Well, not literally. But the end of the year? Yes. Very near, indeed. Which means that it's time to start putting together year-end lists of favorite books and albums, a task that I always intend to fly quickly through only to then spend an inordinate amount of time fussing over. My intent this year is to [...]
Tag: Year in Review
Brennan’s Best of 2012: New Jersey Rising
It is news to approximately zero people that music is not made in a vacuum. What may actually be news to a few people is the important role that community can potentially play in fostering a band's sound. There's a reason that we associate Seattle with grunge, St. Louis with the blues, and Detroit with that Motown [...]
2011: Omissions
Back in February, I presented my comprehensive1 analysis of 2011's musical offerings and now, several months later, it occurs to me that a handful of discussion-worthy releases were unintentionally omitted. Three of those overlooked albums, however, I could not resist discussing, even if somewhat belatedly. In a zombie-esque move, Lydia returned (in an altered state) [...]
2011: One Man’s Take On the Year In Music
Acknowledging that we live an age of excess but also an age of brevity, I have this to say about the 2,000+ word article that lies ahead: it is too short. Alas that time has not been given to me to write a 10,000 word article concerning the intimate details of a dozen different albums. [...]
Better Late Than Never: The Music of 2010
Due to incessant public outcry1 at my not having written a "Top Ten Albums of 2010" blog, I've decided to sack up and, at this temporally inappropriate juncture, put together a series of one-line reviews for the handful of releases from which I derived some enjoyment in 2010, a year whose musical offerings didn't quite [...]
My Top 50 Albums: 2000-2009
My peers and I are in a conspicuous position when it comes to reviewing the past decade in music: we began high school and likely completed college all within the confines of the decade. High school and college. Those are your prime musical-attachment years. Regardless of whether or not you are capable of keeping an [...]
My Top Ten Albums of 2009
2009 was a solid (if unspectacular) year for music, marked by two masterful (if not transcendent) albums and a whole slew of decent-to-good records. For some reason unbeknownst to me, nearly every band that released an album in 2009 released some variety of pop-album, even bands that had never before ventured into those sugary waters [...]
Songs & Stories 