December 2011
“Then there was “One,” the song around which the album was built. A...”
– 20 Years After ‘Achtung Baby ’ | The Awl
Elmo Keep’s essay about U2 on the Awl is amazing, so great that I just want to quote the entire damn thing because she has so many sharp/accurate observations about the band and their work, and what they were and what they have become....
2011: The Return of the Sax →
I kinda forgot that I made this video gallery of notable songs featuring saxophone from the past year, it only just went up today! Sorry in advance to “Mr. Saxobeat” fans.
U.S. Sales Figures for Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums...
Eric Harvey put this together earlier this month, after he and I got the idea to put this together last year. I’m reblogging again because some people have asked me about it, and because his version is weirdly difficult to find on Google.
The ones with suspiciously round numbers are estimations based on when an album dropped out of the top 200 and the fact that it has to sell less than...
Yo Yo Yo Kids “Presents”
Let’s face...
“It might seem inappropriate to buy your niece, say, a Hoodie ($75) with...”
– Rocker-Inspired Christmas Gifts Pictures - Rihanna I write a lot of stuff on the Rolling Stone site, but sadly, I cannot take credit for this gem.
“Guitars, guitars, guitars. As indie rock continues to lower the charisma ante to...”
– The 10 Best Albums of 2011 | Rob Sheffield | Rolling Stone
Rob Sheffield praising Wild Flag while totally burning Fleet Foxes. I definitely favor the dippy folk bubblegum of Fleet Foxes over most of the sad sack indie stuff out there, but I’m with Rob on this 100%.
“So perhaps pop music is becoming like comics—a minor artform, fiercely loved by...”
– Underwhelmed And Overstimulated, Part II: PJ Harvey, Jessie J, And The Post-Pop Character Landscape
This point by Tom Ewing may be a little obscure for most people, but it will ring very true for the people who are way into both comics and music. You might be surprised by how many well-known music...
“One of the billions of things I love about Beyoncé: The harder she tries to come...”
– The Top 25 Songs of 2011 | Rob Sheffield | Rolling Stone
Once you think everything that could be said about “Countdown” has been said, Rob Sheffield comes along and finds a new layer. And he’s so right about the “aggressively sane” thing.
“As for hip-hop, it’d been years since I listened to as much new stuff as I did...”
– Seanmix | Best of 2011 « Attentiondeficitdisorderly by Sean T. Collins
Sean T. Collins on his year in music. In addition to the commentary, Sean threw in four mixes featuring his favorite songs, which happens to have a large crossover with my own favorites.
“Ann [Powers] once told me what she found frustrating in [Dan] Bejar’s writing...”
– Best Music 2011: Drake’s just a classic passive-aggressive Canadian. - Slate Magazine
Carl Wilson on how Destroyer changed on Kaputt on a lyrical level. Click through for Carl’s words on why Drake can be so totally insufferable.
“I like that Nicki released “Roman in Moscow” as a sequel to...”
– Molly Lambert’s list of her favorite pop hits of 2011!
Molly Lambert, one of the year’s most crucial pop culture critics!
“At one point, worship music made me want to believe in religion as evangelicals...”
– Florence, The Machine, Faith, and Me (Part 2) | Faith Goes Pop
Here’s the second half of Jessica Misener’s piece about Florence and the Machine — this is where it wrestles with ideas that Tom Ewing touched on recently regarding “big music.” This is really interesting...
The 20 Best 2011 Albums (That Happened to Be Made... →
This is a terrific list put together by Lindsay Zoladz, a great writer who I think really stepped up into the big time in 2011. She’s definitely a critic to keep an eye on in the 2012s.
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The Best of Me in 2011
2011 has been the busiest, most productive year of my life as a writer. I’m proud of a lot of what I’ve done, so I’ve put together this collection of links to some of the best pieces - song reviews, album reviews, live reviews, interviews and miscellaneous articles. Enjoy!
NEW SONG REVIEWS Tune-Yards “Powa” Beyoncé “Countdown” Jay-Z and Kanye West...
“If Ellen Willis is concerned with pleasure, then Smith’s interest in music...”
– Singles Girls: The Rise of Female Rock Writing :: Oxford American - The Southern Magazine of Good Writing
Please go read Rachael Maddux’s amazing article in which she tears Courtney Smith’s unbelievably awful book Record Collecting For Girls into tiny, tiny little pieces.
I kinda forgot that I had this string quartet...
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Vol. 1 Brooklyn presents: The Greatest 3-Minute... →
I will be participating in this event tonight at Brooklyn Based in Greenpoint along with luminaries such as Maura Johnston, Norman Brannon, Jessica Suarez, Daphne Carr and Mark Yarm! Please come out if you can.
The 20 Unhappiest People You Meet In The Comments... →
This is pretty much the last word on this subject!
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Rihanna vs. Beyoncé: Who Reigns Supreme? →
This is the biggest article I’ve written for Rolling Stone so far, and I’m really proud of it. The title is slightly misleading – it’s basically about the relatively disappointing sales of Beyoncé’s 4, and Rihanna’s massive success as a singles artist. One key point I make here is that Beyoncé is simply out of step with prevailing trends in pop: Whereas Rihanna has...
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“[Mick Jagger] is hard to record because of the way he works the mic. He told me...”
– Music producer Dave Jerden in the new issue of Tape-Op. I love that Jagger has apparently gone decades without anyone telling him “can you please just learn how to use a microphone properly?”
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Rolling Stone's Top 10 Memes of 2011 →
I wrote about the year’s best and most memorable memes! I made a point of doing this as thoughtfully as possible, writing about each one in the same way I’d do a blurb for a song or album on, say, a Pitchfork year-end list.
“A constant theme of this column has been nostalgia, not so much for music...”
– Poptimist: Take Me to the River | Features | Pitchfork
Tom Ewing, in his final Poptimist column. I was arguing about this sort of thing with someone 10 years older than me yesterday - as much as things change, people who care are going to care, and people who might be distracted will be distracted....
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“I say this honestly, and this is my new thing as of the past year: when I fight...”
– Lady Gaga, in Lisa Robinson’s cover story in the new issue of Vanity Fair.
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“Be warned – to listen to several Britney tunes in a row is to hear a young woman...”
– Readers’ Poll: The Best Britney Spears Songs of All Time
I wrote about a bunch of Britney songs selected by Rolling Stone readers. It’s mostly the ones you’d expect, but it made me realize that the overwhelming majority of her music is very, very dark.
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“Many of Del Rey’s songs express a powerful desire to be submissive to...”
– Lana Del Rey Tries to Live Up to Her Glamorous Image at NYC Show
I reviewed Lana Del Rey’s show at the Bowery Ballroom last night for Rolling Stone. I didn’t know what to expect going in, and though it wasn’t that great of a show, it made me more interested in what she’s...