// Category Archive for: Music

29 Years On: John Lennon

By John Lane

29 years on, it gets more and more difficult to articulate how much John Lennon’s death meant to me, for various reasons.
(more…)

Rowland S. Howard, Pop Crimes

By Ann Clarke

It’s not often that this happens, but. . . occasionally I find myself waiting for about ten years for an album to come out. Most people would give up hope by then, but if you like an artist enough, you always hold out for whatever they do. This would be the case with Rowland S. Howard. He’s one of those musicians I’ve pretty much had a hard-on on for since I first stumbled upon him.
(more…)

In Praise Of Robert Wyatt

By John Lane

Aye, the following individual is never, ever to be classified as a “guilty pleasure,” understood? Yes, one could use the expression that he is an “acquired taste,” but goodness knows not all acquired tastes are meant to pass the taste test of everyone.

Robert Wyatt is an English creation, one that could’ve only been born of and thrived in England (albeit in a quiet, genteel way), as he has done professionally for over 40 years.
(more…)

The Reality Of Time Travel: Cal Band Alumni Day

By Christian Lipski

General Douglas MacArthur said, “Old soldiers never die; they merely fade away.” Some former Band members can’t even fade away. For them there is Alumni Band Day.
—from The Pride of California: A Cal Band Centennial Celebration

(more…)

Bebel Gilberto, All In One

By Ann Clarke

I am fully aware of Bebel Gilberto’s namesake, and the fact that she’s been around for awhile. . . but I can honestly say, I’d never heard anything by her. I knew she was a Brazilian musician and her parents were famous musicians (João Gilberto and Miúcha), but that’s about it. So in essence, I can’t compare Bebel’s new album, All In One, to any of her previous works, since I don’t know them. I can say this: I was interested in reviewing this album, because I am willing to listen to foreign vocals without hesitation.
(more…)

Revelations And Resistance: The Music Of Muse

By Lisa Anderson

I’ve loved British things all my life, but my most recent discovery is the band Muse.

(more…)

A Guide For Getting Into: The Tubes

By Matt Keeley

I have many things to thank SCTV for in my life. Mostly, all the great sketch comedy and showing me how it should be done. But there’s something else: my Tubes fandom.
(more…)

1,000 Umbrellas Open to Spoil the View: XTC’s English Legacy

By James Thurston Davis

I first encountered XTC around 1982, probably their English Settlement album, probably in my friend Marc’s tiny bedroom with the Roger Dean posters on the wall and the cedar chest stuffed with vinyl. I like to think the first thing I remember about that album was Andy Partridge’s snarling vocals on “No Thugs in Our House,” or the aural explosion of “Jason and the Argonauts,” but what really struck me immediately was the overwhelming sense of Englishness that came over me the moment the needle dropped on “Runaways.”
(more…)

It’s a Mod Mod World

By Noreen Sobczyk

I’ve always had a tradition of becoming obsessed with something. Not obsessed in the peeping-around-in-someone’s-bushes way, nor by writing famous people letters, or boiling some guy’s bunny, but becoming deeply engrossed in one particular thing. Be it music, film, or a book, there’s always something that strikes me and becomes my most prized form of entertainment.

When VCRs were first released I would rent the same videos over and over, never tiring of them. One of the first movies I watched ad nauseum was The Who documentary, The Kids Are Alright. Something about the movie had me hooked, and I particularly enjoyed the early clips, fast forwarding through the fringed Woodstock period.

One word kept getting tossed about: Mods.
(more…)

Squirrel Nut Zippers, Lost At Sea

By J Howell

Live records can be dicey propositions. All too often, in attempting to capture the exhilaration of “being there,” live albums fall flat, sounding muddy, noisy, and altogether bad. There are the rare exceptions, though, and while it’s not quite perfect, Squirrel Nut Zippers’ live return from a nine-year hiatus is one of the better live records in recent memory.
(more…)