10 Reinforcer – “Thou Shall Burn” German metal band Reinforcer clambers in for their third album here with the strong, robust Prince of the Tribes, with “Thou Shall Burn” besting the competition by a nudge for its amusingly direct and authoritative titular proclamation, like a glorious amalgamation of the kitschy and the cathartic elements of … Read more“Dolby’s Top 10 Tracks Apr. – June 2021”
25 “Fire it up” (We Were Dead before the Ship Even Sank) 24 “Pistol (A. Cunanan, Miami, FL. 1996)” (Strangers to Ourselves) 23 “Heart Cooks Brain” (The Lonesome Crowded West) 22 “Lounge (Closing Time)” (The Lonesome Crowded West) 21 “Paper Thin Walls” (The Moon & Antarctica) 20 “3rd Planet” (The Moon & Antarctica) 19 “Parting … Read more“Dolby’s Pre-Release Modest Mouse Power 25 (with playlist)”
One time this dude posted this thing on Facebook, which I think was a reaction to my sharing a Sufjan Stevens song, that the music people listen to is indicative of the kind of person that they are. I think it was supposed to be some meat-headed denigration of the gentle, melody-laden selection I’d offered. … Read more“Big Star’s ‘Give Me Another Chance’ and Dolby’s Pop 250 Index”
Is indie rock dead? Well, all music is dead, so it would stand to reason as much, wouldn’t it? And I can almost hear the breaths of relief spurting from millions of social climbers the nation over, who can now go back to the simple life of subservience to pretty much everything, who will never … Read more“Dolby’s Top 100 Indie Rock Albums of All Time”
10 Altin Gun – “Kara Toprak” Excuse me, I lost my train of thought in the groove! This is undeniably infectious music, reminiscent faintly of the cool-dude funk rock of Khruangbin but with a little more of a tropical feel, buoyed by some funky George Harrison keyboard, bongos and of course, the fact that all … Read more“Dolby’s Top 10 Tracks Jan. – Mar. 2021”
25 Bob Dylan – “All along the Watchtower” (MTV Unplugged) It seems like every year I hear a new version of this song, whether it’s from Dave Matthews, whoever else or in this case just a hearty Dylan version I’d never heard before, but is peppered nicely with some ambient Hammond organ and spirited vocals. … Read more“Dolby’s Top 25 Unplugged Songs of All Time”
It was the worst of times, it was… the period offering albums eligible for this list. But I love how we chastise 2020 with this foolish delusion that 2021 and the years to come are going to be even better. I mean, for all we know, next year there could still be the COVID and … Read more“Dolby’s Top 50 Albums of 2020”
In what probably looks like a calculated business maneuver but is actually just the result of incoherent ramblings on the colder, cloudier days we get this time of year, I’ve launched two new series on this blog. One is the “Where Have You Been,” which features the trusty, hilariously awkward sound bite from Ween’s “I … Read more“Dolby’s ‘Top 10 if’: The Jimi Hendrix Experience – ‘Burning of the Midnight Lamp’”
25 “Full Ride” (From Chaos) You could probably with some authority dub 311’s two-album stint of Soundsystem and From Chaos as their “metal phase” — Tim Mahoney seemed to graduate from distortion pedal to straight-ahead rock-rap Marshall stabs and both the volume and intensity seemed bolstered on a significant amount of these cuts. Along these … Read more“Dolby’s Top 25 311 Songs”
10 All Hits – “Men and Their Work” I had no idea I’d be implicitly championing a whole new wave of female-led hardcore punk from Portland, but here I go with one of two installments of just that, the title track on the new album from All Hits (a name which certainly seems fairly sarcastic). … Read more“Dolby’s Top 10 Tracks Jul. – Sep. 2020”