The career and persona of Brian Eno has always been a bit of a puzzle for me. I’ve heard the stories and I’ve experienced the work; I understand how much of his influence has come through on an innumerable amount of genres and styles. But to look back on his journey all at once — [...]
Big Star — #1 Record
2 January 2013 by Leave a Comment
The further forward we travel in time, the more of a statement neon signs seem to make. It could be the cultural climate of the times — our keen sense of nostalgia set against the rapidly developing cult of technology. Maybe it’s the light that comes off of a glowing tube of electrified gas, which [...]
David Bowie – Station to Station
2 October 2012 by Leave a Comment
The thing you’ll always hear about Bowie is that he’s a shapeshifter. An artist whose style and practice hardly ever stayed in one place. It’s a state of mind he perhaps shares with some of history’s most famous figures — Leonardo da Vinci and Pablo Picasso included. It’s definitely not my place to say that [...]
Chrome – Half Machine Lip Moves
2 April 2012 by Leave a Comment
What does your television do when you’re not watching? Chrome’s 1979 LP Half Machine Lip Moves is a record from a band that tries to harness the hidden waves of buzz and static that could be there when you’re not — because, well, you never know. The cover art is oblique and collage-y pointing directions [...]
Television – Marquee Moon
30 January 2012 by Leave a Comment
You may think there’s not much to look at on first encounter of Television’s Marquee Moon, but this album files comfortably under “subtle masterpiece.” The group, posed somewhat oddly in a “stacked” formation, is rendered in a heavy yellowed tint, much like other photographs that might have been taken in the 1970s, but their stance [...]
Joy Division – Unknown Pleasures
20 June 2011 by Leave a Comment
Joy Division has enjoyed a bit of a reboot in fame lately. Four years ago, Ian Curtis’ biopic was brought to big screens in moody black-and-white. Ten years ago, it seemed like only the graying goths and moody punks were the true fans. Twenty years ago, I imagine it was hard to look at the [...]
The Residents – Meet The…
4 April 2011 by Leave a Comment
Could you imagine what that would’ve looked like in 1974? It was only four years after the Beatles had broken up for good, and in their 10 years together as a band they changed the face of popular music forever. Meet the Beatles, originally released in 1964, was the United States’ introduction to a brand [...]
Wire – Chairs Missing
21 March 2011 by Leave a Comment
Strangely odd. Weirdly uncommon. Abnormally alien. There are a million ways to say it: this album is bizarre. Not bizarre in a ‘Weird Al’ kind of way, though. Nor is it strange in the way Captain Beefheart is. No, this kind of strange that embodies Wire’s Chairs Missing is something like a hybrid between claustrophobia [...]
ABBA - Arrival
Aphex Twin - SAW 85-92
Chrome - Half Machine Lip Moves
Thee Oh Sees - Help
Wu-Tang Clan - (36 Chambers)