The Nightfly, circa 1983, was hands down one of the sonically best sounding albums I had ever heard. And of course, there were so manygreat singles from this, his debut solo album, and probably by a long shot his most successful, and I had heard them all on the radio. But it would be severalContinue reading “#689: F is for Fagen, Donald”
Author Archives: michaeljarmer
#688: F is for Fabulous Poodles
“Mirror Star,” the first song on this album,was the single and maybe the only songI’d heard from this British pre-new wavepower pop band in 1978. It’s a song about a young man who pretends to be famous, a kind of Walter Mitty of rock and roll. It’s a damncatchy tune. However enticed I may havebeenContinue reading “#688: F is for Fabulous Poodles”
#687: E is for Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
My first introduction to progressive rock was likely Yes. But I didn’t know it was prog rock because theyhad hit songs and the complexitywent over my head, or I didn’t hearit as complexity because I was not yet a musician. As a pre-teen, I started listening to Rush, but cameto them via their very firstContinue reading “#687: E is for Emerson, Lake, and Palmer”
#686: E is for Elfman, Danny
I was horrifiedby the A$AP Rocky performance on SNL. No live music. Couldn’t tellyou if he was lip syncing or really singing, and the staging ofwhatever that was, of the dancingor whatever, was nonsensical and sloppy. But what was most horrifying is that I recognized the drummer. Who is that naked torso man with allContinue reading “#686: E is for Elfman, Danny”
#685: E is for Electric Light Orchestra
As a kid, I used to hang outwith my cousins Chris and Nick. In my musical autobiography, I have my cousins to thank for introducing me to two artiststhat would be pivotal in my development as a music fan and a music maker. The first time I ever heard an Elton Johnalbum all the wayContinue reading “#685: E is for Electric Light Orchestra”
#684: E is for Elbow
I have written about this Manchesterband here somewhere in the blog at least on six different occasions, and a little better than ten yearsago, in a similar listening challenge,but with the CD collection, where I vowed not to listen to everything, butto one full album by each artist, I couldn’t help myself. I listenedat thatContinue reading “#684: E is for Elbow”
We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program to Announce that Michael Jarmer Has Posted to the Blog Site 1000 Times Since 2011.
1000 blog entries ago, on February 11, 2011, I wrote the following under the title “Inaugural Blog.” Here it goes, for better or worse. The impulse strikes and I’ve set up a blog. Whatever for? I’m a writer, first of all, and I suspect that I might have a few things to say about stuffContinue reading “We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program to Announce that Michael Jarmer Has Posted to the Blog Site 1000 Times Since 2011.”
#683: E is for Elephant Gym
Bass-forward jazz fusion from Taiwan, with healthy doses of pop, hip hop, math rock. The tunes are often instrumental, but sometimes there’s a lead vocal, usually from a guest artist, and, as Elephant Gym is an internationally collaborative unit, the vocals might be sungin Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, or English. Sometimes Elephant Gym gets noisy, butContinue reading “#683: E is for Elephant Gym”
#682: E is for Eilish, Billie
I see her as both adorableand as a serious artist. Adorable, in that, like Swift, but perhaps even more-so, she seems to exude goodness. And her creative collaborationwith her brother Finneas is perhaps the most adorablesibling musical endeavor ever. They clearly love each otherand are astoundingly well-matchedin their talents and tastes. Finneas is an enormouslyContinue reading “#682: E is for Eilish, Billie”
#681: E is for Ed and the Boats
We must have been about 17years of age. Dating, and both drummers, we had not yet figured out a wayto make our own music, outsideof her on the drum kit and me on lead vocals in our very firstgarage band. I had found a coupleof seasoned (24 year old) musicians, a bass player and keyboardistwhoContinue reading “#681: E is for Ed and the Boats”
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