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a jam band for the 90s slacker rock inclined, 20 years ahead of the wave. tom verlaineā the namesake of a great alvvays song, fred sonic smithās long lost brother, stephen malkmus before stephen malkmus was really stephen malkmus. marquee moon runs 10:38, and every second is better than the last. i often find myself absentmindedly strumming the simple bassline on my thigh when iām bored (courtesy of fred (not sonic) smith, richard hellās successor to the bass in televsion). for all of us who play instruments, even casually, we can only wish to one day shred as nonchalantly as television did.
i miss tom verlaine every day i am alive!
[ āi spoke to a man down the tracks, and i ask him how he donāt go mad, he said ālook here, junior, donāt you be so happy, and for heavenās sake, donāt you be so sad!ā]
[ āi spoke to a man down the tracks, and i ask him how he donāt go mad, he said ālook here, junior, donāt you be so happy, and for heavenās sake, donāt you be so sad!ā]
Jun 7, 2025
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I love it when inter-band dynamics actually make it into a video.
By 1999, guitaristĀ Graham Coxonās drinking problem (happy birthday Graham!) and creative grievances meant that he was increasingly distant from the rest of Blur. āGraham wasnāt happy and he didnāt always turn up,ā the Britpop groupās bassist, Alex James, said in his memoir. āIt was frustrating because, when he did, everything he did was brilliant.ā This is a single written and primarily sung by Coxon, who plays the missing son of a sad suburban English family, first seen pictured on the side of a milk carton ā a milk carton that promptly comes to life and becomes the videoās happy little protagonist. It is, in fact, brilliant, and it is, in fact, Coxon's handiwork.
"Do you feel like a chain store/practically floored?" I wish I'd written that line.
Mar 12, 2024
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In 1982, when his debut LP "The Golden Age of Wireless" came out (42 years ago today), Thomas Dolby was something of a British pop curiosity, better known for his catchy one hit wonder "She Blinded Me With Science" -- an early MTV hit -- than as any kind of serious album artist.
But this track put his English-eccentric early image to rest -- it encompassed all the paranoia and fear of global armageddon that was making the rounds at the time but also the diminishment of empire/colonialism and even a personal sort of melancholia ("And I can trace my history down a generation to my home/in one of our submarines" is a true story, with Dolby having lost his uncle in a submarine during the Second World War, while his father worked in intelligence overseas).
I love multiple meanings/interpretations and this song -- catchy and up-to-the-minute as it was then from a techno-pop standpoint -- is loaded with 'em. I also love songs that can be both poppy/radio-friendly and fraught with mournfulness all at the same time.
"Bye-bye empire, empire bye-bye."
"Rather than talk generally about World War II, and it was more just a case of, well, in any war situation, how does that affect life, and love? That was something that really appealed to me."
Dolby got his A-levels at Abingdon School in Oxford (future home of Radiohead) and was elementary school friends with the late, great Shane MacGowan too.
Doesn't get as much attention as he should but still touring/making music today.
May 13, 2024
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This might be Damon Albarnās greatest musical achievement.
A song about missing the comforts of home š¬š§ while on the road
Using the BBCās nightly Shipping Forecast (itself, the most British thing ever - a specific platform to obsess about the weather) as a metaphor
Loaded with obscure place names, English totems of days gone by (like a more jaded Ray Davies) and allusions to a fracturing relationship with Elasticaās Justine Frischmann (due in part to her heroin addiction and his dabbling, something Albarn wouldnāt discuss publicly for years).
And some of Graham Coxonās most inspired guitar soloing.
āFinding ways to stay solo.ā āļø
Instant Britpop classic.
Feb 2, 2024
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Jun 2, 2025
May 30, 2025
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all of mansourās works are gorgeous and so beautifully representative of the palestinian condition (pre and post-intifada) but thereās something about 1985ās āhopeā thatās always stuck with me, much like 1993ās āthe nazareneā (also attached). i cannot recommend looking further into mansourās works enough. follow him on instagram @/sliman.mansour šļø
Jun 3, 2025