My very favorite album of 2019 contains the following stanza: The day my daddy died/I was down the street/I lost my only friend/people don’t grow on trees. This awkward, guileless verse was not artfully muffled, or hidden in an outro, or ‘verbed out and tucked into the mix. It is, like all of the other […]
Category Archives: Albums
About 2019: Singles
The Song That Shook The World At the risk of stating the obvious, 7 is by no means a good set. Then again, it’s not like the principals were trying to make one. If you were in Lil Nas X’s position, you probably wouldn’t sweat the details, either: you’d figure the sell-by date was coming at […]
About 2019 — Individual Achievements
In my life, I’ve encountered people who are truly committed to social justice, equality, fairness, and a political program that might reasonably be called progressive. I’m always struck by how many of these people are Rush fans. Dedicated fans, too; fans who’d surely count the members of Rush among their favorite musicians, if not their personal […]
About 2019: Miscellaneous Stuff
You Didn’t Think You Were Getting Away Without A Topical Essay, Did You? America is twenty-two trillion dollars in debt. That this is a fiscal crisis should be obvious to everyone. It’s also a moral crisis. Regardless, the current administration continues to boast about the rude health of the national economy. The value of the stock market […]
Critics Poll XXIX — My Ballot
I have always loved music videos. I loved the first generation of grainy promotional spots for new wave bands, I loved Michael Jackson’s choreography and Russell Mulcahey’s cinematic interventions, I loved ZZ Top and their keychain and Prince humping the floor. It was all magic to me, and it continues to be a mystery why […]
Critics Poll XXIX — Singles, etc.
Single Of The Year Caroline Rose – “Soul No. 5” Ezra Furman – “Love You So Bad” Metric – “Now Or Never Now” Soccer Mommy – “Scorpio Rising” Kali Uchis – “Tyrant” Now, Now – “AZ” Janelle Monae – “Make Me Feel” Drake – “In My Feelings” Vince Staples – “Fun” Andrew McMahon In The […]
Critics Poll XXIX — Various Chartbusters
Most Convincing Historical Re-creation Father John Misty — God’s Favorite Customer. For once this guy served me an onion that doesn’t make me want to cry when I slice it. Of course he did it by abandoning the pretense that he’s a Randy Newman acolyte and mimicking Elton John instead. Elton, great as he is, […]
Critics Poll 27 — Results
Dateline 1991. Playing in the background: “Can I Kick It?”, the first Tribe song I ever heard. So polite, so laid-back and crowd-participatory, so jazzy and skilled, so confident, so redolent of the new New York we were trying to create. Here was my first encounter with a friendly character we’d all come to know […]
Trembling Blue Stars — Alive To Every Smile
Act: Trembling Blue Stars Title: Alive To Every Smile Year: 2001 Format: Ten song LP. From: London. That’s rainy suburban London, mind you — the London where the architecture is monotonously pretty, and a double-decker bus splashes muddy water all over your trousers. Genre/style: There’s good reason to call Trembling Blue Stars a tweepop band, and […]