I can’t lie—I’ve been accused of wallowing in depressing music more than is probably healthy for a (moderately) well-adjusted person. I consider myself both happy and positive (when I’m not reviewing a terrible movie), but my thirst for drama in music is often sated by tortured romanticism, sepulchral synths, self-paralyzing lyrics, the works. But it’s…
Prelude to a Dream This is the story of my best birthday present ever. One of the hallmarks of adulthood is realizing that paychecks allow you to buy yourself gifts; and who knows you better than you? Armed with a modest but steady income, on the eve of my quarter-century day, I made an investment…
In Colton’s post about the time Dave Elkins performed in his living room, I wrote a little bit about Marilyn Auza, Dave’s opening act, who sings and plays acoustic guitar. In the article, I praised her guitarwork, but I wanted to take a chance to expand a little bit on her charming performance. Beyond her…
The first Kanye song I heard was back in 2005, several months after the release of The College Dropout. “Through the Wire” on a compilation of Grammy nominees. Shortly afterwards, I read an article about Kanye’s mercurial personality. I became intrigued and checked out the rest of the album. I enjoyed it, but not enough to…
Read Part 1 of this Retrospective To start 2009, Kanye was basking in the sales and critical acclaim of his strange fourth album, 808s and Heartbreak. After a fateful 2008, it seemed Kanye’s world was starting to settle down again. But more upheaval and controversy were just around the corner. He spent the middle part of…
Damn, ‘Ye, it’d be stupid to dis you Even your superficial raps is super-official -Kanye, “Gone” Kanye West is the most controversial, paradoxical musician of the past quarter century. He’s brilliant and a moron, refined and vulgar, self-conscious and gregarious, beloved and hated. He’s the best and the worst, and that’s a big part of…
There are few things we at Earn This love more than a good musical — particularly a well-animated or -choreagraphed Disney musical. “Let It Go” has yet to thaw from the Billboard Top 10, and we’re creeping up on the 25th anniversary of The Little Mermaid, a film that launched a thousand Buzzfeed “only 90s kids” articles.…
In our latest mixtape, Brian, Colton, Dan, and Grant have selected some of their favorite songs to listen to on rainy days. As usual, we’ve included a Spotify playlist for you to listen to as you read. Click play on the YouTube video above for full effect. The Doors – Riders on the Storm One of…
I sat down to my computer last week, ready to write the next entry in my Top 100. “Oasis? I can probably sum up my feelings in — what, 1200 words? 1500?” But, remember: I always a) underestimate things, and b) overdo things. So here I am sitting with almost 4000 words about one of my favorite…
READ PART 1 OF THIS ARTICLE: Oasis Retrospective 1991-1995 During 1996, Oasis continued to blow up, selling out a quarter million-attendance concert and climbing the charts with each single. But the band was on the verge of combustion: Liam routinely skipped concerts for the hell of it, leaving Noel with vocal duties. Noel (not for the first…