Welcome back for my annual list of albums I liked (with the usual caveat that I don’t buy enough music to call this a representative best-of list).  This year, I actually have 10 albums, which is a triumph of counting for me.  (Um, well, it is 10 if you count the little fake bonus compilation [...]

Well, it’s that time of year again for my annual blog post.  This year was actually a slow one for me and music.  I just didn’t find that much that I was interested in.  Looking back through my Ipod, I managed to come up with 7 albums that I bought that I’d recommend. I’ll pad [...]

OK, so somehow I haven’t added anything to this blog for a year.  Go figure.  Most of my blogging/pop culture energy in 2010 got sucked up by posts and reviews over at PopMatters.  So that’ll be my excuse.  But I’m getting back on this horse with my second now annual tradition of naming 10 albums [...]

I wouldn’t say these are necessarily the ten best albums of the year. I didn’t listen to enough music to make that claim. But these are ten albums I bought this year that are worth recommending. I stuck with music that was also released this year (which disqualified two albums that were put out in [...]

My indie music extravaganza continues on Emusic.  Here are a couple more standouts. fun. Yes, that is the name of this band, complete with the period at the end and a lowercase f.  Nothing says indie band like punctuation in the name.  And nothing says 70′s nostalgia throwback like a 7:51 minute song with melodic [...]

I’ve written before about Emusic.  Great service for indie music.  I’ve found a lot of good stuff there.  But I tend to run out of things to download after a couple of months.  Anyway, they’ve sucked me back in with 75 free downloads (and you know I can’t resist free downloads), so here’s the result [...]

Rancid has always worn their message on their sleeve.  There is nothing subtle when they sing on their new album about being “disconnected from the country I love.”  The same can be said about their influences — you can hear each one of them front and center in the music and lyrics. Rancid has been [...]

Nothing like ITunes credit to help me take chances on new music.  Not that I need I much encouragement.  I’m highly suggestible.  A couple good reviews or a recommendation from someone and I’ll probably check a new band out.  Anyway, I seem to be stuck pretty firmly on the college radio charts with my latest [...]

Lucinda Williams’ voice will break your heart.  It doesn’t really matter what she is singing about — that breathy gravelly voice will take you down every time.  While you’re with Williams, you’ll spend a lot of time in cars and broken down homes, moving from city to city in the deep South.  It may crush [...]

Hi, my name’s Mike and I watch American Idol.  I used to qualify that statement by adding quickly that I didn’t buy any of the music put out by former Idols.  But I can’t say that anymore.  In the last year, there has been an explosion in Idol music on the Ipod, including a major [...]