept Carlita’s Fabric mix in heavy rotation this week, and every time I listen to it, I like it a little bit more. The last four tracks make my soul move. Tim Hecker – Shards: Hecker is one of my favorite artists and I have all his records, but I have absolutely nothing of… Read more »

Carlita – Fabric Presents Carlita: After missing the boat so badly with the Chaos in the CBD mix from Fabric, I jumped on this one. On first listen, it’s solid through and through, and it shines in the last third. Gracie Abrams – Good Riddance: Abrams’ voice on “Amelie” has a touch of roughness that hit me hard. It’s totally… Read more »

Gracie Abrams – Good Riddance: When I choose to listen to an album slowly, I always face the conflict of when to move ahead. Do I keep bathing in side A as if these four songs are the only songs available, knowing I might lose interest at any moment? Or do I dive into side B and shift my focus… Read more »

Gracie Abrams – Good Riddance: Why do some voices hit us so much harder than others? Certainly, some of it is objective: I am drawn toward breathiness and away from melisma, but that doesn’t explain why I feel no draw to many breathy singers and a strong draw to a handful of melismatic vocalists. So what is that je ne… Read more »