80s-music
February 12, 2021

deahmau5’s New Song Order

I’m sitting here listening to a new song by deadmau5. If you are unfamiliar with deadmau5, he’s a DJ and electronic dance music (EDM) artist who performs in a mask that kind of looks like Mickey Mouse. He was doing this well before Marshmello was walking around with a giant marshmallow on his head. One of the things I especially like about deadmau5 is that his […]

updates
February 10, 2021

Looks Like 1969 is Offline

It looks like the video I referenced in my blog on the bad music of 1969 is offline. The whole channel is offline. I can only speculate that YouTube shut them down. What a pity since it was a great video. The rest of the blog stands, of course. The popular music from that era could be horribly trite. If the channel reappears, I’ll let everyone know.

90s Alternative Dream Pop Goat Girl Radiohead
February 9, 2021

New Goat Girl Album is Full of 90s Goodness

I wrote a few weeks ago how a new Goat Girl song, “Badibaba”, seemed to channel 90s Dream Pop band Lush. Since then the new album, On All Fours, has debuted on Spotify and it is amazing. The 90s references are everywhere. You can hear Dream Pop, of course, but also EDM flourishes, Trip Hop hooks, and other 90s goodness. Listening to the song “Sad […]

Hardcore New Music Pop Punk Punk
February 8, 2021

S1E2: Road to Ruin

In my early teens, I was an avid listener of progressive rock. bands like Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull, and especially Emerson, Lake, and Palmer were the staples of my budding music collection. I, of course, had the more popular albums of the time. Just about everyone had The Eagles’ Hotel California or Frampton Comes Alive but progressive music is what got me going. That is […]

60s
February 4, 2021

Music in 1969: Was I too Young or Am I Blocking It Out?

I ran across this YouTube video that listed the top songs of 1969. Go watch it before reading further so that this makes more sense. I turned 7 years old in 1969 so I thought it likely I would remember much of these songs. By 7 you are old enough to remember TV and music. Turns out I do remember many of them. Some were […]

Blondie Mazzy Star Miley Cyrus New Music
January 30, 2021

Miley Cyrus Does Rock and Wow!

Miley Cyrus is not typically for mature tastes. Originally a Disney bubblegum pop artist, Cyrus’ evolution into an adult star has centered around featureless R&B infused Pop. If it weren’t for her exceptional voice, at times deep and husky and with incredible power, Cyrus would be a has-been child star with a YouTube audience but little mass appeal. Over the past few months, however, Cyrus […]

Dream Pop Goat Girl Lush New Music Shoegazer
January 23, 2021

Goat Girl Channels Lush

Back in the 90s we saw a host of innovative bands that didn’t quite fit the prevailing genres. What genre is Smashing Pumpkins anyway? Alt Rock? What does that even mean? One of my favorites at the time was the band Lush. Often confused with Dream Pop and Shoegazer because of their textured sounds, Lush really didn’t fit either. Their music did have that layered […]

80s-music
January 22, 2021

Holly Knight was a Hidden Gem

The first time I heard about Holly Knight, it was the mid-1980s. WLIR was playing this song called “Obsession” in heavy rotation. At some point it was even the Screamer of the Week. For those unlucky enough to have not spent some of the 80s in the Greater New York City area, WLIR was the premier “New Music” station. The “Screamer of the Week” was […]

Classic Rock New Music
January 21, 2021

S1E1: The Legacy of Kate Bush

This, the first, episode of the podcast Tunes Past to Present explores the legacy of Kate Bush as expressed in today’s music especially two modern artists with similar musical tendencies and style. There are a lot of ways to describe Kate Bush — quirky, campy, experimental, artistic, and poetic — but ultimately, she represented a strain in rock music that tried to be more than […]

Classic Rock Dance Music Modern Rock New Music New Wave Punk
January 7, 2021

Tunes Past to Present Introduction

Next month will see the launch of Tunes Past to Present. Tunes Past to Present is a podcast where I explore new music through the lens of the music of my youth, predominantly rock, dance, and punk. Let’s face it. As you head into your mid-forties and beyond, it can be difficult to find new music that suits your tastes. You might listen to the […]