Music
Topic archive / 2,065 posts
See also my music library, listening diary, and concert diary
Otoboke Beaver
The six massive pillars in the middle of Underground Arts make the stage invisible to big chunks of the room, and when it’s a sold out show like this one, finding an even halfway decent sight line can be next to impossible if you don’t get there early. I’ve been burned by this a few times now, so I think going forward I’ll need to commit to early arrival or just skip the show.
Tonight… See more →
That Was 2022
My year in review
Maude
Leah and I became dog parents early in 2022, adopting a 15-pound, two-year-old Jack Russell / Chihuahua mix. Knowing Roe v. Wade would soon be overturned, we named her Maude, after the Bea Arthur character, who in 1972 was the first sitcom character to have an abortion. Living with Maude has been a big adjustment, but after getting over the initial hump, I’m not sure how we ever lived without her. She loves belly… See more →
Archers of Loaf
Mimi
Remembering Mimi Parker
On October 17, 2001, Low played a show in the sanctuary of the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia. Underground bands had been playing the church’s basement for years, but this was the first time anyone had ascended to the main room, and even in a secular music scene, the milestone seemed to take on a sacred significance. I didn’t go to the show, but it put Low on my radar, and after listening to Things… See more →
Had a good cry reading this, from @Nina_Corcoran: pitchfork.com/features/after…
I was never going to be ready for this. I feel like a ghost, just emptied out.
And just like that, I’m not okay. Sending every ounce of love I have to Alan and Hollis and Cyrus. Rest well, Mimi. There will never be another like you. twitter.com/lowtheband/sta…
My favorite music venue in the world might be reopening, which is easily the best news I’ve heard since it shut down in 2019. My heart is racing! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻 phillymag.com/news/2022/10/3…
Halloween tradition of listening to everything the original Misfits recorded in chronological order is complete. I’d say I’m all whoa’d out, but there is no such thing. 💀
“Weird Al” Yankovic
This was a bucket-lister for me, long overdue and worth the wait. It was also the second incarnation of Weird Al’s Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour, in which he plays all original songs rather than the pop parodies he’s famous for. And I realized at the show that I think I generally prefer his originals! Don’t get me wrong; it was super fun to hear the parody medley in the encore, especially the extended “Yoda”… See more →
Deadguy
Melt-Banana
That rare four-band bill where everyone’s great. And as always, it is impossible to overstate how thoroughly @melt_banana rules.
y’all blew it
Otoboke Beaver
I’ve been waiting a long time for this night, and it did not disappoint!
Yo Philly, I’ve got an extra ticket for tonight’s sold out @otobokebeaver show at @johnnybrendas and I’d hate for it to go to waste. Hit me up.
Ghost
It’s rare for me to go to an arena show, and when I do, I generally expect the lack of intimacy to seriously diminish the experience. This was certainly the case for Mastodon, who absolutely demolished the basements and bars I saw them play years ago, but they couldn’t energize me in nearly the same way from across Trenton’s cavernous Cure Insurance Arena. The fact that I haven’t paid much attention to their last few… See more →
I love the smell of confirmation bias in the morning. washingtonpost.com/music/2022/08/…
Just got a ticket to see @therealunwound and will be pinching myself for the remainder of the day.
best don cab song
Mötley Crüe & Def Leppard
I may be living in a backsliding democracy, but at least I finally got to see the mighty Def Leppard!
Kraftwerk 3-D
Another one checked off the bucket list!
Making a list of everyone I know who is really good at guitar, and wistfully saluting them.
rat in the dog park, please talk free the door is locked, just you and me twitter.com/dinfowars/stat…
Cavalera
That night my two favorite former Sepultura dudes played all my favorite Sepultura songs.
Amyl and the Sniffers
Some stray notes:
- Upchuck’s frontwoman is a powerful performer, but part of her schtick is taking swigs of water or beer and spraying them from her mouth onto the audience. Punk rock abandon or not, I’m astonished anyone doesn’t understand how the events of the past two years have made that kind of behavior 1,000 percent unacceptable.
- Not to say any of their songs are bad, but Amyl and the Sniffers’ set list made me… See more →
Bittersweet to see the late Dallas Good playing with Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet in the new Kids in the Hall intro. 😢
Dueling new releases from @otobokebeaver and @sitenonsite (debut EP!) make this just my kind of bipolar Friday.
First gig poster I’ve designed in ages, for tonight’s @HTRK_ show at @PhilaMOCA!
Shocked to hear about this today after missing the news in February. Just devastating. I was lucky enough to see Dallas play with the Sadies several times, and I was looking forward to many more. RIP to a true legend. 💔 twitter.com/TheSadies/stat…
Bill Orcutt & Chris Corsano
This feels like a genuinely fresh take on Swiss modernism, and I’m here for it. creativeboom.com/inspiration/ne…
Low
Not in the upper echelon of the many Low shows I’ve been to, mainly because I’m somewhat underwhelmed by the new record, Hey What, which I think they played in its entirety. And the rest of the setlist was a bit too familiar, made up mostly of songs they play at pretty much every show these days. Some are classics I’m always game to hear (“Sunflower”) and others not as much (“Monkey,” “Plastic Cup,” “No… See more →
That Was 2021
The highlights and lowlights of another pandemic year
Let me begin by saying I promise this post is mostly good vibes. Skip ahead if you like, but if you’ll momentarily indulge my pessimism: What a stupid time to be alive.
2021 was supposed to be the year the vaccine gave us our lives back, and while it did for some of us to some degree, its international distribution predictably favored wealthy nations, and the long-simmering anti-vax movement here in the wealthiest nation of… See more →
Listening to Kenny G
A decent profile of Kenny G and his position as a uniquely polarizing figure in music, but not nearly as probing as it could be. For a much deeper dive into the notions of “good” and “bad” music, I highly recommend Carl Wilson’s Let’s Talk About Love: A Journey to the End of Taste.