Christmas 2014
Well, I believe it was a fine Christmas at our house. As I type this at about 10:30 PM, Christmas night, the girls are all in bed snuggling with one new item or another. As I take my last listen to my favorite Christmas songs, I’ll share a few details of our holiday. Christmas Eve was a blur of trips…
Final Countdown
Happy Christmas Eve, eve! It feels like I should say, “Man, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas has really flown this year,” since I think I say that each year. But it’s especially true in these years when we’re on the short side of the holiday cycle. In those years where there are nearly five weeks between the holidays, I…
Favorite Songs Of 2014, #1
“Red Eyes” – The War on Drugs It’s hard to write about a song that you love so much, but can barely sing along to. Adam Granduciel hides many of his lyrics deep beneath layers of guitars, synthesizers, distortion, and plain old mumbling. For much of the song, I’m just kind of humming along, guessing at words here and there,…
Friday Vid
http://youtu.be/RfurmGiKZ5k “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” – Darlene Love Most holiday seasons there is one Christmas song I listen to a little more than the others, or one that connects with me a little more than the rest. Some years it is a relatively new song that gets stuck in my head. Other years it is a song I’ve heard…
Favorite Songs Of 2014, #2
“Transgender Dysphoria Blues” – Against Me! No song was a more forceful statement of self than this, the opening track of the first Against Me! album since lead singer Laura Jane Grace began her transformation from man to woman. It is packed with a righteous rage, the entire album a gigantic middle finger to everyone that questions the manner in…
Favorite Songs Of 2014, #3
“Gimme Something Good” – Ryan Adams http://youtu.be/vmglUwgtHxs This was the soundtrack of my summer, something I heard every 90 minutes or so while we were lounging in the water at the lake. Which made perfect sense, because it has a timeless sound that would have let it fit perfectly into playlists from about any summer of the last 40 years.…
Hot Sports Takes
Back again to fill in a couple hot sports takes between favorite songs entries. Bill Self Issues a Fatwa Against Mock Drafts Last Saturday KU coach Bill Self, after responding to a question about how well Kelly Oubre had played against Utah, railed against the numerous mock NBA drafts that dot the Internet. He said they hurt more people than…
Favorite Songs Of 2014, #4
“Lights Out” – Angel Olsen I’ll write more about my favorite albums of the year next week, but this comes from one of my absolute favorites. And it stands out on a disk full of fine songs. Most of Burn Your Fire For No Witness is focused on pain and loneliness and longing to heal. While this song certainly matches…
Favorite Songs Of 2014, #5
“Run Forever” Emma Ruth Rundle I’m a sucker for a song like this. It is equal parts beautiful and haunting. It is as unsettling as it is comforting. Is it a plea or a warning? There’s a delicious tension to the music and vocals that prevents these differences from ever resolving. Come on my love take cover with me We…
Favorite Songs Of 2014, #6
“Head Underwater” – Jenny Lewis You can’t write about Jenny Lewis without throwing out the obligatory mention of how her music sounds straight out of the 1970s. Her songs would have fit in nicely with all the stuff we heard from the backseat of our parents cars.[1] Sun-drenched, breath-taking, AM-radio pop that owes a huge debt to Fleetwood Mac. The…