#793: M is for Manchester Orchestra

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”

#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”

#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”

#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”

#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”