Radiohead’s Kid A is advanced. You know this because you’ve listened to it. You know this because countless writers and critics and friends and foes have told you so. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of people who know more about the band than I do have spent countless hours in hopes of understanding the record and several […]

There could be a lot to resent about the Strokes before ever listening to their music. A bunch of wealthy, well-traveled prep-school kids from Manhattan hit a bit of luck and became an overnight sensation. The money, the pedigree, the luck — all potential sources of envy, cynicism and ire for an everyday Joe like […]

Following 9/11, the world seemed a bit colder. If there were an historical event that defined the 00s for the United States, it was certainly that one, and the disillusioned wake of its terror certainly felt chilly and uncertain. Maybe that’s why the renewed interest in Joy Division and the late Ian Curtis sprang up […]

As Justin said in his Decade entry on Sufjan Stevens’ Michigan, some albums feel intrinsically linked to the experience of listening to them.  Maybe it’s a romantic sentiment, but music works like some aural madeleine, carrying dense and indulgent sensory memories that go deeper than the textures of the notes and melodies and into some—well, […]

It’d be easy to peg Funeral a death processional. People have done it before. Nearly every time anyone ever talked about the record, in fact. I never read the liner notes to the album, but apparently they mention the death of three family members of the band, and their inspirational impact. And then, of course, […]

Vic was our Keats, our Nina Simone. There will never be another like him. – Guy Picciotto, Fugazi It’s funny the things we tend to remember, or I should say, the things I tend to remember. The minutiae. The first time I heard the name Vic Chesnutt was in the Fall of 1995; I was […]

Our weekly two hour show on SIRIUS/XM, channel 26 (SIRIUS), and channel 43 (XM), can now be heard twice, every Friday – Noon EST with an encore broadcast at Midnight EST. Below is this week’s playlist. SIRIUS 122: Jean Michel Bernard – Generique Stephane ++ R.E.M. – Letter Never Sent ++ The Walkmen – We’ve […]