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So I went to see my first concert in quite a while last night, an especially rare occasion because it was a school night, and an even more obscure event because it was a Monday night (which means you can’t fall back on the “All I have to do is make it through Friday” justification). It was [...]

Again I should start by pointing out how fully unqualified I am to discuss Alex Ross’s The Rest Is Noise. My experience with music lasts all day every day (if possible), but my formal knowledge is slim and my knowledge of classical music doesn’t go much beyond Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi, and Peter and the Wolf (since [...]

Okay, it’s almost the end of the year, so I’ll finally have to settle on my list of the best my favorite CDs of 2009. Here it is (in no particular order except alphabetical):

Brakes—Touchdown
Future of the Left—Travels with Myself and Another
Girls—Album
Japandroids—Post-Nothing
Matt & Kim—Grand
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart—The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
Pink [...]

Although I received a few cool Christmas books, I’m sticking with the tome I had started before the gifts rolled in—The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century. I picked it up based on good reviews—one from the Times, the other from Phil (friend, coworker, and noted  Dr. of Music Obsession). I teach a bit on [...]

I made a lot of fun of Best Buy’s slogan last year, as though purchasing a product could really bring one joy. Yeah, almost every store sells myths and aspirations as much as products. Best Buy just decided to be the obvious one with their “You…Happier!” slogan. It wasn’t even done in the manner of [...]

Okay, it’s easy to hate Pitchfork.com for their ability to make or break an indie band, but I have to agree with at least a few of their choices for the Top 200 Albums of the 2000s. Out of their top twenty, I would probably include the following in my top ten:

Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois
The Avalanches’ [...]

I broke down and headed to downtown Columbia for the 3rd annual Roots ‘N Blues ‘N BBQ Festival. Last year was one of the best times I have had in Columbia, but I chalked that up to a perfect set of circumstances—weather, mood of the kids, good friends, great kid-friendly location right next to the [...]

Molly is working on an interesting science experiment. (Sociology? Musicology? Geography?) I made her a Grateful Dead MP3 disc for her car that contains about 12 hours of classic Dead. Unlike me, Molly appears to put a disc in the CD player, press shuffle, and let it ride for a few weeks.
That worked fine until [...]

So one thing I’m not real cool with is small kids cussing. I don’t have a problem with foul language—in the right hands it can be a bit of an art form—but I’m really picky with my kids (both my real kids at home and my “kids” at school). Maybe it’s from this weird 1979 [...]

Yeah, I could write about the Great Healthcare Debate of August 2009, or Rep. Joe Wilson’s rebellious outburst at President Obama’s speech last night. Or I could blog about the 20th anniversary of one of my favorite albums of all time: The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses.
It’s a funny album for me to love [...]