POSTED // Nov 18,2009 - How long can you stand apart from a song, revering it with ironic snark before it morphs into genuine love? I’ve embraced my passion for good-bad music for a good 10 years now. Incredible tunes

POSTED // Feb 26,2009 - The album's other acts include The Books [fronted by Jose Gonzalez], Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, My Brightest Diamond, Kronos Quartet, The Decemberists, Iron and Wine, Grizzly Bear, Spoon, Arcade Fire, Beirut, My Morning Jacket, Dave Sitek, Buck 65, The New Pornographers, Yo La Tengo, and others.

POSTED // Jan 21,2009 - "I want to come off as pathetic, grasping yet gratified on every level. That’s the kind person I want to come across as.” nFor all intents and purposes, bassist Cris Kirkwood’s parting words over a telephone conversation should be taken with a heavy heart, seeing how his band The Meat Puppets are the reason shows like Behind the Music exist. Back in the ’80s, the semin...

POSTED // Jan 7,2009 - n Ten Years of Mush Records Mixtape nA while back, I had the grand idea to make a mix CD with no track breaks; the record would be one continuous track composed of individual songs edited together with sparse transitions. My intention was purely selfish: This format would force the listener through my picks without the ability to skip the ones they might not like while I laughed from my High Thron...

POSTED // Nov 19,2008 - nPavement Brighten the Corners nDeath Cab for Cutie Something About Airplanes n nI find it very hard to listen to ’90s music. Give it a couple more years, and maybe that nostalgic itch will strike. Until then, I just can’t look back on the joyless (albeit artistically rich) era fondly. However, recent reissues of seminal ’90s bands may prove that my reservations are unfair and,...

POSTED // Nov 19,2008 - Dear Mom and Dad, nI know music isn’t your thing; increasingly confusing band names (Clap your hands and say what?) and know-it-all record stores aren’t much help, either. In spite of all these obstacles, it may seem easier to just get me an iTunes gift card. Hell, I may ask for one, but please, do not heed my requests! nYou see, despite the convenience of digital downloads, they&rsqu...

POSTED // Nov 12,2008 -  Jurassic ParknAndromeda StrainnCongonR.I.P. Michael Crichton n nnThe Cure 4:13 Dream nnThe Legendary Pink Dots Plutonium Blonde nnDespite Robert Smith’s physical deterioration into a flabby poster child for “goth-gone-wrong,” there’s no denying that The Cure has aged gracefully. Since 2000’s beautifully-subtle Bloodflowers, the band as released solid materi...

POSTED // Oct 29,2008 - nI like the idea of “Monster Mash” mastermind Bobby Pickett spinning in his grave. Not that you could say anything negative about the novelty song that Pickett hadn’t already acknowledged (when playing it live, he’d introduce it by claiming Elvis called it the “stupidest thing he’s ever heard”); it just seems like a fitting image of a man who made a career...

POSTED // Sep 10,2008 - Pontiak Sun on Sun It’s rare to find a band so immersed in their surroundings as Pontiak. Hailing from Virginia, every track on Sun on Sun drips with backwoods rural rock that us cityfolk often find unnerving. The album opens with “Shell...

POSTED // Sep 10,2008 - It’s pretty easy to determine the quality of an interview based on the subject’s first response. It mostly happens with phone interviews: Bad connections make for staggered conversations, and subtleties that regularly exist in human interactions...