all together

Twitter has a knack for creating an odd sense of intimacy with — and among — famous people we’ve never met. I’ve followed several musicians on there since joining the site in early 2009 and have developed a new sense of “knowing” them that could never have been gained from standing on the other side of…

a masterpiece, bought

Neil Young’s 1974 album On the Beach is easily one of my top five albums of all time. (I can somewhat confidently identify two others that are in the top five, but we’ll give them their own posts sometime.)

a brief primer on concert etiquette

It is not difficult to behave “properly” at a rock show. Almost anything goes, really. You can wear jeans, wear a tiny dress, drink, do drugs, scream and flail, etc.

just the essence

Last week, I spent hours on an emotional post about tragedy and healing and music. Wordpress/my computer had some sort of meltdown and lost nearly all of it.

The important part: One day after watching horror unfold so close to home, I got away from Connecticut and spent a…

now we’re getting closer

It’s exciting when the bands we like switch up their sound on new songs, but their forays into new sonic territory also sometimes feel like a betrayal. Sure, artistic evolution and experimentation are a given over the course of a band’s existence. The challenge is that listeners’ ears…

in the spirit of the season

Having recently subjected myself to the horrors of mall Christmas music, I started ranking the Worst Christmas Songs Ever** with a friend whose distaste for (most) Christmas music is about as serious as mine.

don’t let me into this year with an empty heart

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