Music

Skip the drama and check Questo’s list. I love stuff like this.

Over three years ago, I won my first air guitar competition in Philadelphia. It had more of an impact on my life than I ever would have expected, introducing me to a bizarre and joyful underworld of free spirits who forced me to reevaluate what it means to experience music.

A few months later, and not entirely coincidentally, I accepted a job offer in Boston at what might be described as competitive air guitar’s above-ground… See more →

Phil Lynott really came into his own as a songwriter in 1975 with Thin Lizzy’s fifth album, Fighting, and his precipitous decline began just five years later with Chinatown. His first solo album, Solo in Soho, arrived that same year, and like that album, this one has its moments, but it’s mostly bland and painfully dated. For completists only.

Expert procrastination tip: recreate old mix tapes using the internet. rdio.com/#/people/robwe…

If I could, I would play the drums all day, every day. But I never want to hear anyone play a drum solo.

The Michael Bay of indie rock. If it is possible to mean that in a nice way, I don’t.

Context hurts this record. Would I have enjoyed it if it was made by a bunch of pissed off twenty-somethings in 1980? Possibly. But I know it was actually made by a bunch of pissed off forty- and fifty-somethings in 2010, and that just makes the whole thing feel like a mid-life crisis, or worse, arrested development. I’ll give credit where it’s due: Keith Morris’s vocals have every bit of manic energy and fury they… See more →

Just listened to Astral Weeks for the first time (I know) and I’m confused by its hallowed status in the annals of pop. Where are the hooks?

FUCK. Somehow I fucking forgot about last night’s fucking Shellac show for which I fucking bought a fucking ticket fucking months ago. FUCK.

Oh, you didn’t know it was Freestyle Friday? Maybe you should have yourself a little dance party. rd.io/x/QFyuL0dvuw

If there had been a Shudder to Think album between Pony Express Record and 50,000 BC, it would have sounded like this.

A spacious, ethereal departure for Besnard Lakes, much of which borders on ambient. This type of atmosphere can be found on their long-players as well, but there it’s tempered with other textures and tempos. Isolated as it is on this EP, it makes for a less compelling listen.

Holy moly, that guitar solo.

Excellent review of what may be my favorite record of the year.

Dear musicians: Stand by your documents. Reissues with remasters, alternate takes, live versions, etc make you the George Lucases of music.

Staff at a new venue giddily pulled us off the street for the final moments of a Fred Frith performance. I ❤ Brooklyn. roulette.org

A two-year-old post by Carrie Brownstein that describes exactly how and when indie rock lost me: npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2009…

Just realized I actually really like MJ’s “Man in the Mirror”. @ The Belgian Cafe gowal.la/c/4SFWM

Upon hearing that Morgan Spurlock interviewed Greg Gillis, I mistakenly assumed there would be a documentary about IP law. Sad I was wrong.

Apropos of nothing, it’s all goth and darkwave on my speakers today. It’s keeping the skies cloudy so far.

Woke up to someone—presumably an adult in the year 2011—publicly blaring Debbie Gibson’s “Only in My Dreams”.

Scratch Acid reunion tour announced. This will make fifteen reunion shows for me in two years. Do I now qualify to join AARP?

Yes, I want to help get @MoseGiganticus on vinyl (kck.st/q3Q8Bn), and no, I don’t want to eff up the pledge total: yfrog.com/kja38p

How perfect is it that Explosions in the Sky are essentially the Michael Bay of indie rock?

Dreamt that A Tribe Called Quest woke me up from a nap to ask me to design their web site. I had some good ideas before I woke up for real.

Click through and read Albini’s entire post.

Next time you feel like a worthless hack, just read aloud the lyrics to Peter Cetera’s “Glory of Love”.

Here’s a fun #MusicMonday question: What is the best band with the worst fans?

What is it about punk rock jocks five times your size that makes them think it’s cool to throw you into a pile of chairs?

The Mastodon burger at Kuma’s Corner has won the battle, but not the war.

Even for kids like me who grew up with cassettes and CDs, a good album cover helped make the music magic. Thank you, Alex Steinweiss. RIP.

Treme makes me feel like every second of my life spent doing anything other than learning and playing music has been completely wasted.

Ten years ago, it would not have mattered to me that a couple of days of the music I listened to hadn’t been meticulously documented.

Five plays away from 40,000 on @lastfm. Suggestions for a great five-song EP to take me over the hill?

Well-intentioned though it may be, I just can’t get behind Patti Smith’s “Rock n Roll Nigger”. Not all marginalization is equal.

Read the full response letter. It is enjoyable.

Heartbreaking: “To the people who stole my Les Paul” vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/rds/ms…

Even from the insurmountable egos involved, the bloated boasting on display here is a painful read. But I have to admit I’m curious to hear this record, even if it’s a morbid curiosity.

Time for Tombs to blast the residue of this crappy day off me. @ Studio at Webster Hall gowal.la/c/4p8TJ

Holy shit, Tombs was fucking fantastic. A sound like theirs can easily turn into a murky mess live, but they brought it to terrifying life.

Thirty seconds into the new Tombs record, I was buying tickets to their NYC show next week. n.pr/iQtoEr (via @kevinmhoffman)

It is a riot grrrl afternoon. @ChamberMonster would be proud.

If you have ever bobbed your head, tapped your foot, or whistled a tune, you are a dancer.

The teen me would be perplexed to learn that I would one day prefer typesetting scientific journals to designing rock and roll video games.

Terminal 5 is a deal breaker.