Richard Van Camp–”Show Me Yours…” (The Walrus, November 2007)

SOUNDTRACK: FISHBONE-Fishbone EP (1985)
After listening to “It’s a Wonderful Life (Gonna Have a Good Time)” at Christmas, I had to bust out the old Fishbone discs, which I haven’t done in quite some time.  So I’m beginning with the EP that started it all.
This EP will always have a special place for me. It is [...]

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What I learned (26)… Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt died yesterday.  And, yes, I trashed her song “Santa Baby” just days ago.  Andrew pointed out in a comment to that post that, no doubt, it was the last thing she read, and it was the end for her.  And for that I am truly sorry.  It also explains why I have had [...]

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J.K. Rowling–The Tales of Beedle the Bard (2008)

SOUNDTRACK: CITY AND COLOUR-Live (2007).
City and Colour is the solo project of Alexisonfire singer Dallas Green (get it?).  I was really impressed by Dallas’ voice within the noisy metalcore of AOF.  And I wondered what his solo stuff would sound like without the dissonance of the rest of the band.  I saw this disc was [...]

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12 musical things I (we) like about Christmas

After getting the dislikes out of my system, it’s time to bring in the positivity.  Now that I have a lot of different Christmas discs to choose from, I don’t get inundated with the same songs over and over.  This has really allowed me to appreciate the old songs for what they are.
So, here’s 12 [...]

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12 musical things I (we) dislike about Christmas

Last year I listed my 12 favorite Christmas discs.  This year I figured I’d do 12 gripes and 12 raves about Christmas music in general.  Of course, I’ll start with my gripes.
Note: This list only includes songs that we personally own (mostly on compilations we’ve bought over the years).   This is why “Grandma Got Run [...]

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Chetan Bhagat–One Night @ the Call Center (2005)

SOUNDTRACK–FLAMING LIPS-Christmas on Mars (film & soundtrack) (2008).
I’ve been a fan of the Flaming Lips for a pretty long time.  I first heard them with “She Don’t Use Jelly” (a novelty hit from 1993…who would have thought they’d have become so amazing) but I really got into them from the time of The Soft Bulletin [...]

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Christopher Moore–You Suck: A Love Story (2007)

SOUNDTRACK: FOXBORO HOT TUBS-Stop Drop & Roll!!! (2008)
This is the least cleverly concealed “side-project” in rock history.  At this point Billie-Joe Armstrong’s voice is so recognizable, that it’s impossible for him to hide.  But Foxboro Hot Tubs were a way for Green Day to release something different after their mega-successful American Idiot album.
I mean, how [...]

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Brian McLachlan & Tom Williams–No Dead Time (2004)

SOUNDTRACK: THE DIVINE COMEDY-Casanova (1996)

Following Promenade, Neil Hannon released Casanova.  Stylistically it is very different.  It features more of a band, rather than an orchestra (although it retains an orchestral feel).  Perhaps because of this, there were three singles from the album, all of which charted in the UK.  “Something for the Weekend” is a [...]

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Berkeley Breathed–Opus: 25 Years of His Sunday Best (2004)

SOUNDTRACK: FRANK ZAPPA-Baby Snakes [the movie & soundtrack] (1979).
This is sort of a review of the soundtrack album to Baby Snakes, but really it’s a review of the film, which I just watched over the last 4 days.  Baby Snakes (A Movie About People Who Do Stuff That is Not Normal) was not as depraved [...]

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Joshua Ferris–Then We Came to the End

SOUNDTRACK: THE DIVINE COMEDY-Liberation (1993).
This is considered by many to be the “first” Divine Comedy album, even though Neil Hannon released a previous album under the name Divine Comedy (Fanfare for the Comic Muse).  He disowned that album, but, as you do, he reissued it several years later after much demand.
This is the second Divine [...]

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