I happened to tell a younger friend and fellow self-professed musicologist the news that R.E.M. announced their breakup today and he said sarcastically that it's been years since they've been relevant anyway. Well, I thought, maybe he's right. Although their first nine (or so) albums were (in my mind) classic, near classic, and so far beyond relevant that they were groundbreaking, genre defining, and the coolest shit your 1980s ears had ever heard, I probably started to lose interest in them… Continue

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Being a Boston boy, I've spent a good part of my musical life with Kristin Hersh. Her ground breaking band, Throwing Muses - which she fronted as a teenager with her step-sister Tanya Donelly - was a huge part of the Boston scene back in the 80s (technicaly, they were from Providence, RI). Later, she went on her own, eventually retreating to the California desert with her family and recorded some amazing albums like "Hips and Makers" and 1998's… Continue

Here it is, almost mid-June and no one has put forth a Best of 2010 mid-year list. Well then, I’ll give it a go. Feel free to correct me as needed...



Best Reissue

Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago (JUST KIDDING! It's obviously Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street. I mean, could this award even be up for debate? Exile isn't my choice as the all-time all-time, but it’s one of the few reissues I bought and didn’t feel at least a little cheated… Continue

The first thing I did when I sat down to assemble my list was to count all the albums I begged, borrowed, bought, or stole during the past year and that number was err....surprising? shocking? embarassing? That number was 162 and it's not even December yet. Of course, many of the 162 were released well before 2009, so I'd guess that half of that number is up for consideration for this years awards. 162. Wow. Maybe I should consider putting myself on a budget? Anyway, this list is the result of… Continue