These guys are from Atlanta, Georgia, not even remotely from Manchester,and they are not an orchestra, but a rockband–albeit a sophisticated one, a bandI discovered because Andy Hull, their band leader and principle songwriter, once collaborated with The Dear Hunter. I only have this one E.P. , The Valley of Vision,even though I streamed theirContinue reading “#793: M is for Manchester Orchestra”
Category Archives: Poetry
#792: M is for Magdalena Bay
Magdalena Bay might be the best 80’smale and female duo ever to form in the twenty-first century. More experimental than the Eurythmics and less rock oriented than Roxette, while Everything ButThe Girl maybe comes closest with their flirtation with jazz, Magdalena Bay bringstogether the other-worldly lead vocal from Mica Tenenbaum and the prog-leaning, synthesizer-heavy, andContinue reading “#792: M is for Magdalena Bay”
#791: M is for Madness
If I had any Madness records when I was 15 or 16 years old, I lost them in the great vinyl purgeof 1988, and I don’t remember which ones I had. I suspect at least one of them was Absolutely, and I come to that conclusionas I’m listening this morning to the 2013 Yep RockContinue reading “#791: M is for Madness”
The A to Z Listening Challenge So Far (By The Numbers)
It appears that I have arrived at the half way point in my challenge of listening to nearly every single album in my vinyl record collection. It falls, neatly enough, at the end of the letter L, just one letter shy of the 13th letter, and the half way mark in the alphabet, which is,Continue reading “The A to Z Listening Challenge So Far (By The Numbers)”
#790: L is for Lucius
Ten years ago, I bought this albumGood Grief by Lucius. Like a numberof other artists represented in my collection, I do not remember howI was turned on to their music. If I were to make an educated guess, it’d be that I was reading glowingreviews, or that this album was showing up on various favoriteContinue reading “#790: L is for Lucius”
#789: L is for Lowe, Nick
“Cruel To Be Kind” is likely the greatest pop song of the newwave era that I, inexplicably, neveracquired. Outside of seeing the video for that very first hit of his on MTVmore times than it is possible to count, I never bought a Nick Lowe album. I knew who he was. I knew he wasContinue reading “#789: L is for Lowe, Nick”
#788: L is for Lotic
My son is eleven, maybe twelve years old. It’s 2016 or 17 and for ChristmasI buy him a starter turntable. From his earliest years, surrounded by music, he grows to love it, so I thinkhe might also, like his Dad, grow into a vinyl enthusiast. One day I take him to my favorite record storeContinue reading “#788: L is for Lotic”
#787: L is for The Lemon Twigs
When brothers Brian and Michael D’Addariofirst started making records, they were 19and 17 years old, respectively. Today, neitherof them are out of their twenties, and in theintervening decade, they’ve released six fulllength albums and one e.p. of music as The Lemon Twigs, one cover album of songs written by their dad, and Brian has releasedContinue reading “#787: L is for The Lemon Twigs”
#786: An American Sonnet after the Billie Eilish Concert Film
For a 1:40 showing on a Monday, I sat alone, the only person insidethe neighborhood multiplex, theater #8, to watch the Billie Eilish concert film.No 3D available here, I watched it binocularly, with my own glasses.Even without stereoscopy, I was still movedby the spectacle, the music, the magnitudeof it all, the tears streaming down faces.ThousandsContinue reading “#786: An American Sonnet after the Billie Eilish Concert Film”
#785: L is for The Last Dinner Party
In another alphabetical mishap, bypassing the newer records insidethe browser cubes, I momentarilyforgot about this top-notch all-female English chamber pop rockgroup called The Last Dinner Party, a band so good I almost don’t like them, not because I’m jealous, not because I believe for a secondthe accusation that they’re industryplants (whatever the hell that means),Continue reading “#785: L is for The Last Dinner Party”