Monthly Archives: April 2012

The Complete Guide To Insufficiency

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Band: David Thomas Broughton
Album: The Complete Guide To Insufficiency
Best song: “Ever Rotating Sky” is a wonderful song.
Worst song: “Unmarked Grave” is not as good as the other songs.

In the sea of singer/songwriter music, it’s hard to make a serious impression. Because of the nature of the arrangements, singer/songwriters are seldom harsh. The troubadour styling speaks to a very easy shortcut toward “sensitive, gentle and wonderful.” And similarly, sculpting from the Nick Drake mode is a simple way to make things sound listenable and emotional; a whispery voice is a shortcut. It’s not necessary to be more lyrical, as the implication is inherent in the whisper. Continue reading →

Cherry Pie

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Band: Warrant
Album: Cherry Pie
Best song: The title track, however derivative and silly, is fun as hell.
Worst song: Oh, whatever.

One of the wonderful things about music and our relationship to it is the function of it bringing back memories, snapshots in time. I, of course, write a lot about this and especially did an entire 30-piece project about it.

The making of playlists is a way to do this. On my first iPod, I had a playlist named after my ex-girlfriend — we were dating at the time, of course — that had songs that reminded me of her. On a lesser level, I did this last week, creating a “90s Junk” playlist on Spotify (the playlist is here). It was fun going through my memory, trying to think of the stuff I liked — on the fringes, mostly — during that time.  Continue reading →

Snakes for the Divine

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Band: High on Fire
Album: Snakes for the Divine
Best song: The title track, “Bastard Samurai” and “Holy Flames of the Firespitter.”
Worst song: “Ghost Neck” is not wonderful, but is still a nice record.

I like metal a fair amount, largely thanks to a friend I met out here who reignited my love for it. However, I’m also pretty tied into vocals; a bad voice ruins nearly any music for me (see: Neutral Milk Hotel) and a wonderful voice can make a record a million times better (see: anything with Isobel Campbell). Continue reading →

EP

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Band: Childish Gambino
Album: EP
Best song: “Be Alone” is great.
Worst song: “Freaks and Geeks” blows.

I often use any of these records as a entrance into writing/thinking about something other than the music therein. I imagine I could write about the brilliance of the show Community here, but I don’t know that I could do that as easily as I’d like. Continue reading →