Grateful Dead – 9/20/82 (New York); 9/3/77 (Englishtown NJ): The 1982 concert has some absolutely wonderful moments, including one of my favorite versions of “Row Jimmy” and an early performance of “Throwing Stones.” Overall, though, it just lacks the magic of the show in NJ five years earlier. Beyonce – Renaissance: I love that Beyonce paid homage to classic house… Read more »
Hollie Kenniff – We All Have Places That We Miss: This is, by far, the record I listened to most this week. It’s a gentle record with a sense of hope. It makes me imagine a quieter and more subtle Explosions in the Sky. I’m a sucker for songs that build around a repeated motif, and I absolutely love the… Read more »
I took a break for a few months, mostly because making the thumbnails and spam comments became a barrier. I’m going to see if skipping the thumbnails makes it easier to post these weekly. Moderat – Moderat II: These guys are contenders for my “10 favorite electronic artists” list, but I rarely listen to them and this is the only… Read more »
Better late than never. A third of the way into 2023 may seem pretty late in the game to post about the best of 2022, but life is busy and I got lazy (lazier than usual) about my comments. Well, here is is … finally. Ismatic Guru – “I Didn’t Like It” (from Ismatic Guru II EP): This is just… Read more »
Pantha du Prince – Conference of Trees: I’m loving the experience of immersing myself in these sounds. One minute it reminds me of old Orbital, the next I hear Tangerine Dream, and the next I hear Bonobo. Not all those things are necessarily good, but the good on this record far outweighs the bad. It’s great in the background, yet… Read more »
Taylor Swift – Midnights: Only listened once this week, no great new revelations other than “You’re on Your Own, Kid” is growing on me. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong – Ella and Louis: Transitioning to winter is always hard for me, but these duets make the seasonal change more bearable. Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee: Remember last week when I said… Read more »
Taylor Swift – Midnights: I’ve spent enough time with Midnights that I know the record on a surface level and I’m starting to discover its subtle secrets. Few records pull me in this far, and I absolutely love when it happens. Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee: Remember when you met that one person and nothing about the two of you made… Read more »
Modern Nature – How to Live I recently wrote a review of a song called “Owls” by Combo Qazam. When I posted it, I reached out to Stefan, the guy who runs Tiny Room, their label. Turns out Stefan is also in Combo Qazam and he sent me a great email and told me about Modern Nature, his favorite band… Read more »
At 50 years old, Joni Mitchell’s Blue remains an overrated record that I have underrated for years.
“I do not think there are any wrong reasons for liking a statue or a picture.” – E.H. Gombrich, The Story of Art If music is art (and Gombrich is correct about art), the quote above should be applicable to music as well. And I certainly think that music is art. But it is also entertainment. It is also a… Read more »