Tag Archives: vinyl collection

#828: P is for Parks, Arlo

Groovy, slick, smooth, personal, poetic, and very English, Arlo Parks’ first album reachedthe #3 position on the UK album charts in 2021. It’s a funky mix of hip hop lo fi drum production, jangly guitars, cool synths and organs, and Arlo’s hooky melodies, soft delivery,and earnest, conversational lyrics. This debut is nearly irresistibly cool. IContinue reading “#828: P is for Parks, Arlo”

#827: P is for Paramore

Hayley Williams is a force.I have only one, the latest, album by Paramore, and if this one recordis any indicator, these cats form a incredibly talented and versatile band, but Hayley’s vocal performances areunhinged and over the top in the mostwonderful way, bursting with energy, as wild and as spunky as anything Debbie Harry everContinue reading “#827: P is for Paramore”

#826: P is for .Paak, Anderson

I think so far in my listening challengeit must be clear: I do not have any hip hopin the collection. I do not own any rap albums. There may be hip hop moments in a Beyoncérecord, guest spots by rappers on a James Blakealbum, spoken word artists doing a thing that could not justifiably beContinue reading “#826: P is for .Paak, Anderson”

#824: O is for Other Lives

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”

#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”

#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”

#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”