Tag Archives: chamber pop
Album Review: Belle & Sebastian, “Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance”
Growing up, I considered myself a thoroughgoing introvert. And why shouldn’t I be? I was bookish, shy, with a strong intellectual and artistic bent and a revulsion of loud parties. Most of my adolescence was spent reading classic novels, listening … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 10’s: Most Anticipated Albums of 2015
Any year that kicks off with Kanye West and Paul McCartney collaborating on a Stevie Wonder-esque ballad is going to be a year of surprises. A mere week into the new year, it’s tough to say what curve balls 2015 … 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 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 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
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2006
I have little to say about 2006, except that it’s a year from which I own an awful lot of albums and subsequently a year for whose Top 5 I had to be especially choosy. So, let’s nod to some … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2005
As I’ve been revisiting albums for this project, I’ve become happily reacquainted with a lot of music I thought I knew. For the 2005 list, though, Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois is the big comeback story. I’ve known it and liked it … Continue reading
Tom’s Top 5’s: Albums of 2004
2004 was a full decade ago. Weird, huh? As I reflect on the last decade in music, I’m moved to an observation about my own tastes. Musically speaking, there are few things I find more frustrating than when everybody loves … Continue reading