Friday Vid
“The Frug” – Rilo Kiley I’m not a regular viewer of Austin City Limits, but last week, when Ryan Adams and Jenny Lewis split the episode, I definitely set the DVR. Lewis threw in a couple tracks from her first band, Rilo Kiley. This was not one of those selections, but I’ve always loved it and the oh-so-late–90s video makes…
Purple Greatness
A combo piece this morning, taking one entry from my up-coming review of January books and combining it with the movie on which it focused. Let’s Go Crazy – Alan Light I shared the excerpt from this a few weeks back, and the book finally hit the library two weeks ago. I snatched it up and raced through it in…
Friday Vid (Plus Song)
“Purple Rain” – Martin Sexton Earlier this week, I ripped through Alan Light’s Let’s Go Crazy, his book about the making of Purple Rain, both the movie and album. When I returned it to the library, I picked up the DVD of the movie, which I will be watching at some point this weekend. So, I’ve been on a bit…
Friday Vid
“Dreaming” – Blondie I was in Dick’s Sporting Goods yesterday, getting Colts shirts for the girls so that they could have an out-of-uniform day today, and this song came on over the piped-in background music. It’s not the first song I think of when I think of Blondie, thus I forget what a great song it is. Interesting to read…
Friday Vid
“Blank Space” – Taylor Swift I know, I know. This one will take some explanation. Taylor Swift hits the sweet spot in the category of “pop culture things I hate.” She was a teenage phenom, something I generally abhor.[1] Worse, she came from the country music realm, an area I have zero interest in. A country music teen phenom? Forgetaboutit.…
Friday Vid
“Tiny Prayers” – Restorations A band that I read about in the fall but then lost in the normal end-of-the-year shuffle. Fortunately, they landed high on one of my favorite music writer’s Best Of 2014 list, so I’m diving into them now. Terrific, crunchy, power-punk building on influences from all over the past 20 years. I have to make a…
Stats
The biggest navel-gazing post of the year!1 The cast of usual December (and late November) characters dominated the last month of the year. And then, no surprises in my top artists of 2014 if you gave any attention to my favorite songs of the year list. December 2014 Frank Sinatra – 77 Bing Crosby – 56 Dean Martin – 55…
Top Albums of 2014
Sharing my favorite songs of the year with you was not enough. Thus, I must offer a few thoughts on the year in music in general, then share my favorite albums of the year. I like to think of it as a rough guide for people with some iTunes or Amazon credit to burn who would like to add an…
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…