I had some professor one time, I think in grad school, who pledged this bizarre, incredulous allegiance to “kid a,” apparently a reference to the 2000 Radiohead album. That’s kind of like how Rumours is, Fleetwood Mac’s apparent commercial and artistic breakthrough from 1977. It’s like there’s this puzzling level of pride at mentioning “rumours” … Read more“Is ‘Dreams’ Poised to Become Our Subtly Trippy National Anthem?”
Well, first of all, take a deep breath. It’s gonna be a while. Grab a Snickers. If you need to go outside and smoke, or go to the BMV and get a new driver’s license, this would be a good time to do it. Remember that this isn’t commensurate to TOOL’s catalogue as a whole. … Read more“The Correct Procedure for if Someone Plays a Song from Fear Inoculum on the Jukebox”
Now, in no way, in the last five years or so, has my desire for a new R.E.M. album equalled my craving for a new album from the wayward troubadours known as Ween, which certainly seems ill-fated at this point. And, again, almost as soon as I have the thought, I’m fumigated from my “ideal” … Read more“R.E.M., You’re Gone, and Yes, We Miss You”
In one of the more caustic SNL impersonations of all time, Jimmy Fallon handled MTV’s Carson Daly, once long ago. His take on Daly, at the time, struck me as a little ham-handed and excessively brash, as he even assigned to him the words “I’m Carson Daly and I’m a massive tool” [1] [2]. Unfortunately, … Read more“An Unfortunate Blip of National Dissent”
At this point, it seems like Beach House’s career is pretty much over, at least in the sense of anyone caring about it. As should be known to anyone who reads this site, Sub Pop was very instrumental in killing it: granted, they “killed” it by making it sterile, like dumping a bunch of chlorine … Read more“Why I’d Like to Do a Beach House Interview”
It’s true: The White Stripes could pretty much do no wrong in 2005. They’d gone from cutesy garage-rock-revival also-rans to rock demigods with Elephant (2003), which bequeathed us the invincibly virile “Ball and Biscuit”; the lilting and gorgeous “I Want to Be the Boy to Warm Your Mother’s Heart” and its show-stopping steel guitar solo, … Read more“On Get behind Me Satan and the Perils of Having All Substance and No Style”
Well, folks, the proof’s in the pudding, so to speak. Third Eye Blind’s music speaks for itself, evident, for one, in the uproarious sing-along of “How’s it Going to Be” I just heard last weekend in the bar where I work. The songs hold up, the melodies are still rich and fibrous, and the whole … Read more“Third Eye Blind / Conclusion”
Any meager, cursory glance at our culture in the world today should indicate decisively that lust and romance remain primary game for subject matter of pop lyrics. In terms of Stephan Jenkins, himself, he always seemed perfectly aligned with “pop” as a phenomenon by way of lyrics, which seemed to have begun, via his first … Read more“Third Eye Blind Theory / Chapter 5: ‘I Want You’ and Stephan Jenkins’ Furnishing of the Romantic Relationship as a Spiritual Expedition
The surrounding buzz, the chatter, the drunken blabbering in front of the television at family reunions, get so prominent sometimes that you’re not really sure what you know anymore. People’s love affairs with the sounds of their own voices become the primary truth. So what do we know? What is certain? And, I mean, if … Read more“Third Eye Blind Theory / Chapter 4: A Third Eye Blind Spree or Audit”
I doubt it will shock anybody into next week if I provide the distinguishing motif on Stephan Jenkins that he has handled acting as an interest and form of expression, in his life. He’s clearly a person made for the limelight — good looking, well spoken, confident and even given to a proclivity for drama … Read more“Third Eye Blind Theory / Chapter 3: Examining the Potential for and Reliance on Drama and Thespianism in Third Eye Blind’s Lyrics”