Welcome back for another exciting season of quizzing. Last week’s title was shared by Tony and Jim. Both scored 22/22 with 2:58 remaining. This week your challenge is to link the adjective to the 2000s song. I struggled with…
Every New Zealand #1 single… 1 Axel F by Crazy Frog Topped the NZ chart: from 18 July 2005 for 11 weeks. 2005 just might be the worst year for #1 singles in the history of the NZ chart. There…
Jenny Lewis’ musical career is the second act in her working life. She first achieved fame as a child star, appearing in commercials then movies like The Wizard and Troop Beverly Hills. She largely quit acting in the mid-1990s to…
Caroline Polachek has enjoyed a breakout year, enjoying critical adoration for her second solo album, Desire, I Want to Turn Into You. Her 2019 single, ‘So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings’ turned into a sleeper success via TikTok, paving the…
For me, The Hold Steady were the last gasp of a prolonged musical adolescence that reached into my mid-twenties. My first Hold Steady album hit me hard. I played it repeatedly, enjoying its intoxicating modernisation of classic rock, topped by…
Bic Runga was born in 1976, the youngest daughter of a Chinese Malaysian lounge singer and a Maori ex-serviceman. While still in her teens, major record labels entered into a bidding war for her signature. Bic Runga’s a New Zealand…
Hayley Williams moved to Franklin, Tennessee, in 2002, to escape from her abusive stepfather. She formed Paramore at the age of 15, joining forces with Josh and Zac Farro, whom she met at a music program for homeschooled students. She…
Tori Amos was the youngest ever person admitted to the prestigious Peabody Institute before she was asked to leave for musical insubordination at the age of 11. After a false start with her synth-pop band on 1988’s Y Kant Tori…
Taylor Swift is a megastar, and her profile as a celebrity can overshadow her musical abilities. Opinions on Swift are wildly diverse. In some quarters, she’s dismissed as disposable music for teenage girls. In others, she’s highly respected as a…
New Jersey’s James Murphy obviously has a terrific record collection – his favourite artists include The Fall, Yes, The B-52’s, David Bowie, and Can. LCD Soundsystem’s music echoes these influences, along with electronic pioneers like New Order and Kraftwerk. Murphy…
The progressive rock supergroup Transatlantic played the last concert of their Absolute Universe tour in July 2022. The group have hinted that it might be their final tour, so it’s possible that their studio catalogue might remain as the five…
The Y2K bug didn’t hit the way doomsayers predicted. Planes didn’t fall out of the sky and artists continued to make music, both good and bad. Here I pick out ten of my most loathed songs from the first decade…
Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire were founded in Montreal in 2001. The band is centered around the husband and wife duo of Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, while Butler’s brother Will was a member until 2021. The current lineup,…
Canadian power pop band The New Pornographers are often described as a supergroup. Leader A.C. Newman disputes this, pointing out that neither Dan Bejar’s Destroyer, alt-country vocalist Neko Case, nor his former band Zumpano were famous when the New Pornographers…
Nebraskan singer-songwriter Josh Rouse is undervalued – his thoughtful and tuneful songs could have been hits in another era. He released some great records in the early 21st century – the concept album of Under Cold Blue Stars, about a…
Jeff Tweedy was the junior partner in alt-country outfit Uncle Tupelo, playing bass and fronting the occasional song. When the group split, Tweedy formed Wilco with other Uncle Tupelo musicians – notably bassist John Stirratt, Wilco’s only other constant member.…
Writing about Dire Straits’ discography this week, I learned that 1985’s Brothers in Arms was one of ten albums nominated in 2010 for the title of best British album of the previous 30 years. I was especially intrigued by a…
Detroit based married couple Jack and Meg White started playing music as a duo in 1997. Jack White played bluesy guitar, while Meg White’s primitive, untrained drumming was distinctive and refreshing. From the beginning of their career The White Stripes…
Welcome back to the last episode of the 6 week decade challenge. Let’s check the leader-board. Average Paul 61% Badfinger 65% Chris 66% J 67% 2loud2oldmusic 68% jprobichaud 72% Angie 74% Jim S 74% Bruce 75% Rich K 81% Tony…
Welcome to week 3 of the music decades challenge. Of the contestants who’ve completed both week’s challenges so far, the leaders are: J 58% 2loud2oldmusic 75% jprobichaud 75% Paul 75% Stephen1001 81% Bruce 89% Rich K 97% Tony 97% Jim…
James Murphy always intended to be a drummer or a sound technician, but ended up fronting a dance-rock band New York’s LCD Soundsystem bridge the divide between dance and rock – Murphy’s raw vocals are a great entry point for…
The Decemberists rode the wave of early 21st century Indie to success, attracting attention with their predilection for historic epics and olde English folk music. They hail from Portland, Oregon, but the band was named for the Decembrist Revolution in…
The Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There is a fascinating film, portraying different aspects of Dylan using six different actors, including a woman; Cate Blanchett steals the show with her portrayal of Bob Dylan’s twitchy peak in the mid-1960s. I…
If you’re an old man, shouting at the clouds about how modern music isn’t the same as it was in your heyday, you would probably enjoy the recent output of Jason Isbell. Isbell’s an Americana artist, whose sincere albums are…
