Dolby Disaster

I’m actually not going to analyze “Crazy”; the chart-topping 2006 radio hit from Gnarls Barkley, on a musical level, in this post. If I were, gee, that would be a challenge, since it’s not every day you come across a song that lacks even a single phrasing unorthodoxy or solitary creative flare, in terms of … Read more“A Couple Desultory Pot Shots at Gnarls Barkley’s PDR Transcription”

I’d like to preface this post by voicing adamant praise of the 2020 album Inlet by mid-’90s Champaign, Ill. alt-rockers Hum. I loved what they did with maintaining their boisterous, distorted grunge sound and validating it with some stretching out of the song lengths into the seven/eight minute territory. In addition, Matt Talbott’s seemed as … Read more“Giving it to Hum Ol’-Fashioned Like a Spirited ’90s Music Cop”

I don’t think there’s any question: no band is selling more shirts these days than Nirvana. Now, I’m not going to attempt to explain this phenomenon, least of all to imply that bands should expect 33-year delays, or time-releases, for gluts in their merch sales. Suffice it to say that a litany of people are … Read more“A Little Nirvana Commemoration Post for Their Newfound Apparrel Zenith”

You are dressed in a shirt with the font of the Nirvana smiley-face logo. The writing on the shirt, however, reads “Pac-Man.” Apparently, you found this shirt at Spencer’s, and paid about $25 for it, because you identified with the subversive message implicit in the mocking of Nirvana’s apparrel.  You just never GOT Nirvana. They … Read more“Wanting”

I can’t see the ’90s but I can HEAR them. Sure, they’re long-gone. I know. Nobody says “Pimpin’ ain’t easy” these days, much to the relief of all of us. We know longer must endure pervy, delusional commentary from Adam Corolla or tongue-in-cheek sports analysis from quirky Sports Center anchors.  But I can FEEL the … Read more“On ‘Adam’s Song’ and the Everyman Ideal Active within Pop-Punk”

Just as bands can be guilty of falling into a “style over substance” mindset administrative to their creative outputs, such can critics, as well, overemphasize a band’s “style” as a potential pitfall, and ignore emotional authenticity, poesy of lyrics, brilliance in song structuring, and, of course, good ol’ fashioned undeniable energy.  Now, granted, the Chili … Read more“A Red Hot Chili Peppers Appreciation Post (Apropos of the Dingbats Online Who Say They’re Overrated)”