December 2010
1 post
“Hello babies. Welcome to earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you’ve got about a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies, ‘God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.’”
-Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
All praises due, and thanks to Kimya Dawson
July 2010
1 post
March 2010
1 post
5 tags
Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians - “Fegmania”
So it’s pretty obvious at this point that I’ve been unable to keep this up on a daily or even weekly basis. We play records almost every day, but with both of us working and trying to fumble our way into competent parenthood, it’s been hard to find time consistently to reflect and to write. So I’m going to mess with the format a little bit. I’d prefer to write more...
January 2010
2 posts
New Order – "Low-Life"
This is really a band for everyone, beloved by fans of punk, new wave, dance music, indie rock, and us dinosaurs who remember ‘college rock” as a genre unto itself. I always felt like they were a true dichotomy, equal parts minimal pop group and pre-programmed dance machine.
The opening strain of “Love Vigilantes” always brings a smile to my face, and now that she’s smiling for real (and not...
December 2009
11 posts
5 tags
Elvis Costello & The Attractions – "My Aim Is...
This is the real Elvis. My feelings about the American singer of the same name can be best summed up by the third verse of Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power,” and that’s pretty much all I’ll say about him. Of the huge selection of heartbreak music in our collection, Mr. Costello (née Declan McManus) and his band are perhaps the most compelling to sing of unrequited love.
What I want to write about...
3 tags
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Fugazi - "Steady Diet Of Nothing"
The most difficult part of having an infant in your house is that you can’t really leave her alone. If it’s just her and I at home, and I need to make food or take a shower, I need to think very carefully about how and where she’ll be safe if I put her down. Soon we’ll need to start thinking about who we will trust to care for her when we’re at work or (gasp) out doing something fun and...
6 tags
Madlib – "Shades of Blue"
Because sometimes you’re in the mood for beats, but not lyrics. And sometimes sound conveys something that words can’t. It takes most of us quite a few years before we start to grasp this possibility, that we can communicate without words. Our intuitive response in most situations is to say too much, when just a look or a touch would suffice. Often simply acknowledging that we really don’t know...
6 tags
Siouxsie and the Banshees – "Once Upon A Time/The...
We named our daughter after several strong women from the history of music, literature and politics, women who weren’t easily intimidated or backed down. Women with big personalities and big mouths. This album will be her first exposure to the voice of one of my favorite tough ladies from the punk pantheon. Siouxsie was part of the infamous Bromley Contingent, a crew of kids from the London...
7 tags
Marvin Gaye – "Let’s Get It On"
I know, I know…this might seem like a weird album to go out of your way to play for a baby, because it may be one of the sexiest records of all time. Inappropriate, you say? Well how exactly do you think babies are made? Despite my passion for hardcore punk, indie rock, and hip-hop, I start almost every day with a Motown selection. I remember having a conversation with Palaitis about how, in...
5 tags
The Monorchid – "Who Put Out the Fire?"
Another one of Sarah’s picks. I have to admit that I mostly slept on this band. Despite the fact that I love Chris Thompson on the Fury EP, I never checked out the Monorchid’s first album, a split release between Dischord and Simple Machines, because I had decided (mistakenly, it turns out) by the mid-90’s that Dischord Records had basically shit the bed. This premature assumption came about...
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Devo – "Freedom of Choice"
Sarah picked this one out, one of her favorites. Because the music is sort of campy and deceivingly simplistic, I thought it might appeal to our infant daughter. I remember when Devo had a minor hit with “Whip It” in 1980. This band always fascinated me, what with their science fiction chic and coordinated outfits. I had always got the feeling that there was something to decode in Devo’s...
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EPMD - "Strictly Business"
The first few days after we got home from the hospital was just a blur of Motown, Latin Jazz, and the Beatles. Just whatever records were already pulled off the shelves and sitting by the turntable. Nothing really deliberate, just what was within easy reach. Too many guests, not enough sleep.
I put on Strictly Business just to reminisce with my brother about what a classic album it is. I’d...
4 tags
Songs To Learn & Sing
Parenthood. Of the countless challenges faced and met in this life so far, this is probably the most exciting and daunting undertaking of all. It promises to change us irrevocably and test us in ways that we had never considered. I felt elated, but also unworthy and unprepared. Being a reader and lover of books, I sought wisdom in that medium, but was repeatedly disappointed. Almost everything...