for Mark Solomon He had written a note to a friend,inviting her to tonight’s reading on the occasion of being back after a two-year absence from this annual conferenceof alumni from the Warren WilsonMFA Program for Writers. He wrote to her about how he felt to be reunited with his fellow“Wallies.” Mark graduatedfrom the programContinue reading “#814: Walking to Breakfast with Mark”
Author Archives: michaeljarmer
We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program to Talk About New Music (A-M), Turntables, and Writing as an Avoidance Strategy Against Writing
I started the listening challenge of moving my way through every record in the collection by artist from A-Z, in large part, because I felt that I was neglecting older records always in favor of new acquisitions. Now, nine months and 13 letters into the project, I’m discovering that I am neglecting my new recordsContinue reading “We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program to Talk About New Music (A-M), Turntables, and Writing as an Avoidance Strategy Against Writing”
#813: M is Still for The Mountain Goats (20, 21, 22, 23, 25)
Prologue The last five albums in my collection of records by The Mountain Goats bringsme to the end of the letter M and a littlepast the half way point of my entire storeof vinyl LPs, but it brings me also to a place of turntable crisis. Everything sounds likeshit. I can’t get that stylus cleanContinue reading “#813: M is Still for The Mountain Goats (20, 21, 22, 23, 25)”
#812: M is for The Mountain Goats (15, 17, 19)
The next three albums in my MountainGoats collection, consecutively released, serve as a tidy little trilogy. Unrelated to each other, but I’m guessing each deeply personal to the lyricist, we have three concept albums in a row, albums that aren’t narrative necessarily, but all revolvequite specifically and rigorously arounda single subject matter. Not because ofthisContinue reading “#812: M is for The Mountain Goats (15, 17, 19)”
#811: M is for The Mountain Goats (02, 05, 12)
Prologue Rivaled only by XTC, The Flaming Lips and David Bowie, a tie with the formertwo artists and lagging a full mittful of albums behind the latter, I have twelve recordsby The Mountain Goats in the vinyl collection. Like a lot of bands and musicians that have captured my music heart, I was late to The Mountain Goats party. I arrived,Continue reading “#811: M is for The Mountain Goats (02, 05, 12)”
#810: M is for Mould, Bob (with Sugar)
The first in a series of box sets chronicling the entire recordingoutput of the grandfather of grunge, Bob Mould, Distortion: 1989-1995contains his first two solo albums post Hüsker Dü, and then three consecutive records from his next group, Sugar. Despite the factthat Sugar would normally be filedunder S, I decide to listen and writeabout themContinue reading “#810: M is for Mould, Bob (with Sugar)”
#809: M is for Mother Mother
I find almost nothing more exciting than hearing a great new band for the first time. In this case, not a “new” band, but new to me, and my discovery was a completely random internet find of a live studio performance of Mother Mother on a YouTube channel from Musora. The band played a songContinue reading “#809: M is for Mother Mother”
#808: M is for The Motels
The two tunes by The Motelsthat are part of my musical memory are the breakthrough hits, “Only the Lonely” and “Suddenly, Last Summer.”I found two albums by the band recently in somebody’s used bin, the self-titled debut, and their fifth outing, Shock, neither album of which includes these songs. I didn’t havethese albums when IContinue reading “#808: M is for The Motels”
#807: M is for Morrissey
This one is troubling, this entry about the British singer Morrissey, who emerged into fame during the 80’s with the mopey rock outfit, an undeniably great band, The Smiths. We have to talkabout that age-old question, more firmly in the public consciousnessover the last couple of decades than it has ever been: is it possibleContinue reading “#807: M is for Morrissey”
#806: M is for The Monkees
No music is more indelibly etchedin memory from my childhood than the music from Elton John, The Beatles, and The Monkees. For the first of theseI have my cousins to thank, and my dad (for allowing me to order records fromhis Columbia House club) but for my loveof The Beatles and The Monkees, I thankmyContinue reading “#806: M is for The Monkees”
michael jarmer 