I totally sidestepped these guysas a teenage new wave rocker. Decades later, for $3.00, I thoughtI should probably look into, beyond that one eponymouslytitled hit single, what I wasmissing. Not much, it turns out. But that one tune, you know, “In a big country, dreams stay with you like a lover’s voice fires the mountainside”Continue reading “#618: B is for Big Country”
Monthly Archives: November 2025
#617: B is for Beyoncé
I One of the most unlikelymusical surprises of the last few yearsis the extent to whichI grew to love Beyoncé. Heretofore, completely outof my wheelhouse (at least I suspected), I’m tryingto remember the first experience that won me. I think it happened whenI watched the album-lengthfilm of Lemonade. The sheeraudacity of that projectintrigued me, theContinue reading “#617: B is for Beyoncé”
#616: B is for Benatar, Pat
One of my earliest drummingmemories, feeling for the first time that I kind of knew what I was doing, was playing PatBenatar’s “Heartbreaker” in myfirst high school garage bandat some party and feeling on top of the absolute world. The last time I said to myself, I need to listen to her again,was probably whenContinue reading “#616: B is for Benatar, Pat”
#615: B is for Belle and Sebastian
I I had never consideredthe origin of the band’s name. I googled that. Now I know it comes from a French children’s book about a boy and his dog. I wonder if Belle is the dogor Sebastian is the dog, and the reason for my hesitationis the surprising placementof the names in the title. Wouldn’tContinue reading “#615: B is for Belle and Sebastian”
#614: B is for Belew, Adrian
I’m a lone rhinoceros. There ain’t one hell of a lots of usleft in this world –Adrian Belew I hadn’t listened to this album in years, but as soon as I knew it was coming up, this lyric about the lone rhinoceros cameinto my head, unforgettable, pithy, clever. I just looked up “momur” on wiki-whatever.Continue reading “#614: B is for Belew, Adrian”
We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program to Review Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein
It might be that if I had never read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein that I would have marked this new film by Guillermo del Toro as one of my favorite films in recent memory. However, I have read Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, several times in fact, and because I have such a strong and endearing relationship withContinue reading “We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program to Review Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein”
#613: B is for the B-52s
One of the greatestnerd-rock bands ever, The B-52s arrived in 1979with this gem of a debut.They were not accomplished musicians, but these spirited performances completely overshadowed what they may have lacked in precision, or what the serious musicians might have called “chops.”I might have been one of those dismissive listeners. I can imagine myself sayingContinue reading “#613: B is for the B-52s”
#612: B is for Beauty Pill
I’ve got to get my alphabet shitback together. They say smoke follows Beauty but damn it, BECK follows Beauty too. And so here I am with another corrective, trying to write a poem-like-thing about an absolute favoritediscovery of the lastfew years, Beauty Pill. My friend Ericturned me on to this band a few years ago.Continue reading “#612: B is for Beauty Pill”
#611: B is for Beck
New stylus acquired and installed. I asked the guy, can you look me upin your system, and tell me when I bought this turntable? Sure, he said,and he looked me up. He said, 2017. We had a laugh, then, didn’t we? I hadn’t changed my stylus in almost nine years, and I listen to aContinue reading “#611: B is for Beck”
We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Program To Bring You This Breaking News Announcement
In my project of listening to (nearly) every single record in my collection from A to Z and then writing a little poem-like-thing for every artist represented, I have come to the conclusion that my turntable needle is shot to hell. For a while there, I was making annotations to the effect that certain recordsContinue reading “We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Program To Bring You This Breaking News Announcement”
michael jarmer 