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…
First Album Update
Going back to the first album I purchased with my own money for a moment, I’ll admit thinking about Def Leppard’s <em>Pyromania</em> made me a little nostalgic. So I fired up the iTunes Music Store. No <em>Pyromania</em> available there. Jump over to the Amazon MP3 Store. Not there either. So one of the biggest selling albums of the 80s –…
Holiday Perfection
Admit it, you were glued to VH1 Classic’s 80 Hours of the ’80s this weekend (That is if you have VH1 Classic). Lord knows I was. I thought about e-mailing each of you individually to make sure you knew it was on. In between shows for the kids and doing things outside, I tried to check in on the A-Z…
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…
How To
A few words about the methodology for my favorite songs list. First, I had to own a song for it to appear on the list. Duh. Second, I limited myself to one song per artist. After some consultation with a few other music geeks, I determined that I could consider both Beatles songs and John Lennon’s solo work separately. Same…
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…
Stunning
I should probably hold off on saying this for a few more days, until I’ve had a chance to listen through it more, but the best album of the year so far is The Midnight Organ Fight by the Scottish band Frightened Rabbit. I’ve tried to put on my amateur rock critic hat and find some really eloquent words to…
Guilty
I like to say that music keeps me young. I’ve managed to stay in touch with what the cool indie kids are listening to despite the fact I’ll officially push into my late 30s this year. As my tastes have changed over the past four years, getting younger as I grow older, I’ve in turn pushed some of the mainstream…
Sleepless In Carmel
There’s a slight dusting of snow tonight, leaving the remaining holiday lights in the neighborhood to look particularly dazzling. It feels like the week before Christmas instead of the first week of the new year. So, hey, happy New Year to everyone. I hope you all made it through the holiday unscathed. Our girls apparently resolved to not sleep in…
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…