Tithing the band

“There is a heavenly account with your name on it…Every seed of faith you have ever planted has been deposited in a heavenly account with your name on it…As you would receive a corresponding ‘receipt’ from a bank here on earth when you make a deposit, you are the holder of [...]

All the boys think she’s a spy. . . or an undead creature of the night

My wife and I were watching some ’80s music videos this morning when she noticed something odd.

“Bette Davis Eyes,” by Kim Carnes (1981):

“Thriller,” by Michael Jackson (1982):

Kim Carnes, 1981:

Michael Jackson, 1983:

COINCIDENCE?!?!?! . . . .

On a sort of unrelated note, does anybody else [...]

Is Muppet rap funny?

Digging deep into the buried strata of pop culture from two months ago: I wasn’t a huge fan of The Muppets overall- too much sad, nondescript new guy, too little Swedish Chef- but the low point was definitely the song “Let’s Talk About Me,” the god-awful rap delivered by Chris Cooper’s villainous oil tycoon:

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Charm City Indie Rock Smackdown

The Village Voice’s Pazz and Jop poll, the definitive year-end music list compiled by surveys of critics all over the country, hasn’t come out yet. However, when it does, based on a completely unscientific survey of stuff I read and people I know, I’ll be surprised if the album Civilian, by the Baltimore band [...]

The Things My Friends Did

I realized something a couple of days ago: in 2011, for the first time since 1999, I didn’t set foot in a recording studio1. That makes me a little sad. But not too long went by before I realized that every year I hear more records that I like from friends and people I [...]