Throughout life, but perhaps most profoundly in our youth, we encounter things or people that click on a cellular level—a movie; a book; a group of friends that awakens, challenges or reflects our feelings or worldview in ways that help define our identity. For me, it was a radio station.
Listening to The Smiths’ “Is It Really So Strange?” in the shower, I was struck by how many of the lyrics have parallels to scenes or character arcs in Game of Thrones, so I made a thing.
In honor of Bob Elliott’s 92nd birthday, here’s nearly an hour of my favorite Bob and Ray sketches.
It’s pretty common in music circles to encounter people who have spent literally decades trying to identify an obscure song on an old mixtape. Here’s one method that might help.
Bernhoft, Wye Oak, The Both, Real Estate, Kan Wakan, TEEN, Erlend Øye, Beck, Thievery Corporation, PHOX, Against Me!, Sharon Jones, and many more. Plus a note on why I never did this again.
The album she’s waited her whole life to make is urgent and tuneful. Click for full review.
Between his terrific new album and reissues of his obscure work, it’s a great time to discover DIY pop godfather Martin Newell, aka The Cleaners From Venus. Click for full review.
The amazing Rachel Flowers rekindles the memory of how I met one of my dearest friends.