Don’t Mess With Marx
This has been bouncing around for a week or so, thus some of you may have seen it. But it’s sooooo great. A Chicago culture blogger finds out what happens when you besmirch an 80s pop music sensation. Would you say that to my face? Let’s find out. I’ll meet you anywhere in the city, any time. I don’t travel…
Stats 2012
Top 10 artists for 2012, based on my Last.fm stats, which sadly, aren’t necessarily a full representation of what I listened to. Close enough for blog purposes, I suppose. Wussy – 250 The Clash – 220 The White Stripes – 219 Japandroids – 188 Jack White – 184 Frightened Rabbit – 169 Radiohead – 150 Pearl Jam – 145 Dum…
Favorite Songs Of 2012: #1
“The House That Heaven Built” – Japandroids Here it is, the big one! This, my friends, is a great fucking song. It is a song that, the first time I heard it, I knew would be in the running for song of the year. I’ve listened to it countless times since that first play in April, and it has never…
Favorite Songs Of 2012: #2
“Season In Hell” – Dum Dum Girls The Dum Dum Girls topped my favorites list last year with “He Gets Me High.” They nearly repeat with this, perhaps their finest song yet. Over the past two years lead singer Dee Dee Penny’s life has been a whirlwind. Her mother got sick and then died. Her band immediately blew up, becoming…
Favorite Songs Of 2012: #3
“Myth” – Beach House Because there is always a difference between reality and our deepest desires, even the best relationships are based, in part, upon a myth. When that gap is exposed, heartbreak is inevitable. Here Beach House explore the moment that gap becomes evident, and the overwhelming desire to bridge it. Your heart can’t help but break a little…
Favorite Songs Of 2012: #4
“Serpents” – Sharon Van Etten Ms. Van Etten has a wonderful ability to create dramatic tension in her music. Her best songs, like this, build to an emotional peak early, then sustain it for the remainder of the song without either letting up or resolving it. It’s a tough trick to pull off, but time-and-again she does it.This song is…
Favorite Songs Of 2012: #5
“Sinful Nature” – Bear In Heaven Chillwave takes a lot of heat, much of it with good reason. The sub-genre, which is heavily reliant on computers for its sound, often produces sound-alike music that just isn’t that good. But when the artist does it right, it can produces amazing songs. Example: last year Washed Out’s “Eyes Be Closed” was my…
Favorite Songs Of 2012: #6
“The Rifle’s Spiral” – The Shins There are a lot of smart guys making smart guy music these days. Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie. Colin Meloy of The Decemberists. But no one does it better than James Mercer of The Shins. Mercer shut The Shins down for seven years and did other things. But when he got them…
Favorite Songs Of 2012: #7
“Endless Shore” – Melody’s Echo Chamber A warm summer day evening, sun just beginning to set. A drink in your hand. Reclined in a chair on a deck or perhaps lying in a hammock. You just relax and let the world spin. Because at that moment, everything is perfect.
Favorite Songs Of 2012: #8
“Wrist Rocket” – Wussy One of the great, under appreciated bands in American rock music. Like so many of their songs, this is a highly literate, wonderfully crafted song about the angst that appears when your lover loves someone else.