Best (and Worst) Christmas Songs

When I’m away at school, I never listen to the radio. It’s not like I don’t want to; I just don’t have the means of actually listening to a station due to my lacking of how to work the stereo in my dorm room. I’d rather not go through the trouble of deciphering channels. Needless to say, it came as a bit of a culture shock the last time I visited my parents at home to find certain stations blaring Christmas songs on a twenty four hour, seven day basis beginning in October. After having the Christmas Channel programmed in my car for two days, I already got sick of the endless repetition of “Feliz Navidad” and the eighteen compilations of Lite Pop Christmas. This horrific discovery got me to thinking; do people actually like this sort of music being drilled into his or her head during the end months of the year, or do they feel like they have to listen for nostalgia effect? Read more

My Presidential Election Playlist

Like most Americans with an internet connection and a functioning television, I have been besieged by election coverage for something like the last seventeen years. From the early days when everyone wondered what exactly was wrong with Mike Gravel, through the brief period when it looked like at least one human might vote for Ron Paul and right up to now, less than a week from Election Day, Americans have been supersaturated with political coverage. So, to overcome the soul-killing ennui that I have had towards the democratic process for the past several months and to stoke myself up for next week’s festivities, I have pieced together a little election year playlist. Read more

Presidential Music Playlists

In this upcoming election, we have two candidates to choose from with different stances on everything from foreign policy to how to deal with our economy. But there’s another major difference between them that was highlighted for a moment and then faded into the background. The music these men listen to.

Now you may be thinking So what? They always tell you what the candidate listens to so they have some campaign fodder for the pundits to play around with for a bit. It doesn’t mean anything. Yet aren’t we the same people that have uttered the phrase You can tell a lot about someone based on what’s in their iPod? Read more

Most Influential Albums of the 80’s

Compiling a top ten list really isn’t as easy as it seems. Let’s face it, how are you supposed to cram in a decade’s worth of successful albums into ten tiny slots?

There are so many different albums to choose from that I often spend hours agonizing over which to include and which to leave out, since there are hundreds of artists that have impacted each decade of music. Read more

Top 10 Alternative Rock One-Hit Wonders of the 90’s

Ahh, the good ole’ 90’s… an era where alternative rock exploded across every airwave in America and if you weren’t wearing torn flannel, well then, you simply weren’t cool. Remember those great grunge rock 90’s one-hit wonders? You know, the ones that were constantly overplayed on every rock radio station as well as MTV (back when MTV used to actually play music videos). There were certain tunes that were so catchy, you really thought the band was on the fast track to stardom until – poof – they disappeared without a trace. Read more

Chics We Dig In Music

After a recent discussion about female recording artists, I decided to form a list of the top women solo artists based on quality music, contribution to the art and how these artists might have inspired each other, along with suggestions as to some newer artists that wouldn’t be here without them. They are all pioneers in their own right and have paved the way for all types of women vocal artists everywhere. Here’s the list of chics we dig in music.

 

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Two-Hit Wonders of the 90’s

We’re all too familiar with the typical one-hit wonder bands, but what about the two-hit wonders? In my opinion, the two-hit wonders aren’t given nearly as much credit as they deserve. Here are a few artists that evolved during the 90’s decade, only to make their dual-hit presence known before pulling a disappearing act (along with a few three-hit wonders that almost made the cut). Read more

Top 10 Shoegaze Revivalists (Who Do More Than Just Revive)

If you’re like me, and got up early one morning to buy My Bloody Valentine reunion tour tickets the second they became available online, and periodically opened a special Ziploc bag to hold and stare at said tickets (not quite convinced that they’re real), then by all means, please read on.  Read more

Most Shocking Deaths in Music History

By “most shocking” deaths, we’re not referring to the typical rock star drug overdose or alcohol induced death (Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Layne Staley, Shannon Hoon, Bradley Nowell, etc.) This list is strictly based on shocking, unexpected deaths that took the entire world by complete surprise. Read more

Most Influential Bands of the 80’s

There were a lot of bands that emerged in the 80’s that had a great impact on the entire decade of music. This list is based on artists that survived that decade and went on to produce great music beyond those years, even if some members did it solo. Read more

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