Tuesday, December 29, 2020

NFL Memories and "The Football Book"

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 A few years ago, one of my Christmas "stocking stuffers" was a coffee table book on the history of the NFL.  Cleverly titled ...
Saturday, December 12, 2020

Albums of the Year: Finalists

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With the help of Spotify, there's no question that I listened to more new music this year than ever before.  On the one hand, that's...
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Tuesday, July 07, 2020

Summer 2020 Album Diary: "Either/Or," Elliott Smith (1997)

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"Either/Or" is enjoyable enough as music, but it's impossible to separate the album from the circumstances of the artist who...
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Monday, July 06, 2020

Summer 2020 Album Diary: "The Belle Album," Al Green (1977)

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When Greil Marcus reviewed The Belle Album for Rolling Stone in late 1977, he wrote "...we may someday look back on The Belle Album...
Sunday, July 05, 2020

Summer of 2020 Album Diary: Pacific Ocean Blue, Dennis Wilson (1977)

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The point of this project is to write, at least a little bit, about a notable album from the past that I've never listened to all the ...
Friday, July 03, 2020

Albums of the Half Year: 2020

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Here we are in July, which seems impossible.  There are times when I can't believe we're coming up on four months since the shutdo...
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Sunday, May 17, 2020

Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #2 - "Seasons (Waiting on You)," Future Islands

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There have been a lot of great and/or memorable musical performances on late night television over the years - Elvis Costello beginning one ...
Tuesday, May 12, 2020

Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #3 - "Slow Burn," Kacey Musgraves

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I've commented on this phenomenon elsewhere, but every now and then, you hear a song for the first time and it just takes your breath aw...
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Saturday, May 02, 2020

Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #4 - "Ya Hey," Vampire Weekend

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Usually the first thing that grabs me with a song is the music, but on this one it was these lyrics, near the end of the song: Outside the...
Sunday, April 19, 2020

Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #5 - "Songs She Sang in the Shower," Jason Isbell

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Well, it's been 41 days since my last post.  Has anything happened during that time? This isn't the place to write my thoughts abo...
Sunday, March 08, 2020

Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #6 - "FEEL." Kendrick Lamar

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"Ain't nobody praying for me." I've been struggling to come up with something profound to say about this song, which beg...
Sunday, March 01, 2020

Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #7 - "She's Not Me," Jenny Lewis

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The Song A Short Story, starring Jeff, Ron and Richard (and featuring Jenny Lewis) I. A Hot July Night, 1973 "If you don't tu...
Thursday, February 20, 2020

Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #8 - "Lightning Bolt," Jake Bugg

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For me, this song's life began with a Gatorade commercial.  This one was on HEAVY rotation when it first came out; you could not watch a...
Sunday, February 16, 2020

Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #9 - "Best Years of My Life," Pistol Annies

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"Hankering" is such a great word.  I'm not exactly sure why it appeals to me so much, but it's one of the words that I t...
Friday, February 14, 2020

Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #10 - "When the Master Calls the Roll," Rosanne Cash

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To kick off the Top Ten - THE TOP TEN! - we have, without a doubt, the best Civil War ballad that's been written in the 21st Century.  A...
Thursday, February 13, 2020

Drive-By Truckers: Fighting the Good Fight

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"The Unraveling," the twelfth studio album from Drive-By Truckers, is not a party record.  You don't really need to play it ...