Monthly Archives: December 2020

#219 – Evermore by Taylor Swift

Who could resist the allure of a surprise Taylor Swift album dropping mid-pandemic?  I would’ve done it yesterday if it had come out earlier in the day.  It would be easy to jump on the bandwagon of lame, old people who think Taylor Swift is the shit, so I will.  This, and Nevermore, are bothContinue reading “#219 – Evermore by Taylor Swift”

#218 – Pussy Cats by Harry Nilsson and John Lennon

The other day marked the 40th anniversary of the death of John Lennon and it felt like I needed to recognize that in some way, so here is an album by the great Harry Nilsson that Lennon produced.  It was recorded during a period where the two of them were notorious for being seen drunkenlyContinue reading “#218 – Pussy Cats by Harry Nilsson and John Lennon”

#217 – Muchacho by Phosphorescent

I heard about this band from the compilation album Day of the Dead, which features over seventy covers of Grateful Dead songs by various modern artists.  Phosphorescent’s contribution was an excellent version of “Standing on the Moon,” which is one of my favorites in the Dead catalog.  Even if you are not a fan, it’sContinue reading “#217 – Muchacho by Phosphorescent”

#216 – Hollywood’s Bleeding by Post Malone

Early in the pandemic, when everyone was reeling from the brick wall that society had just slammed into, one thing that really kept me going was the regular selection of live concert films that were going around.  Pretty quickly, there were many options each day of all different genres, and these were the saviors ofContinue reading “#216 – Hollywood’s Bleeding by Post Malone”

#215 – Wrecking Ball by Emmylou Harris

I know I say it every time I pick a country album, but they are far too rare in my genre mixture.  I am, however, familiar with a decent amount of Ms. Harris’ body of work, not least of which was her stint as a backup singer for the great Gram Parsons, who is probablyContinue reading “#215 – Wrecking Ball by Emmylou Harris”

#214 – self-titled by Vagabon

I really enjoy hearing stories about how musicians careers got started.  The origin stories are as diverse as the artists themselves or their music.  In this case Laetitia Tamko, AKA Vagabon, worked as a computer engineer and wrote music in her spare time until her first album, Infinite Worlds, became an indie breakout success.  It’sContinue reading “#214 – self-titled by Vagabon”

#212 – I Forget Where We Were by Ben Howard

If you’re following the news at all, you’ve probably heard about the spate of monoliths appearing – and disappearing – around the world.  Any science fiction fan or conspiracy theorist can’t help but be excited by the possible explanations.  The mystery surrounding them has driven the public’s fascination, so it only makes sense that someContinue reading “#212 – I Forget Where We Were by Ben Howard”

#211 – I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight by Richard & Linda Thompson

As we excessively slowly head towards another lockdown in California, it’s time to reflect on how we each responded to the first lockdown and try to do better for ourselves this time around.  Now that the situation is familiar to us, the enemies are boredom and despair, and this voyage of musical discovery that weContinue reading “#211 – I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight by Richard & Linda Thompson”

#210 – Bursting At The Seam by Strawbs

I’ve never heard of these guys before, but I was immediately intrigued by both their music and their story.  They are basically the real life Spinal Tap.  By that, I don’t mean that they are comedic, but more that they were quite genre-fluid.  Originally a bluegrass band, they morphed into a folk act, then moreContinue reading “#210 – Bursting At The Seam by Strawbs”