Ignorant Fantasies | Race and Class Delusions From David Thomas
The fantasy world that David Thomas inhabits reeks of privilege and conceit. Perhaps I expected a bit more intelligence, a bit more individuality, a bit more adventurousness to his thinking. Then again, he is a white middle-class American male. We can’t expect too much.
Grimes – Visions (Arbutus Records/4AD)
Visions seduces me a little more, yet at the same time, I know I will never truly love it
The Weeknd – House Of Balloons / Thursday / Echoes Of Silence (XO)
Sex, drugs, more sex, more drugs, each song details another night of Bacchanalian excess with no redemption in sight. Are you ready to party?
Brian Wilson tired of music critics putting him in a box
Turns out some cold-hearted bastard had gotten Brian in a box and then nailed it shut. It took me almost an hour to get him out.
Alternative Music Fan Notices Contradiction In Jessie J Hit Song
The update sparked two replies and got 9 ‘likes’, the second highest amount McMillan has ever gotten for a status update.
Why Pop Music Matters (No Matter What Age You Are)
Pop outflanked all of its critics by making them extreme traditionalists or anti-populist cranks.
English Blues – The Untold History of the Chunka-Chunka Song
It was The Supremes’ ‘Baby Love’ that really brought back that Chunka-Chunka feeling
THE ALTERNATE REVIEW: Can – Tago Mago (Spoon/Mute)
Can belong to the iconoclasts, the cynics, the lovers, the thinkers and the visionaries with hungry ears and a low threshold for boredom.
The 10th Anniversary of the 20th Anniversary of October by U2, by Jeff Pollack
I thought of The Beatles line, “It was 20 years ago today”, probably because it really had been 20 years ago to the day
Ryan Adams – Ashes & Fire (PAX-AM/Capitol)
The words have died of boredom before they have even left the singer’s lips.
Teenage Moods – Mood Ring (25 Diamonds)
I would call it pop-punk, but then you’ll think of Green Day or some shit like that.
8 Things You Should Avoid Saying in Response to a Music Review You Dislike
Have you read Lester Bangs? Guess what? He was a failed musician.
Tom Hall – Muted Angels (Complicated Dance Steps)
If this is ambient then it is surly ambient, background music that won’t do as it’s told.
The Wild Swans – The Coldest Winter For A Hundred Years (Occultation)
It is an equally rewarding and frustrating experience
Various Artists – Messthetics #107 & #108 (Hyped To Death)
There is heart here. There is pride. There is commitment. I want to know who these people are.
Richard Youngs – Amplifying Host (Jagjaguwar)
This is not pop music. This is music to surrender to. Music to inhabit.
We Don’t Have To Breed – Nirvana’s Nevermind and masculinity
Stuck with powerful sexual impulses, I convinced myself that to act on them was disrespectful and cheap.
Both Sides, Now! – How Women are Denied Universal Appeal as Songwriters
Men demand that women be natural and unaffected, and nowhere more so than in the world of music.
Dan Bejar of Destroyer – The Collapse Board Interview
“I’d much rather have a minute of awkward silence than me asking people how their night went. Awkward silence has way more to do with the music we’re playing than casual banter”
Why Everett True is Wrong – rescuing ‘The Fly’ by U2
You’ll notice I’m praising Bono as a lyricist here. Take a deep breath, agree, then move along.
R.E.M. – Lifes Rich Pageant (25th Anniversary Edition) (Capitol)
If you ever find me dying in the street don’t give me mouth to mouth (I don’t know where your filthy lips have been), just play me ”These Days’
