Are we not men? We are Devo. A rare instance during my buddingmusical identity, discovering, or hearingfor the first time, a band’s debut album.Most of my all-time favorite bandsI heard for the first time on their thirdor forth record (XTC, Boomtown Rats, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Japan). After all, I was just a kid. IContinue reading “#671: D is for Devo”
Tag Archives: poem
#670: D is for Destroyer
I first heard Dan Bejar’s voiceon The New Pornographers’ records, and I thought to myself, what the hellis that? A voice, not really similarto, but along the linesof a Neil Young–a totally uncharacteristic kind of voicefor rock music, but simultaneouslyperfect for it. At first, I didn’t like it, but there was some hook,some element ofContinue reading “#670: D is for Destroyer”
#669: D is for Descartes A Kant
A group from Mexico Citytakes on a band namealluding to a French philosopherand a German philosopher, respectively, and sings exclusivelyin English, while their stage banter, as far as I can tell, is delivered exclusively in Spanish. I can’t remember how I stumbled uponthis band, although it’s only been a few years; perhaps I saw aContinue reading “#669: D is for Descartes A Kant”
#668: D is for Del Rey, Lana
My first recollectionof encountering the musicof Lana Del Rey was a notoriousSaturday Night Live appearancethat was summarily panned by everyone who saw it as perhapsthe worst SNL musical guest performance in history. I didn’t see it live, but if I remembercorrectly, I was curious enough to watch it later, and while I didn’t really likeContinue reading “#668: D is for Del Rey, Lana”
#667: D is for Deerhoof
I love this band but they can bedifficult to listen to. I have one DeerhoofCD, one LP, and about four or five downloadedalbums that, in lightof that difficulty, were not in heavy rotationdespite the fact that I was delighted and intriguedby every one of those albums.They are one of thosebands, and I’ve listenedto a lotContinue reading “#667: D is for Deerhoof”
#666: D is for Deep Sea Diver
My friend Eric asked meif I wanted to go with himto see Deep Sea Diver, and, having never heard the band, of course, I said yes. In preparation, I downloadedthe most current thing, the2016 album called Secrets. Led by songwriter, singer, and guitarplayer extraordinaire, Jessica Dobson, the band absolutely rocked, and from that momentforward, IContinue reading “#666: D is for Deep Sea Diver”
#655: C is for Costello, Elvis (79/98/18)
79: Armed Forces My first Elvis Costelloand the Attractions album, Armed Forces ruled my 16 year-old world, so much so, that I can still sing alongword for word to every songon this album, except for thewords I couldn’t understand, because there were no lyricsin the liner notes, and becausesometimes, Elvis Costello mumbles. I know IContinue reading “#655: C is for Costello, Elvis (79/98/18)”
#650: C is for The Claypool-Lennon Delirium
If you had asked me,during the 90’s what the likelihood would be of a collaboration between Les Claypoolof Primus and Sean Lennon, the famous offspring of a Beatle, I might have saidthere is zero chance of that. I would be wrong, of course. The resultingalbums, as one would expect, are pretty weird. Unconventional, silly, psychedelic,Continue reading “#650: C is for The Claypool-Lennon Delirium”
#604: A is for Average White Band
A quick note from yours truly to begin. It took me 11 days to listen to 29 record albums by 14 artists and to write a poem-like thing for each songwriter or band filed under the letter A in my collection. There were, in that 29, a couple of double albums, but I have onlyContinue reading “#604: A is for Average White Band”
#601: A is for Arctic Monkeys
“Can we please be absolutely sure that there’s a mirrorball for me?” I hadn’t heard these guysin nearly a decade and one dayin 2022 their new album came across the radar, as they say, a new album called The Car,and I streamed it out of purecuriosity. This was not your mama’s Arctic Monkeys, but IContinue reading “#601: A is for Arctic Monkeys”
michael jarmer 