So how does one get turnedon to a band from Oklahomadoing a kind of baroque chamberpop thing with electronics, folksy acoustics and understated and sometimes whispery light singingover the top of percolating percussion?Another pre-streaming discovery, I think I downloaded their debut 2011 album, Tamer Animals, froma service called Emusic, a musicsubscription site that allowed twoorContinue reading “#824: O is for Other Lives”
Tag Archives: record collection
#823: O is for Ono, Yoko
I do not have any albumsby Yoko Ono. I do not have anyalbums by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. But I do have this thing, Ocean Child: Songs of Yoko Ono, a collection of recordings by various artistscovering Yoko Ono’s songs. I remember distinctly that I found this album at the annual sidewalk sale ofContinue reading “#823: O is for Ono, Yoko”
#822: O is for Olsen, Angel
Early in my experience as a customer of the now ubiquitousstreaming service industry, I think Angel Olsen came up either as something that was currently hot or as a recommendedlisten. That was the year All Mirrors came out, and for somereason, maybe even because the cover photo intrigued me, I gave it a listen orContinue reading “#822: O is for Olsen, Angel”
#821: O is for Oingo Boingo + Boingo
In the first year or so of MTV, fronted by the theatrical, vocalist extraordinaire, andfuture film scoring giant, Danny Elfman, Oingo Boingo made their debut into the punk rock new wave universe and the national consciousness with the insane music video for their first single, the cringy (especially in hindsight), “Little Girls.” As a highContinue reading “#821: O is for Oingo Boingo + Boingo”
#820: O is for Of Montreal
I’ve pulled this album out, the only one I have by this American psychedelic pop “band” called Of Montreal, which is really the creative brainchild of one Kevin Barnes, a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter,visual artist, and provocateur. There is no identifyinginformation on the album cover, on the spine, or on the disc labels. Not even the linerContinue reading “#820: O is for Of Montreal”
#819: N is for Nyro, Laura
Another mysterious album in the collection gifted to me by my artist and musician friend Curtis.Here’s a songwriter that I would have heard about, whose name I would have recognized as a person often cited as a significant figure, whosesongs I had heard performed by otherartists, but whose records had completely escaped me. It’s 1969.Continue reading “#819: N is for Nyro, Laura”
#817: N is for Nilsson, Harry
Before I became educatedabout this guy, if you would havetold me that “Coconut” (you know, put the lime in the____ and call mein the morning), “Everybody’s Talking”(at me, and I don’t hear a word they’resaying), and (I can’t live, if living is “Without You” were all songs written by the same guy, I would haveContinue reading “#817: N is for Nilsson, Harry”
#816: N is for The New Pornographers
They are one of only a few artists or bandsthat jump-started their career during the 21st century whose entire catalog has found its way into my CD and vinyl collection. Despite their most unfortunate band name, these Canadians have made ten studio albums over the last 26 years, all of which are tremendously good. AContinue reading “#816: N is for The New Pornographers”
#815: N is for Newman, Randy
My first introduction to Randy Newman, as a 13 year old boy of diminutive stature,was “Short People,” and then, probably decades later, it was “You Got A Friend in Me,” the soundtrack tune for the Toy Story film. And then, sometime afterthat, it came to my attention that RandyNewman was a significant figure, not justContinue reading “#815: N is for Newman, Randy”
We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program to Celebrate the Arrival of the New Turntable Baby
I ordered an Orbit Theory from U-turn Audio last Wednesday (while I was still in Massachusetts) from one of my neighborhood record stores here in Portland, Oregon, and yesterday I drove to The Record Pub to pick it up. It is the first “high end” turntable I’ve ever purchased. Makes me feel like a grown-up.Continue reading “We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Program to Celebrate the Arrival of the New Turntable Baby”
michael jarmer 