About R.J.

Ross Jordan Gianfortune is a digital journalist based and very amateur music/culture critic. He's Engagement Editor and podcast host for Government Executive Media Group. His work has appeared in the Washington Post, Atlantic, National Journal, Yahoo! and a host of other sites. He lives in Washington, DC with his rescue bulldog Mattie.

brat


Band: Charli XCX
Album:brat
Best song:“Sympathy is a Knife” is the best song of 2024.
Worst song:I could do without “Mean Girls,” but the record isn’t exactly made for me.

Long time, no see.

It’s been almost a full two years since I wrote about SZA’s SOS in this space. Much has changed in that time; I got laid off and got a new job, for example. Two years is both a long time and nothing. Continue reading

SOS


Band: SZA
Album: SOS
Best song: “Ghost in the Machine” is the best song of 2022.
Worst song: “F2F” does not appeal to me

A few weeks ago, Ben Gibbard projects Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service announced a joint upcoming tour in which both bands would play their 2003 seminal albums – Transatlanticism and Give Up, respectively – in full on the tour as a way to mark the 20th anniversary of the release of the albums. I have a tortured relationship with both bands in my own mind, but I find both records to be absolute classics released during a time when I needed them. I’ve written about each (here and here), even noting that Give Up was one of the best albums of the 2000s. Continue reading

Call Down the Sun


Band: Konvent
Album: Call Down the Sun
Best song: “Harena,” “Fatamorgana” and “Grains” are amazing.
Worst song: “Never Rest” is the weakest song on the album.

What a year.

The nature of the calendar is such that all these things are a little artificial; resolutions and such can be done at any time. As a Jewish person, I also have the High Holiday time as a time for reflection, but certainly birthdays can bring the same purpose. But, still. What a year. Continue reading

Midnights


Band: Taylor Swift
Album: Midnights
Best song: The first three songs are all terrific. I like “Question…?” and “Bejeweled” a lot, too.
Worst song: “Vigilante Shit” is extremely not my shit.

I’ve written on this site twice about Taylor Swift, once in an overwhelmingly condescending tone and once avoiding her for most of the post. So, let me present a mea culpa for the first: I was wrong. Continue reading

Retreat From The Sun


Band: that dog.
Album: Retreat From the Sun
Best song: “Never Say Never” is great. “Long Island” rocks.
Worst song: “Until the Day I Die” doesn’t really fit on the record, but maybe that’s the point? I don’t know.

I guess Netflix is bringing back (some of) the cast from That 70s Show for a new series next month about the 1990s. I will not watch it, though not because I have any animus for the producers, cast or even the 1990s, as a decade. I just don’t watch much TV. Continue reading

At Action Park


Band: Shellac
Album: At Action Park
Best song: “The Admiral” is one of my favorite Shellac songs
Worst song: Nah.

Of the people I’ve admired most in music, Steve Albini is definitely near the top. He is not without pretense, of course, but he has been a deeply thoughtful guy and has been part of some of the best records in history and has influenced some of the best bands in history. Continue reading

Cool It Down


Band: Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Album: Cool It Down
Best song: “Wolf” and “Spitting Off the Edge of the World”
Worst song: “Mars.”

I do not have kids. I’ve gone over this fact in this space before (and if you know me personally, you’ve probably heard me joke about it and some of the hijinks around it that touch my romantic life) and nothing has changed since I wrote about it more than ten years ago. Continue reading

Mariner


Band:Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas
Album:Mariner
Best song: “Cygnus” is a perfect, epic song.
Worst song:”Approaching Transition” is the weakest song, but it’s very good (sorry, I almost only write about records I like).

What’s beyond the next mountain? What lies among the stars? Why go beyond the horizon? Is exploration an inherent part of humanity’s makeup? Does it matter? Continue reading