Merry Christmas! If you’ve been wondering what to get your True Love this year, this listicle should help immensely. I’ll carefully review the merits of each of the gifts presented in the classic carol and rank them according to how much an average American in the modern day would appreciate receiving them on Christmas morning.…
Ben Folds was 35 when he sang the words: “Everybody knows it sucks to grow up.” I’m not quite there yet, but my life now is not what it was in high school or college. My appreciation of music has transitioned through several phases. I won’t say I’m past my prime; things are just different…
Download link (you may have to right click and “Save As”) In case you missed it: here is a link to part 1, covering 1960-1990 This is the second half of the podcast Colton and I recorded in the wake of the Grammies walking through and evaluating the history of the Best New Artist award. (Spoiler alert:…
The 57th Annual Grammy Awards come to you Sunday, February 8th. Rather than complain about the rigged system or make fun of the losers, this year I thought I’d consider the nominees in the “big four” categories on their own merits and decide how I’d order them and dish out the awards. Record, Album, and…
My dad, born in the mid-50’s, has a modest vinyl collection: just a few boxes, but more than one person could lift all at once. One of his most worn records is the soundtrack to 1983’s The Big Chill. While the film earned mixed reviews, the tracklist in the credits reads like a greatest hits…
Download link (you may have to right click and “Save As”) A few months ago, Earn This celebrated its fifth anniversary! In celebration, the site’s four main writers (plus my wife, Katy) got together to record a special edition of the Earn This Podcast: we got together to play the “Top 5 Anything” game, which Colton…
Dear Readers, In 2012 we brought your attention to a unique musical project. Dutch instrumental indie band All Shall Be Well (And All Shall Be Well And All Manner Of Things Shall Be Well) sourced a short story from a fan of theirs and set out to write a piece of music based on the…
To celebrate our fifth birthday, each Earn This contributor is selecting his five favorite things from the past five years. Here are Colton’s picks. Rap Genius (October 2009) First, there were lyrics. Skip ahead a bit. In 1999, the confused masses rejoiced at the creation of Urban Dictionary, an online reference point that, through community…
Anchorage is a tasty blend of electronic beats and acoustic strings where pop sensibilities connect the technological and the classical. What began as an attempt to “bridge the gap between the kids blasting Usher at school and the ones debating the intricacies of Mozart at youth orchestra rehearsal” has proven successful as sole member Caitlin…
According to a story broken yesterday by TMZ, Ke$ha is suing Dr. Luke for sexual, physical, verbal, and emotional abuse. I see two ways to spin this story into a broader dialogue, and I have no interest in either of them. First, some-kind-of abuse is evil. Agreed, and cheers to those who wave that flag…