It’s time to make some pronouncements. I have no authority, and I hate it when people who have no authority make pronouncements, but because I am a musician and can kind of claim to know something about music, and because I lived through, was actually a teenager and a young adult in this particular era,Continue reading “Some Things that Sucked about Music in the 80’s”
Category Archives: Music
Forced Creativity Experiences (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)
April concludes and the new month begins with my successful participation in the National Poetry Month challenge of writing a poem a day for 30 days. I’m happy to say that I missed not a single day and that all 30 poems are posted here at michaeljarmer.com for your reading pleasure. I thought I wouldContinue reading “Forced Creativity Experiences (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)”
#15: Weeping At Rock Shows
Weeping At Rock Shows I’ve done it. I have allowed myself to weep at rock shows. Usually, I’m alone, anonymous in a crowd, no social obligations, no company to keep, and I am moved by the music. There’s an upswell that begins in the chest and travels up through the throat, the eyes water–enough, perhaps,Continue reading “#15: Weeping At Rock Shows”
#6: Drumsticks–A Valediction
Drumsticks: A Valediction Don’t worry; it’s only temporary. But because I’ve been drumming almost non-stop all weekend, I must now say farewell to you, my sticks, until next Friday, when I will take you up again and continue the drumming. Know, you must, that the drumming lately has been exceptional, in the way that fishingContinue reading “#6: Drumsticks–A Valediction”
Of Childhood Rock and Roll Fantasy
It was 1977. I was 12. From the perspective of my suburban cultural landscape, I was not yet aware of Talking Heads or Blondie. I hadn’t heard The Sex Pistols, The Boomtown Rats, XTC or Japan. I had not yet discovered the punk rock and the new wave or the truly experimental prog. I hadContinue reading “Of Childhood Rock and Roll Fantasy”
Well, That Was Mostly fun., Wasn’t It?
First of all, what a strange name for a band. Dorky, really; nevertheless, these fun. kids have become my favorite contemporary pop thing of the last couple of years. And I’ve been sort of astounded, surprised, and heartened by their recent and rip-roaringly fast rise to megastardom. So, I got my tickets months ago andContinue reading “Well, That Was Mostly fun., Wasn’t It?”
Only A Bad Dream: Record Store Paradise Lost
I had a nightmare last night that Music Millennium, the oldest independent record store in Portland, closed its doors, and I wandered around the store weeping while the employees packed everything into boxes. It was a terrible, suffocating dream, vivid, emotionally as real as they come. You know the kind, one of those night timeContinue reading “Only A Bad Dream: Record Store Paradise Lost”
No, I Don’t Want Any Music With My Coffee
I recently posted on my facelift page about the weirdness of walking into a Starbucks for an iced latte on an early summer morning and finding at the counter next to the register the new album by Fiona Apple. I’ve grown pretty accustomed to seeing music for sale there; they’ve been doing it for years.Continue reading “No, I Don’t Want Any Music With My Coffee”
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