updates
November 20, 2022

Follow Me on Mastodon

I know, everyone you know is moving from Twitter to something else, possibly Mastodon. Some dislike Elon Musk’s politics. Others just think he’s an entitled ass who is trashing Twitter. Both may also be true, perhaps likely. For me, it’s a bit different. Given the sheer amount of engineering talent that has flown the coup (see the joke there), I’m concerned about it’s stability and […]

Dream Pop Euro Shoegazer
February 16, 2023

Picturesque by MOLLY is a Dream

Since the 1980s, when both Dream Pop and Shoegaze appeared, the two genres have often been confused with each other. More accurately, it’s not always clear why one band or other was called shoegaze and another dream pop. To me, the defining element of shoegaze is the wall of distortion created over pop vocals. That distortion is intentionally abrasive, with a sound like a buzz […]

Alternative Jangle Pop Modern Rock New Music Roots
January 30, 2023

An Odd Little EP from Johnossi

While looking through some new music suggestions on Spotify, up popped the Swedish band Johnossi. Their music has a kind of late 80s/90s retro sound with elements of 80s roots and 90s alternative and a splash of indie rock. I was immediately reminded of some 90s Toronto bands like Lowest of the Low, Blue Rodeo (though less twangy), and Barenaked Ladies. But also, 80s jangle […]

70s Classic Rock Pop Reggae soul
January 11, 2023

Remembering 1973… Sort of.

We are in one of those yearly interregnum periods with music. Starting in about October, there are fewer and fewer new releases. Unless you were Ryan Adams that is. He pushed out six albums in 2022, roughly 10 years output for most artists, with several coming at the end of the year. The upshot is that there have been too few new albums to choose […]

Blues Gospel New Music Pop soul Trip Hop
December 21, 2022

Join Me as I Ponder Some Of Us Are Brave

Back in the 1980s, there was a number of artists that fused blues and R&B, as well as gospel, soul, and smooth jazz, with rock, pop, and other genres. This was something of a golden age for the blues and R&B as traditional blues artists, such as Bonnie Raitt, broke into the mainstream. This was also the era when blues great Robert Cray emerged, flirting […]

Alt folk Americana Bluegrass
December 6, 2022

The Petersens Go Home

I have a process for writing these articles. I collect up albums I think I might want to review and then focus on one or two at a time. First I give the record an initial listen to decide if I want to really write about it. At this stage I typically will make a go/no go decision. I either continue with my evaluation or […]

70s 80s-music Dream Pop Indie New Music Pop retro
December 2, 2022

Weyes Blood Makes My Heart Glow

Weyes Blood (a.k.a. Natalie Mering) is hard to categorize. The closest I can come is 70s soft rock, like Bread, but without the schlock. Perhaps, she can be compared to 70s and 80s singer-songwriters. She certainly structures her songs like Aimee Man or Jenny Lewis might; Or is she more like Sandy Denny? I sit here listening to her latest album, And in The Darkness, […]

Dance Music Dream Pop garage Indie New Music Punk shoegaze Trip Hop
November 25, 2022

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Makes Some Cool Music

If you had asked me a month ago “What kind of music do the Yeah Yeah Yeahs make?” I would have answered “Garage punk or retro post-punk.” And I would have been right. One listen to their most famous song, “Maps”, and you would agree that it is typical early 2000s retro post-punk. Their sound combined minimalist synths with loud guitar solos and simple, tuneful […]

80s-music Dance Music Euro French New Music
November 17, 2022

Christine and the Queens Reaches for the Stars

The latest album from Héloïse Letissier, a.k.a Christine and the Queens just dropped. Called Redcar les adorable etoiles (prologue), which translates to Redcar, the adorable star (prolog), it is one of the best albums of the year. A mix of europop dance music, dream pop, 80s new wave, David Bowie, and even progressive rock, Christine and the Queens has created a marvelous album. What could […]

New Music
November 15, 2022

There’s a Reason for My Silence

It’s been over a month since my last blog post. There is a reason for that and it’s not personal in any way. I’d like to say that I’ve been in Hawaii for a month but, alas, that’s not the case. Most writers of the sort I am (essayists and humorists really) try and keep up a regular cadence. It’s the only way to build […]