Monthly Archives: January 2014
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 1978
1978 is the first year so far where I’ve noticed a really significant drop-off in overall quality in the pool of potential selections. The albums here are excellent, and well deserve their places on this list. But they wouldn’t have … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 1977
1977 is a harbinger of things to come. The first Apple computer goes on sale; Steve Biko dies in police custody in South Africa, giving new life to the movement against Apartheid; Deng Xiaoping comes to power in China, kicking … Continue reading
Track Spotlight: Bruno Mars, “Treasure”
Yes, you read that right. I’m spotlighting a song by Bruno Mars. Why in the hell would I do that, you ask? Because last year’s “Treasure” is so 1979 it hurts. Maybe I’m just been in a disco phase lately … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 1976
A look at Billboard’s Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 1976 reveals that, if disco hadn’t yet conquered the world, the sound was on the ascendent: “Silly Love Songs,” “Disco Lady,” “Play That Funky Music,” “A Fifth of Beethoven.” For my … Continue reading
Album Review: Hey Ocean! “Is”
If you were to add Canadian trio Hey Ocean!’s album IS (2012) to your Amazon shopping cart, it would let you know that customers who bought this album also bought My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Season 1 on DVD. … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 1975
After all this talk of other years being Rock’s Greatest Year Ever, 1975 actually ends up contributing more albums to my theoretical Top 25 Albums of All Time list than any other. I think ’71 or ’69 were still stronger … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 1974
After about 1973, rock becomes less and less generalized and more and more genre-lized (see what I did there?). Of course, what you consider the “best” albums from any given year is always going to depend largely on which stylistic … Continue reading
Track Spotlight: “Get Lucky” at the Grammys
As a general rule, I do not care about the Grammys – historically they’ve kind of been a joke. But Daft Punk’s performance of “Get Lucky” (and the fact that Daft Punk picked up both Record and Album of the … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 1973
For many Americans, 1973 is remembered as the year that Watergate broke. In my home state of South Dakota, it’s remembered as the year that American Indian Movement activists faced off against federal marshals at Wounded Knee II. These two … Continue reading
Track Spotlight: Transatlantic, “Shine”
Speaking as a Christian–as a Christian who’s going to seminary next year even–Christian rock music is, by and large, terrible. Just… terrible. Neal Morse is one of the few popular artists working today who writes music that is both explicitly … Continue reading
Revolutions Per Minute 