Retrospective Review: “Flower” by Liz Phair
Here are the lyrics for “Flower,” the fourteenth song on Liz Phair’s indie rock classic Exile in Guyville. You can read them if you’d like, or you can just listen to the song. I’m doing things a bit differently for this piece, by putting the lyrics in a link and quoting where I can. This […]
Retrospective Review: Stevie Nicks’ “Edge of Seventeen”
Some time in 1980, Stevie Nicks was talking to Jane Petty, the first wife of the late Tom Petty, about when she and Tom had met. Jane said they had met “at the age of seventeen,” but due to her thick Southern accent Nicks had misheard her. “No,” Jane corrected, “age.” But Nicks was undeterred; […]
Fruit from the Poison Tree: The Ten Best Songs by Grouper
In his review of Grouper’s new album Shade, Chris Richards of the Washington Post claimed that the songs were “easy to feel but hard to remember.” He didn’t mean it as an insult–earlier in the review, he called the album “magnetic”–but there’s a whiff of damning by faint praise in the way he finishes the […]
A Sweet Trip of Sweet Trip: A Guide Through the Cult Favorite Band’s Best Songs
Engaging with the music of Sweet Trip is a very personal thing. That’s true for all music–the thesis of this very blog is that the listener forms their own story when listening to a song based on their own experiences–but it’s especially true with Sweet Trip. A Sweet Trip song is never just happy or […]
Reflecting on “Giorgio by Moroder” After Daft Punk Break Up
On January 22 2021, world famous, multi-talented, French music duo Daft Punk announced their split silently in a video titled “Epilogue“. Music fans watched in sadness, confusion, and gratitude for the 28 years of musical reinvention. Daft Punk’s exploration and expansion of genres pioneered an entirely unique sound, in the wake of their breakup I […]
Retrospective: The Band’s “The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show”
Earlier this week, Universal Music reissued the Band’s third album, Stage Fright, for its 50th anniversary, never mind that the original album was released in August of 1970. Most notable about the reissue isn’t just the luxurious extras, the Calgary Hotel jam sessions or the live set at the Royal Albert Hall in 1971, but that […]
The Top Indie Songs of 2020
Here are the top indie songs of 2020, according to our panel of writers. “Land of No Junction” by Aoife Nessa Frances “Quiet Weather” by Caitlin Pasko “Sour Flower” by Lianne La Havas “Kerosene!” by Yves Tumor “I Want You To Love Me” by Fiona Apple “Can I Believe You” by Fleet Foxes “Climb” by […]
Retrospective Review: Alain Bashung’s “Je t’ai manqué”
Listening to the opening song of Alain Bashung’s 2008 album Bleu pétrole, “Je t’ai manqué,” without knowing any of the context behind it makes it play like a conventional singer/songwriter track, albeit with a slight rock bend and even jangle pop piano chords mixed in for good measure. The choruses, which go, “Je t’ai manqué / […]
Retrospective Review: Laurie Anderson’s “Sharkey’s Day”
The first lyric of this song–that opens Laurie Anderson’s second album, Mister Heartbreak–are: “Sun’s coming up…like a big bald head poking over the grocery store.” With just that, Anderson has already invited you into the world of Sharkey, whoever that person might be and wherever they are. The feeling of morning has already been fully communicated […]
Retrospective Reviews: Lisa Germano’s “…A Psychopath”
Content warning: this song and article contains descriptions of sexual violence. Why are people fascinated by horror? Every year it seems like there’s a new pantheon of horror movies released to scare us senseless—it really feels like we have a bizarre obsession with terror. But the stories that are most terrifying to us are the […]
