Monthly Archives: November 2013

As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth

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Band: True Widow
Album: As High As The Highest Heavens And From The Center To The Circumference Of The Earth
Best song:  “Skull Eyes” is magnificent.
Worst song: “Doomser” goes on too long.

I went to see Cat Power earlier this month. I think I’ve seen Chan Marshall perform six times, which puts here near or at the top of artists I’ve seen live (I’m long past the time when I keep count of these things, so please consider all numbers approximate). Marshall’s gotten better about performing live and is worlds better than the first time I saw her when she ran off the stage in the middle of performing a set at the Blueberry Hill in St. Louis. Instead, she only started and stopped on a couple of songs this time and her set list comprised mostly of songs from The Greatest, The Covers Record and You Are Free.  Continue reading →

Dots and Loops

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Band: Stereolab
Album: Dots and Loops
Best song: “Miss Modular” is a great song.
Worst song: “Refractions in a Plastic Tube” meanders and kind of stinks.

I don’t know why Dots and Loops means anything to me. Last week, I listened to it for the first time in five years and thought something I don’t know that I’ve ever thought about a record: Why did I like this?

Don’t get me wrong, Dots and Loops is anything but a bad record. It’s pretty good, actually. But, the love for this album I had was as large as the sun. I listened to it all the time and tried to convince everyone I knew that it was brilliant. In my defense, the best song on the record is sung in French. Also: I was 16.

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Magnolia Electric Co.

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Band: Magnolia Electric Co.
Album: Magnolia Electric Co.
Best song: “Farewell Transmission” might be Jason Molina’s best song.
Worst song: “The Old Black Hen” is the weakest track on a very strong album.

In my top 100 albums of the 2000s list, I placed Magnolia Electric Company woefully low at number 87. Part of that is because The Lioness is, was and always will be the most important Molina album to me because of my experience in life during its release/my exposure to it. Magnolia Electric Company itself is a wonder of a record, though. It’s one that probably exemplifies what Molina was at the height of his powers: He danced between Neil Young and Woody Guthrie, while keeping a rust belt tinge to his music.

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