This week, I’ll be writing about songs featured in some of my favorite musical moments from some of my favorite TV shows. Be warned that I don’t shy away from spoilers. It’s built around a spoof of a semi-viral YouTube video… which is scored by a mediocre Chris Brown song… which is an extended jingle…
Ah, the early nineties, when it was a generational statement to say you were bored. In the post-cocaine, post-yuppie world, many of the cultural heroes were shitheads in, or recently out of, school who didn’t know what do with their lives, and didn’t particularly care. Think Bart Simpson and Beavis and Butt-Head. Richard Linklater even…
Part of the trifecta of my favorite songs when I was a little kid (along with “Help” by The Beatles and “I Go To Extremes” by Billy Joel). The soaring guitar riff that works as the song’s hook is probably its most memorable element. I love the track’s feeling of synthesis. Even 25+ years later,…
Ah, Teenage Fanclub: the terribly named but wonderful band. Their best album is the terribly titled (and covered) but wonderful Bandwagonesque. It’s one of my favorite albums of all time: a slightly grungy blend of power pop and off-kilter indie sensibility. The band shows off fuzzy guitar licks without sacrificing the hooks. TFC rocks fairly simple tunes that glow…
I’ve never dug particularly deep into Neil Young’s discography, which is a shame, because the one album I’ve spun on repeat before is an absolute favorite of mine: The poetic Rust Never Sleeps. Young, with backing band Crazy Horse, blends live sets with studio recordings, all-acoustic numbers with electric powerhouses, all with some of the…
Grimes caught my eye following Pitchfork’s glowing reviews, particularly of this track: At the end of 2014, they called it the best song of the first half of the decade, with a very thoughtful analysis of the song’s and its music video’s politics and resonance. I agree with their take, but I won’t bother recapping…
There are songs in a category I call STATMYALTIYCHBBITGSOAT (song that, at the moment you are listening to it, you can’t help but believe it’s the greatest song of all time). It’s a classification reserved for the most rousing, epic tracks, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” definitely falls into the category, even post-memeification. From the opening chord…
I’m as baffled as anyone that Fall Out Boy has endured for more than a decade. Was there any band that seemed trendier in 2006, more destined to be a bullet point in a “Rememba the Early 2000’s?” listicle in 2018, than Fall Out Boy? That’s certainly what I expected. Yet they had a Top…
In our 2015 end-of-year recap, I declared myself a “freakazoid obsessive of YouTube covers,” which is a bit of an imprecise description. What usually happens is I’ll stumble on a performance I really connect with, then spend the next few weeks listening to every cover by that singer or group. My favorite individual songs will go on…
Katy Perry said it best in an interview: Ariana Grande has the best female vocal in pop music today. It’s difficult to fight such a statement, as bold as it stands. Despite being mocked for her height and youthful appearance, in addition to amassing a reputation as a diva and Mariah Carey copy cat, it’s…