• Favorite Songs Of The Decade

    Something meaty for you to chew on, should this be a short week for you. If not, tuck it away and save it for a day when you have time to read about my 30 favorite songs of the decade. 30 – “Love Steals Us From Loneliness” – Idlewild 2005. This band started out the decade gangbusters, a rocking outfit…

  • Favorite Songs Of 2008

    Hey, it’s time for my annual listing of the songs that moved me and/or stuck with me the most this year.  Enjoy. Honorable Mention “Buildings & Mountains” – The Republic Tigers.  A lovely song by a fine band from Kansas City.  This sounds like a warm, early summer afternoon. “Northern Lights” – Science For Girls w/Boots Ottestad.  Mellow brilliance. “Got…

  • All Time Favorite Songs, 10-1

    10 “Paid In Full” – Eric B. & Rakim, 1987. I’ve told this story before. In the fall of my year in the Bay Area, I discovered a hip-hop show on Stanford’s campus radio station, KZSU. The only problem was we lived way across the Bay, and I could only pick the show up on a small, portable radio that…

  • All Time Favorite Songs, 20-11

    Songs 20-11 of my 20 favorite songs of all-time below the jump. I changed my mind; part two will come out next Friday. 20 “Born to Run” – Bruce Springsteen, 1975. I have this theory, still in its infancy mind you, that all American rock groups must follow one of two models: Van Halen or Bruce Springsteen. They need to…

  • Favorite Songs Of 2007

    This is hard work.  How do I filter all the music I listened to this year, and I listened to a ton of music, into 20 songs to represent the entire 12 months?  In the end, that’s exactly how I managed it: what songs most represented the past year to me?  What songs will I always immediately think of in…

  • Top Songs of 2006, 5-1

    Finishing up this year’s business. The five songs that when I think of 2006, I will think of most. Happy New Year to all. 5 – “Unemployable” – Pearl Jam. Yeah, I’m a fan. Sue me. A damn fine song regardless. Pearl Jam’s greatest hook ever? It might well be. This song summed up what most of their self-titled album…

  • Top Songs Of 2006, 10-6

    The countdown continues… 10 – “Steady As She Goes” – The Raconteurs. The lead single off of the much-hyped collaboration between Jack White and Brendan Benson. It hints at the dirty sound of the rest of the album, while maintaining an accessibility that makes it radio-friendly. 9 – “Stuck Between Stations” – The Hold Steady. You can’t have a great…

  • Top 20 Songs of 2006, 11-20

    I listened to a lot of music this year. I made lists. I pared those lists down to 20 songs. Below is installment #1 of the best of 2006, all in my humble opinion, of course. Your results may vary. 20 – “Handle With Care” – Jenny Lewis With the Watson Twins. This would be higher if it weren’t A)…

  • Notable Albums Of 2006

    Since the explosion of the on-line music world in the late ’90s, I, like many, have moved away from being a consumer of entire albums towards collecting individual tracks by artists I enjoy. I’d rather buy through iTunes, or obtain via other means, the four or five best songs off of an album instead of dropping $16 to get those…

  • Top Ten Songs Of 2005

    This is the one time of the year when I wish that I listened to whatever the radio mainstream is. Not because I find anything particularly attractive about the mainstream, but rather because I miss the way radio sounded during the holidays when I was a kid. As a Top 40 radio listener, I kept the radio on approximately 23…