It's amazing what time does for the critical reception of music. Let's look at Weezer's second album for example. Pinkerton was released in 1996 and was initially panned by Rolling Stone magazine. Furthermore, the readers of the magazine named the album the third worst of 1996. Fast forward to 2002
In late 1989, I was reading the Toronto Star and they were asking folks what they thought were the best albums of the 1980s. Somebody picked The Clash's London Calling, despite the fact it was actually released in 1979. That very next Saturday, I headed downtown to Yonge and Dundas
Snoop Dogg collaborated with an old friend at Coachella. That old friend also happens to be long dead. It's Tupac Shakur. Initially, I thought it was pretty cool. It almost gave me chills. It's Tupac, although prolific, dead since '96. How many kids at Coachella were even going to concerts
Exactly 8 years ago today, I wrote about the 11 greatest grunge albums. That entry received zero comments. I'm hoping we can beat that record today. Here's the list from 8 years ago: Nevermind - NirvanaIn Utero - NirvanaTen - Pearl JamDirt - Alice in ChainsVs. - Pearl JamTemple of
About five years ago, I wondered which 15 albums I would own if I could only own 15 albums. The first album on that list was Alice in Chains' Dirt. What can I say about Dirt? If it's okay with you, I'd like to steal from myself again. Here's what
Robert B. Sherman died today at the nice old age of 86. You probably don't know the name Robert B. Sherman, but you know these five tunes, all penned by Sherman. SupercalifragilisticexpialidociousChim Chim Cher-eeChitty Chitty Bang BangIt's a Small World (After All)Spoonful of Sugar
I love me some grunge, so I thoroughly enjoyed this find. It's Kurt Cobain's vocal track for Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and it's pretty awesome. Not to be outdone, here's another grunge god who died far too early. This is Layne Staley's vocal tracks for Alice in Chains' Man
If you like Futurama, you probably like Futurama's opening theme song. Here it is if you're not a fan and don't have it tattooed in your cranium. I just read on Reddit that the Futurama theme song was inspired by a 1967 Pierre Henry composition entitled "Psyché Rock". Here's that
Courtesy of WFMU's Beware of the Blog, here are mp3s with 10 seconds of every single top 100 song ever. See you all in a few hours. 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981
I watched most of the Grammys yesterday, and I was baffled by the Chris Brown love. He kept coming back, and the crowd kept loving it... It was a Chris Brown love-in and I don't get it. Help me understand why everybody loves this guy. Sure, he can dance, but
Deadmau5 pranked Skrillex by wearing a t-shirt with Skrillex's personal cellphone number on it. That's right, if you need to get ahold of Skrillex, just call 626-319-1039. Update: Skrillex is now forwarding his calls to Deadmau5' phone. Deadmau5 is forwarding these calls to Markus Persson, creator of Minecraft. My son
This 9-year old kid plays Ralph Stanley's' How Mountain Girls Can Love on a banjo like a mofo. His name is Jonny Mizzone and he and his brothers are the Sleepy Man Banjo Boys. My 9-year old played like this: I might be biased, but I'd say my son did
"You'll Never Walk Alone" is a show tune from the 1945 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel. You might know it best from soccer football matches, particularly when they involve Liverpool, or maybe as the song Jerry Lewis used to sing at the end of his Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. I've
I watched the Super Bowl half-time show yesterday. I was underwhelmed by yet more lip syncing by an artist I actually liked when I was ten. Flanking her for part of the show was Nicki Minaj, who grimaces too much for the camera, and M.I.A. who flipped us
Clive Young tells a great story about Donald Fagen's "I.G.Y." from his 1982 solo effort The Nightfly. Everyone does play “I.G.Y.” It’s become the “Freebird” of pro audio—visit a linecheck at a major concert venue or a speaker demo at AES or InfoComm, and
Full disclosure: my nephew's mother's cousin directed Organized Rhyme's video for Check the O.R. Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about Check the O.R., a CanCon hit from 1992... Organized Rhyme is now most famous for including Tom Green, but back in '92 I knew
I friggin' love Neil Young, so when he talks, I listen. Neil Young had some very interesting things to say on the stage of D: Dive into Media the other day. "Young is calling for a new digital ecosystem of high quality music files and he believes that Jobs would
There are only two nominees for Best Original Song at this year's Academy Awards. The Oscar will either go to the folks behind Real in Rio or Flight of the Conchords' Bret McKenzie's pretty awesome Man or Muppet. It's pretty bizarre that only two songs were deemed worthy of being
Who else remembers Spookey Ruben? If you don't know the name, you might recognize this: If you were watching MuchMusic in the mid-90s, you likely remember Spookey Ruben. I hadn't heard his name in years until Rob Pagetto mentioned Spookey was a bud. Hi Spookey! These Days Are Old is
I missed Lana Del Rey on Saturday Night Live last weekend, but judging from my Twitter feed she was terrible. Most people were probably hearing her name for the first time, and from what I've read she was a little nervous and had an off night. People love to hate,
Walk off the Earth's YouTube video for Somebody That I Used to Know is everywhere these days. I'm sure you've seen and heard it by now, but if you haven't, here it is. It's a fantastic tune. I love it, and can't get enough of it, but it doesn't belong
Absent Minded & iLLvibe are Blunts & Roses. The album is a mash up of Legendary Classic Rock tunes by The Eagles, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Queen and more, and I've been playing it all week. Blunts & Roses by Blunts & RosesOh yeah, and
Band of Horses' The Funeral is aging very, very well. It was released almost six years ago, yet when it came my iPod earlier today, it sounded better than ever. Like a fine wine, I'd argue The Funeral is getting better with age. Damn that's good.
What year is it? I've been on a steady diet of The Wire and Wii Mario Kart and am just now coming up for air. I hear Cee-Lo performed John Lennon's Imagine just before midnight on TV last night. I also hear he changed a lyric. Here's what he sang:
My buddy Pete was tweeting tonight about an 8-year old he caught singing "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5. I asked Pete what bugged him so much about what he witnessed, and he said it was that she was singing a shite song. I agree with Pete, Moves Like Jagger
