When Do Bands Peak? (Part 2)
A couple of weeks ago, we looked at when bands peak – I’ve always enjoyed band’s later albums where they are more confident and more diverse. My graphs based on my ratings bore this out – this graph was based on…
Category music
When Do Bands Peak?
It’s easy to find lists of great debut albums, but personally I often prefer a band’s later records, where they stretch their wings, becoming more diverse and more comfortable in the studio. Bands’ debut albums are often the most pure,…
In Praise of Lindsey Buckingham
The entire 50 year history of Fleetwood Mac has essentially been one long soap opera, but the group’s storied history took a surprising turn last week. Long time guitarist Lindsey Buckingham left the group, supposedly for a dispute over set…
Rockism and Poptimism: or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Carly Rae Jepsen
I’ve been recently reading about Rockism and Poptimism, two different schools of music criticism. It’s been interesting for me, both to understand my own personal biases and the biases behind other people’s music writing. The term Rockism was coined in…
Tuesday’s Top Tens
Happy Tuesday morning* (New Zealand time)! Often on Tuesday morning I feature an artist that I’ve recently added to the site, but I haven’t written much this week, so here are some lists for your viewing pleasure. *I just accidentally…
Neil Young: Five Best Albums
Neil Young has enjoyed a long and erratic music career. His first brush with fame came with Buffalo Springfield in the 1960s. He released his first solo album in 1969, and he also teamed up with Crosby, Stills, and Nash…
The Shuffle the Music Tag
I was nominated by Turntabletalk (thank you!) to do the shuffle music tag challenge. Here are the rules. THE RULES• Mention the creator of the tag and link to their blog (created by )• Thank the person that nominated you for this…
Wild Horses by Prefab Sprout
Prefab Sprout‘s terrific 1990 album, Jordan: The Comeback, features a song named ‘Wild Horses’. It’s about an older gentleman’s unsavoury attempt to woo a young lady. Paddy McAloon is a brilliant lyricist, and he’s in full flight here, throwing in…
Weekly Music Quiz – Unusual Instruments
Congratulations to Rich, Geoff, and Tony for scoring perfect marks in last week’s quiz on Russian Dolls. I found this week’s quiz very educational. It’s about the use of unusual instruments in pop songs, and I’ve never thought about what…
Weekly Music Quiz – Russian Dolls
Congratulations to Tony () and Geoff () who both scored 20/20 in last week’s food and drink quiz. This week’s challenge is to name the musical acts represented by Russian Dolls: I scored 22/22, but my score might not…
Weekly Music Quiz – Classic Rock Songs in Other Words
Congratulations to J () who scored 20/20 in 1:42 on naming rock albums from the 1990s. Rich and Geoff also scored perfect marks, but not quite so quickly. This week’s challenge is to name the classic rock song in other…
Music Quiz – Name the 1990’s Album from the Back Cover
Congratulations to Stephen1001 () for scoring 19/20 in last week’s music quiz, and nailing the very cryptic clue for ‘Dear Prudence’. This week’s game is simple – name the album from the back cover. The artist name is also acceptable.…
Pavement (by voting and webpoll)
I’ve been covering Pavement’s albums over the last week or so – revisiting their five albums has helped me to appreciate them more, and how full of ideas their albums are. They’re definitely a strong contender for the best guitar…
Music Quiz – Literal Band Images
Can you link the song titles to the literal band images? It’s relatively straightforward, but I thought it was a well executed and fun idea. I scored 100%, but you can try and beat my time of 1 minute…
Male, Middle Class, and White
Right now, I have created 63 artist pages on this blog, and 59 of them are white. Two of the four non-white artists covered are relatively obscure New Zealand acts. And here’s a random selection of ten songs that my…
Inherently Sexy Barley Fields – Quotes By Sting
I’ve been covering Sting on this website this week: I generally find that his solo career is under-rated – while The Police have great singles, their albums all have filler, and the terrific 1992 Greatest Hits is most of…
Three Great Albums – Marquee Moon, Spilt Milk, and Southeastern
I’ve had a lot of time for writing recently; some leave and then a work trip with long haul flights and time in airport lounges. Lately, I’ve made several pages for acts with only a handful of albums to their name.…
Sporcle #6 – Sorting Disparate Artists
Can you allocate these songs to 4 disparate artists? I’m down with ABBA’s, but a little shaky on Metallica, and almost completely ignorant of Garth Brooks hits. Sometimes it’s obvious which song belongs to which genre. Can you beat…
New Zealand Music Month
Each May is New Zealand Music Month. It’s a promotion that has outstayed its welcome, especially as New Zealand has outgrown the cultural cringe for homegrown music that was evident in the 1960s and 1970s. But, perhaps not coincidentally, I’ve…
Sporcle Challenge #5 – Unique Words in #1 Songs
Can you recognise these words which only appeared in one US #1 single? I scored a solid 22/39, which I’m sure is perfectly beatable. The quiz covers a broad period of time, so I’d be very impressed by a…
Sporcle Challenge – Week #4
Can you recognise these bands without their lead singer? It’s surprisingly difficult on some – I only scored 10/20, which I’m sure many of my intelligent readers will be able to beat.
A Duck in a Microwave – and other music jokes
Soul singer Bill Withers was one of the most universally loved performers of the rock era – does anyone not enjoy nuggets like ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ and ‘Lean On Me’. As well as his music, Withers was also the subject…
Van Morrison: Five Best Albums
The best albums from Van Morrison's catalogue.
An Explanation and a Plan
An Explanation I wanted to provide an explanation to my fellow bloggers who may have noticed that this blog has undergone a name change, and that I’ve had to un-follow and re-follow your blogs. A few weeks ago, I noticed that I…
