“Hell is Round the Corner” – Tricky’s Guide to the Inner City Blues
Bristol, England’s Knowle West estates could not be further departed from the serene tranquility of nearby Somerset. While geographically close, they are two worlds that meet at exactly zero points. Knowle West is an inner city project where theft, violent crime, prison time, and very little opportunity are THE realities of life for generations. Conversely, […]
Placebo Flirts with Introspection on “Without You I’m Nothing”
It’s 1998. Music, namely popular music, is going through a wash/repeat/rinse cycle. Gone are the turn-of-the-decade ear-opening experimentalism of Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. Gone are their offspring of the seismic grunge movement. Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden have all literally disbanded. What follows, commercially at least, is the equivalent of accidentally adding bleach […]
Feist Excavates Decaying Relationships on “The Bad in Each Other”
Met·tle /ˈmedl/NounA person’s ability to cope well with difficulties or to face a demanding situation in a spirited and resilient way. It’s early in 2011 and Feist, having just finished recording her fourth album, is happily considering the final strokes. In social and family circles, one of the most frequent questions she receives is “What […]
Loss/Love/Loss: Radiohead’s “True Love Waits”
It’s December 5, 1995, and Radiohead have just closed their set at the Luna Theater in Brussels, Belgium with their newest single “Fake Plastic Trees.” Expectantly, the crowd awaits the encore that is surely coming. Having played most stage-worthy songs in their 2-record catalog, what breed of rabbit could they possibly pull from their hat […]
Retrospective Review: “The Jezebel Spirit” by Brian Eno and David Byrne
When you type “the jezebel spirit” into the YouTube search engine, without Brian Eno or David Byrne’s names attached to it, their song of the same name is only the sixth result. The previous five videos are from Christian sources, and they all patiently explain the concept of “the Jezebel spirit” without a hint of […]
Retrospective Review: Alice in Chains Unplug and Narrow a Chasm on “Brother”
April 10, 1996. As the lineup of anxiously excited fans gather outside of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the conversations are all undoubtedly similar. “How do you think they’ll sound?” “How do you think he’ll sound?” It has, after all, been almost three years since anybody has heard or seen Alice in Chains perform live. […]
Retrospective Review: Sinead O’Connor’s “Black Boys on Mopeds” Illuminates the Dark Corners of our Culture
It’s March, 1990, and the world is spinning at full speed. Mikhail Gorbachav has just been elected the first president of the Soviet Union. Boston’s Gardner Museum has been subjected to an early-morning heist which sees multiple Vermeer, Rembrandt, and other masterworks vanish. And elsewhere in the art world, tremors of an earthquake have begun. […]
Why Does Music Exist? And Why Do We Love It So Much?
I’m writing this from a coffee shop in Nashville. The playlist that the baristas have been playing has taken me on an emotional rollercoaster. In the last 20 minutes, we’ve gone from Zac Brown’s “Chicken Fried” to Billie Eilish’s “when the party’s over.” I think they’re playing Counting Crows now, but I can’t be sure […]
Retrospective Review: Hozier’s “Cherry Wine”
It’s February 14, 2016, and millions of people worldwide are waking with typical expectations that Valentine’s Day has implanted within most in the Western world; some will expect gifts. Some will expect acts of revelatory romanticism. Most will hope – perhaps fantastically – to be surprised by somebody in some movie-worthy capacity. For fans of […]
Why The 1975 is Still So Good: The Value of Making Music with Context
The 1975 is the only alternative-pop band that isn’t trying too hard to sound like The 1975. And of course that’s intentionally an overstatement, but I really do think it’s kind of true. And I think it can help us make better art. Here’s what I mean. I remember when their first full-length record came […]
