I can’t remember the last timeI was as hypnotized by a voice. Or the last time I fell in love withan album that was, ostensibly, folk. When Kara Jackson tours, I think, she’s just a singer with an acoustic. And while the songs are powerful delivered in this stripped down way,this record is sonically complex.Continue reading “#743: J is for Jackson, Kara”
Tag Archives: music
#741: J is for Jacklin, Julia
Somehow Joe Jackson snuck in frontof Julia Jacklin in the stacks. One of my favoriterecords of 2022, Julia Jacklin’s Pre-Pleasure is a mellow, moody mix of singer-songwriter goodness, smart, evocative, sometimes funnylyrics and Julia’s soft but rich singing voice.“Lydia Wears A Cross,” the album opener, is a vivid study of children in church and allContinue reading “#741: J is for Jacklin, Julia”
#739: J is for Jackson, Joe
At first, Joe Jackson struck meas the “other” Elvis Costello, and at the time, in my teens, I could not imagine needing another one. I was wrong aboutthat, of course, and I knew itas soon as Jackson released the big band album, Jumpin’Jive. He actually beat Costelloto the punch with the genrehopping. But this, NightContinue reading “#739: J is for Jackson, Joe”
#737: I is for It’s A Beautiful Day
The first time I heard this record, it was January in 2024 as I was goingthrough a stack of records bequeathed to me by my brother-in-law, Kevin. This is what I wrote: Embarrassed a little bit to admit it, but even though I have seen this album cover a thousand times, and wondered in stupefactionContinue reading “#737: I is for It’s A Beautiful Day”
#736: I is for Illuminati Hotties
“Pool Hopping” has to be one of the mostcrushing power pop punk rock songs in recentmemory. Followed immediately on the albumLet Me Do One More by the equally sassy andwildly exuberant “MMMOOOAAAAAYAYA.” One would be hard pressed to find two more powerful opening tracks in the wholeof the year of our pandemic, 2020-21.The project ofContinue reading “#736: I is for Illuminati Hotties”
#734: I is for Icehouse
“It’s always cold outside the Icehouse.”And “there’s no love inside the Icehouse.” It’s 1981 and I’m 17, totally immersed in what they call New Wave music, neverto return, or to return only nostalgically,to the hard rock of my pre-teen years.Certainly, I saw the video for the titletrack and theme song for this new bandon MTV,Continue reading “#734: I is for Icehouse”
#732: H is for Hozier
My first Hozier experience, like it was for most people,was “Take Me To Church,” an unlikely pop song that managed to take the Catholicchurch to task while soundinglike a spiritual, or gospel music. There were those smart, literarylyrics and that gigantic voice. It didn’t really matter to me that stylistically it was not musicin myContinue reading “#732: H is for Hozier”
#730: H is for Howard, Brittany
Brittany Howard first came to my attention as the lead singer and guitar playerfor Alabama Shakes. An unbelievably greatplayer with a tremendous voice, she fronted a band that was doing some hybrid of blues, gospel, jazz,funk, all with the kind of sonic production you’d find on the most alternative of rock records. The two Brittany Howard solo albums pushContinue reading “#730: H is for Howard, Brittany”
#729: H is for Hot Chip
This album by Hot Chip has the distinction of having the absoluteworst graphic design of almost any record ever, certainly of any recordin my collection. The track list, the title,the lyrics, the name of the band, the credits, appear to all be jammed togetherand overlapping each other on the frontcover, black ink on a whiteContinue reading “#729: H is for Hot Chip”
#728: H is for Honorary Astronaut
Moving through my collection as I’m doing, it’s a joyous occasion when I come across artists I love from the end of the alphabet who arecollaborating with artists from an earlier letter of the alphabet (David Byrne and St. Vincent, Robyn Hitchcock and Andy Partridge from XTC) or when I arrive at a solo artistContinue reading “#728: H is for Honorary Astronaut”
michael jarmer 