Music

66 posts

Popular music’s best and brightest, as well as its worst and most overrated, including my current preoccupations, discussions on genres, and observations on the recording industry.

Thu 18 Oct
2007

Known Pleasures

08:43 PM
Remarks (10)

Man and myth in Anton Corbijn’s biopic of Joy Division singer Ian Curtis.

Tue 09 Oct
2007

The Music I’m Not Listening To

10:42 PM
Remarks (48)

Heavy rotation says nothing in particular about me.

Thu 04 Oct
2007

That’s the Last.fm Time

11:26 PM
Remarks (48)

Getting burned by music recommendations.

Thu 25 Jan
2007

Listen to My Music

09:54 PM
Remarks (10)

Making mix tapes is good practice for graphic design.

Thu 28 Dec
2006

Mono Mania

09:12 PM
Remarks (9)

One thing you didn’t know about me is that I like Phil Spector.

Tue 18 Apr
2006

Music for Blogging

08:16 PM
Remarks (23)

What do you listen to when you write in the blogosphere?

Fri 13 Jan
2006

I Was a Twenty-something Print Designer

05:16 PM
Remarks (14)

Looking back at some design work I did in the mid-nineties.

Tue 27 Sep
2005

I Designed a Mixtape for Me

09:40 PM
Remarks (14)

How fun is design when it’s just you? Lots.

Wed 13 Jul
2005

1996 Tears

09:02 PM
Remarks (1)

Doomed to listen to whatever music you favored in your formative years.

Thu 19 May
2005

Musical Batonism

08:43 PM
Remarks (4)

With a sense of futility, I present my musical baton.

Tue 05 Apr
2005

Replacing iPod Earbuds

11:31 AM
Remarks (27)

Subway thefts of iPods are up in New York City, sending me into the market for new earbuds.

Wed 23 Mar
2005

A Matter of Perceptionists

07:31 PM
Remarks (4)

The Perceptionists are everywhere, right before our eyes.

Thu 10 Mar
2005

Fine-Tuning iTunes

11:42 PM
Remarks (14)

Something about music collections makes some people very, very fussy.

Mon 17 Jan
2005

Do the Shuffle

02:36 PM
Remarks (15)

On the cusp of buying myself an iPod shuffle, it occurs to me that I really don’t like to shuffle.

Fri 29 Oct
2004

Name That iTune

10:17 PM
Remarks (4)

What’s the name of that song that goes, “Doo de dum de doo… you know the one I’m talkin’ about?

Mon 20 Sep
2004

Live Leo

10:33 PM
Remarks (2)

A year and a week later, reconsidering Ted Leo/Pharmacists.

Sun 01 Aug
2004

Music to Chew Gum To

05:59 PM
Remarks (3)

Dentyne has a vision for the future of music.

Wed 05 May
2004

Old Musical Express

09:14 PM
Remarks (2)

Let’s see what the NME has to say about Franz Ferdinand.

Thu 25 Mar
2004

The Head Case

08:08 PM
Remarks (7)

Don’t underestimate the attachment that one can form to a good pair of headphones.

Fri 06 Feb
2004

M.C. in the Grey Suit

07:26 PM
Remarks (2)

You got your classic rock in my hip-hop!

Thu 05 Feb
2004

My Playlist Is True

08:53 PM

The best ‘best of’ compilation CD that I’ve ever owned.

Mon 19 Jan
2004

Heart on Sleeve

09:43 PM
Remarks (1)

How I got rid of all my CD cases.

Tue 02 Dec
2003

I Found Summer

07:56 PM
Remarks (1)

As a know-nothing, seventeen year old snob with an ill-informed set of rules for the way art and music should be made, I wouldn’t have given a second thought to completely passing by and paying no attention to a Donna...

Fri 31 Oct
2003

Pulp Faction

03:48 PM
Remarks (2)

Jarvis Cocker is back on track with Relaxed Muscle.

Thu 23 Oct
2003

All Together Now!

10:03 PM

iTunes for Windows brings the whole family together.

Thu 09 Oct
2003

Share and Share Alike

06:01 PM

Why I could care less if musicians get paid.

Sat 13 Sep
2003

Biomusicologist

08:16 PM

The heights and limits of Ted Leo/Pharmacists.

Wed 20 Aug
2003

BuyMusic.com’s Tin Ear

08:00 PM

Browsers are to blame for how bad BuyMusic.com is — partly.

Tue 15 Jul
2003

EMusic versus iTunes

10:48 PM
Remarks (1)

In the battle for online music content, EMusic beats out the iTunes Music Store.

Tue 08 Jul
2003

Enough Is Not Enough

11:02 PM

My iPod has instilled in me a disturbing insatiability for more music, more often.

Thu 19 Jun
2003

The Fantastic Fourth

02:55 PM
Remarks (2)

Thoughts on my latest contribution to Squat.

Tue 10 Jun
2003

The Morning Commute

11:28 AM
Remarks (3)

Two anecdotes from my daily walk to the office.

Fri 06 Jun
2003

The ‘i’ Is for Indie

06:54 PM
Remarks (1)

Apple is getting serious about bringing indie music to the iTunes Music Store.

Fri 02 May
2003

My Stereo Runneth Over

01:19 PM

Six new additions to my music collection in one week.

Thu 01 May
2003

Instant Gratification

10:51 PM
Remarks (4)

The iTunes Music Store is dangerously easy to use, though it could do with some polishing.

Tue 29 Apr
2003

Turn On, iTunes In, Shop Out

11:57 AM

The debut of Apple’s online music service is singularly elegant and overeagerly hyped.

Sun 27 Apr
2003

Ubiquitous, Cheap and Out of Control

11:57 PM
Remarks (1)

The problem with the music industry is that the compact disc format itself has been completely devalued.

Sat 29 Mar
2003

Unfavorable Conditions

06:32 PM

Richard Ashcroft’s new CD is a disappointment, and I hope that I am missing out on some great music.

Thu 27 Mar
2003

Think Gig

03:55 PM
Remarks (1)

Gigposters.com catalogs thousands of live performance posters for thousands of bands.

Tue 25 Feb
2003

Kickin’ It Mascot Style

08:10 AM

DJ Format’s “We Know Something…” is one of the most entertaining videos I’ve seen in a long time.

Sat 22 Feb
2003

Mixed Up

07:32 PM

My third contribution to the Squat CD exchange club just went out in the mail. Whew!

Fri 14 Feb
2003

The Industry That Cried Wolf

10:01 AM

Business Week calls the music industry’s piracy numbers — and credibility — into question.

Thu 03 Oct
2002

Many Years Later

08:47 PM

The compact disc format turned 30 this week, and NPR’s “Morning Edition’ is running a series on the history of technological innovations in music.

Tue 01 Oct
2002

Hot Squats

12:49 PM

Possibly being a charter member of the Squat CD swap club may or may not be a really cool thing.

Mon 19 Aug
2002

Getcher Pants On

07:28 PM

More about “24 Hour Party People” and Trouser Press.

Sat 17 Aug
2002

Death of a Party

10:02 AM

Man city likes to party all the time, party all the time.

Wed 07 Aug
2002

Out Box

09:25 AM

A grab bag of links.

Wed 10 Jul
2002

Loaded

05:00 PM

Take a look at Soundload.

Thu 30 May
2002

Six Pack

04:58 PM

Aping that System 6 aesthetic.

Wed 08 May
2002

Bridget Cross

11:05 PM

Bridget Cross needs your help.

Thu 02 May
2002

Save It

10:24 PM

Internet radio at risk.

Wed 01 May
2002

Code

04:45 PM

Hollywood has re-imagined historical matters of national security as the province of seminal geeks.

Fri 12 Apr
2002

Don’t Myth It

05:54 PM

“Star Wars” in museums.

Sun 10 Mar
2002

Gazing Backwards

11:28 AM

Remember Shoegazing? Magnet Magazine does.

Fri 08 Mar
2002

Good Day Sunshine

09:41 PM

What I liked about “Scratch.”

Tue 29 Jan
2002

Lego Stripes

12:03 AM

The White Stripes a la Legos.

Fri 03 Aug
2001

Aaliyah

06:28 PM

Goodbye, Aaliyah.

Mon 02 Jul
2001

Planet of the Pop Star Apes

09:26 PM

How do you talk about Gorillaz without sounding like a marketing sucker?

Sun 10 Jun
2001

Just in Time, Again and Again

11:33 PM

Why I can’t stop listening to Nina Simone’s rendition of “Just in Time.”

Sat 02 Jun
2001

What I’m Hearing on My Stereo

08:46 PM

Vladislav Dely’s “Anima” will consume over an hour of your life.

Tue 08 May
2001

At the Village Gate

12:11 AM

Nina Simone at the Village Gate, 1961.

Tue 10 Apr
2001

If You Like This, You Might Like…

11:56 AM

Media Unbound recommends music for you.

Wed 31 Jan
2001

New Warp Records Site

02:45 AM

The new Warp Records site is pretty impressive.

Mon 08 Jan
2001

A List of Things I Consumed

12:00 PM

A list of movies, books, magazines and other pop junk that came my way in the year 2000.

When the Left Hand Found out What the Right Hand Was up To

03:20 AM

Sony has introduced MP3-capable CD players, to the dismay of its Sony Music division.

Fri 22 Dec
2000

Melody Maker, RIP

09:10 PM

After 74 years, England’s Melody Maker music paper ceases publication.