Monthly Archives: March 2014
Track Spotlight: Tristam, “Till It’s Over”
ALL GLORY TO THE MONSTERCAT. But really, the folks at Monstercat are supporting some of the very best EDM out there, and you it to yourself to spend a couple hours trawling their YouTube channel. If you care for EDM … Continue reading
Album Review: Broken Bells, “After the Disco”
“After the disco, all of the shine just faded away,” Shin-in-Chief James Mercer sings on the title track of After the Disco (2014), his second album under the banner of Broken Bells with hip-hop auteur Danger Mouse (Brian Burton). And … Continue reading
Album Review: The New Mendicants, “Into the Lime”
Power pop is a genre where innovation isn’t necessarily the name of the game. Badfinger and Big Star laid down the general parameters of the genre back in the 70s, and since then success has been a matter not so … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2013
And so, 48 days and 240 albums later, we come to the last of my Top 5 Albums of [xxxx] (until my inevitable Top 5/10 of 2014, that is). This list took all of five minutes to put together, mostly … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2012
As Ralph Ellison once put it, “Eclecticism is the word.” So after several years of Belle & Sebastian/Camera Obscura/Divine Comedy indie pop consistency, my tastes throw me a curveball in 2012: hip-hop, glitch-hop, throwback prog, piano rock, and anthemic indie … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2011
I don’t have a lot to say about 2011, for a couple of reasons. The first is that it’s Ash Wednesday, and I am a) cutting down on my computer time for Lent and b) writing this post between four … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2010
As the first decade of the third millennium comes to a close, you may have noticed that, when I like a band, I really like a band, to the point that their releases tend to dominate my Top 5’s. So … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2009
2009 is a surprisingly thin year for me. The following albums completely deserve their Top 5 rankings on objective merits. But as I was putting the list together, I came to the realization that I didn’t actually own that many … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2008
2008 was the year I began university, and also the year that I campaigned like a crazy person for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. I remember on Election Night, huddled with my fellow College Democrats, watching intently as CNN called each … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2007
If you’ve been keeping track of these lists, you’ve probably ascertained I’m a big Paul McCartney fan – apart from dominating with the Beatles during the 60s, of course, he made a strong showing on my lists for 1973, 1982, … Continue reading
Revolutions Per Minute 