“We’re all just walking through this darkness on our own.” – The War on Drugs Live
Last Wednesday night I went to my first concert in four-and-a-half years. Just as I did at that last show in December 2017, I went to see The War on Drugs. With S and the same friends we went to that Dec ’17 show with. This was a rather momentous night for me, though, as it was the first concert…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1Lud9Yaa6TvB7XWBJ7nlhr?si=a8604bea57094b51 “You Gave Me the Key” – Julie Doiron A bright, sassy, fun song. Perfect for summer! “She Still Leads Me On” – The London Suede The London Suede had one great song in the ’90s (“The Drowners”), a lot of hype, and not much else. At least here in the US. So this brand new song from them floored…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 74
Chart Week: May 24, 1980 Song: “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2” – Pink Floyd Chart Position: #17, 19th week on the chart. Peaked at #1 for four weeks in March/April. Each week Casey would read letters from his listeners, generally either Long Distance Dedications or general music questions that his crack staff of researchers would answer. Occasionally he…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0cSNkNVWgtwrDKvmyMxTlh?si=832582c9770f441e “When They Come For Me” – Spielbergs When this dropped a couple weeks back, one of my Brothers in Music sent me a message that said, “Shit is hot.” My response: “Shit is indeed hot.” Still laugh about when we coached soccer together and wanted our team to take the field to Spielbergs’ “We Are All Going To Die.”…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1S8VmIz2vLY58bOnc84YPa?si=67bf765e15ae4f71 “Turn Up The Sunshine” – Diana Ross, Tame Impala Calling it right now: this is the cross-generational, cross-genre song of the summer. One of my nephews loved Pharell’s “Happy” when he was two. I predict his two-year-old brother is going to be crazy about this song. “Summer Nights” – Hazel English And this should be the indie rock song…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1zOgnk1hAyASh3VtPfMlOR?si=32493b6bdd5449c8 “Rewind” – Whimsical Some very turn-of-the-millennium shoegaze from Northwest Indiana, of all places. “Alive” – POLIÇA Oh, damn! This song absolutely slays. “Bones” – Rosali After some shoegaze and electro-pop, let’s take things in a completely different direction. It sure seems like a whole lot of shreddy songs like this come out of Philly. I think Rosali has worked…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4ZyKR7YFqwhX5O169NXdvH?si=94e27eb74ddf48cb “Better Days” – Liam Gallagher I’ve never been a huge fan of the Gallagher brothers’ post-Oasis solo/group efforts. But this song is solid. And I hope that Liam is right that the better days we’ve been waiting for eventually get here. “Nowhere At All” – Young Guv Nobody is better right now at making hazy, summery, jangle pop like…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 73
Chart Week: May 5, 1979 Song: “Music Box Dancer” – Frank Mills Chart Position: #3, 15th week on the chart. This was the song’s peak. Songs like “Music Box Dancer,” complete outliers to everything else on the pop chart at the time, fascinate me. It makes no sense that this track spent over four months in the Hot 100 and…
Friday Playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6APHaq6NZeEF0f87JHijhx?si=1dd3c386c6584b37 “Do You Pray?” – Tess Parks When artists are described as “Psych rockers” it can go several directions. I like the direction Parks takes that description. “Falling Apart (Right Now)” – Wilco Wilco has had a hell of a journey through their nearly 30 year career. They’ve meandered all over the soundscape, had various levels of success, had lineup…
Reaching for the Stars, Vol. 72
Chart Week: April 26, 1980 Song: “Cars” – Gary Numan Chart Position: #22, 11th week on the chart. Peaked at #9 for three weeks in June. It has always bothered me that Gary Numan never seemed impressed with the biggest song of his career, 1980’s “Cars.” I’ve read several stories in which he speaks of it dismissively. On the song’s…