Much like Bad, so many of the songs from Thriller were hits when I was a little kid that I know more of this record than I could have ever imagined. That knowledge once again puts me in a weird position, having the memory of what some of these songs sounded like to me as …
Tag: Pop
Saturday Night Fever Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1977)
I don’t like disco so you can imagine that when I found out this was a double album I was… unhappy.
Rocket to Russia (1977) Ramones
What do you do with a band like the Ramones if your a music fan who sees artistic evolution as an essential part of greatness? I have thought about this for years and still never figured it out.
The Velvet Rope (1997) by Janet Jackson
I had a very, very fixed idea of Janet Jackson before listening to that record. It was an idea essentially created by music videos (Janet Jackson is attractive) and the odd accidental radio exposure, but also created by the music industrial complex, which has generally marketed female performers in a particular way for quite a …
1999 (1982) by Prince
Listening to this record immediately after Marvin Gaye’s Midnight Love is instructive: Prince shows how cutting edge musical technology can be used without permanently dating a record. Hint: it helps if you write good songs and it helps if you’re idiosyncratic. Prince has written a bunch of really catchy songs – even the songs he …
Lionel Richie (1982)
I do not like Lionel Richie’s aesthetic: he is slick and sappy at the same time. That is a recipe for disaster, in my eyes (ears). But Richie has a rather incredible knack for melody. These songs are catchy, but it’s not just that. Some of his melodies for the ballads are super compelling, they …
Butterfly (1997) by Mariah Carey
I find myself increasingly in this position, while I listen to things outside my comfort zone for my podcast: I am not the target demographic for this music and I have a really hard time putting myself in the shoes of the target demographic.
Fantasma (1997) by Cornelius
I have heard Fantasm described as ‘the Japanese Beck.’ It’s a comparison that sounds kind of ridiculous but is also kind of appropriate. It’s inappropriate inasmuch as Cornelius had been releasing music with Flipper’s Guitar well before Beck was known to most of us (is Beck, therefore, the American Cornelius?) but it is appropriate inasmuch …
The Dreaming (1982) by Kate Bush
Where has this been all my life?
Smiley Smile (1967) by The Beach Boys
If you read a lot of music criticism about the ’60s, like I used to, you have heard about Smile ad nauseum. If you read a lot of independent music criticism at the turn of the century, like I used to, you have also heard about Smile ad nauseum. You’ve heard about Smile to the …
Bad (1987) by Michael Jackson
I grew up with “Fat” and have a hard time separating the real song, the title track of this record, from its parody. But I haven’t listened to “Fat” in so long. Listening to Bad for the first time (and to the remaster, no less), I can’t help but wonder, “does “Fat” sound this terrible …
Backstreet Boys (1997, 1998 Re-Issue)
I am listening to this for my podcast. (Well, not exactly this album, but close. I’ll get into that.) But I don’t know what to do with it for a number of reasons. I don’t like pop music like this and I don’t spend time listening to it. Here are some reasons why:
Pacific Ocean Blue (1977) by Dennis Wilson
Full disclosure: I did not want to listen to this. I don’t love The Beach Boys and have generally been annoyed by the Brian Wilson-worship that has bubbled to the surface over the last few decades. Of all the likely listeners of this record, one would expect me to be among the least fair.
United (1967) by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
It’s hard to know what to do with this weird pseudo “duet” album which, in many ways, set standards for duet albums going forward.
Let’s Talk About Love: Why Other People Have Such Bad Taste (2007, 2013 Expanded Edition)
Note: I am reviewing the reissue. This is an engaging, thought-provoking and highly readable discussion about taste, what it is, and the philosophical and practical issues inherent in taste.
Glee (1997) by Bran Van 3000
I love genre-bending. A number of my most favourite bands are bands that can play a wide variety of genres well, and make these genres sound like their own – or, alternatively, convince you they are an entirely different band. So I should like this. I should like this even though it is based in …
Two Classic Albums from Gordon Jenkins (2000)
In my quest to hear the sources of nearly everything, sometimes I stumble upon stuff that I really shouldn’t have, music that is just not for me. This twofer is one of those things; it’s a compilation that pairs a compilation (seriously) with what appears to be a release for orchestra.
Missy Higgins: Oh Canada (2016, Nicholas Kallincos, Natasha Pincus)
I saw this music video posing as a short film at Hot Docs last night. It’s an animated film about Alan Kurdi. It includes pictures drawn by refugees but most of it was professionally animated (even though it is given the look of a child’s picture).
Face Value (1981) by Phil Collins
Phil Collins has had one of the weirder careers in pop rock, starting out as a prog rock / art rock drummer (who even played jazz fusion, at times) and then becoming a massive pop star. It’s an unusual arc to be sure, and this is the record that began the shift from the one …
Dare (1981) by the Human League
I have rarely ever sat down and listened to synthpop. Really, the only album I’ve ever listened to is Violator. And listening to Dare, I really want to go back and downgrade my rating of that Depeche Mode album because, though I think the songs are better, it’s rather shocking how little the genre progressed …
The Definitive Collection (2008) by Billie Holiday
Full disclosure: I do not like vocal jazz (as you know). This is a compilation of 22 tracks over the course of Holiday’s career. I have no idea how definitive it actually is, as I do not know her at all, beyond her reputation as one of the great singers of the century, and “Strange …
Wolfe Island Music Festival 2012
This is my second year attending the Wolfe Island Music Festival, the 14th edition. Just like last year, I attended even though it is not really full of bands I would normally seek out. I like the vibe – how it is completely different from seeing something in Toronto, for example – and I have …
Set Yourself on Fire by Stars (2004, Arts & Crafts)
I have a real problem rating these guys. You see, I saw them live before I ever heard their music. And well, if you like live music, I’m not sure you want to see Stars.