[Sorry I was unable to write a new “Polarity” this week, but it should be returning next time. This is a piece I wrote recently in honor of the start of another National Hockey League season last night, and my inability to not connect it with music in some way. If you have any other suggestions on top of my five, hit me with them in the comments!] John Buccigross, hockey analyst for ESPN, is…
Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this? Am I doing this to provoke hatred from the legions of indie-rock loving blogcrawlers? Absolutely not; these are my opinions. Am I doing this to capitalize on the Pavement craze that’s sweeping the nation in light of a particular recent news item? You’re damn right. We want your web traffic. Allow me to present this more traditionally. American rock music has been splintered and spliced…
Happy Friday, ZME readers. We know there are a ton of music websites you could be choosing to burn your time on while you should be entering data, emailing clients, or for the funemployed of you, watching some high quality porn. So, we appreciate that you’ve chosen us. Today, I’d like to present my breakdown of the Descendent’s earth-shattering 1982 debut LP, Milo Goes to College. I can’t overstate the importance of this album in…
Depending on when you catch up with ZMEMusic on your local internet browser, Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and/or Good Evening. My name is Tyler, and I’m the newest addition to the fold here in the contributors’ nest. Our man Tibi has given me the go-ahead to spill some thoughts about music both new and old, so I’m not going to make him regret it. I’ll be contributing (hopefully) weekly columns, including this one that I’m…
“Jitterbug Boy” isn’t the best song Tom Waits has ever written. It’s not even the best song on his splendid Small Change album – that honour goes to the simply phenomenal “Tom Traubert’s Blues (Four Sheets To The Wind in Copenhagen)”. It’s not as memorably clever and self-deprecating as “The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me)”, nor is it as stunning a composition as “An Invitation To The Blues”. It wasn’t picked to be part…
I’ve given entirely too much thought to the following issue, something that will become abundantly clear as you read this. It seems that while most publications want to name the best of the decade, few – if any – of them want to address a matter of equal (if not more) importance: the album that most defines the decade. Thus the genesis behind this column. Andrew W.K.’s I Get Wet is that defining album. Not…
So I was giving a cursory glance over the latest news on Rolling Stone’s website and I came across yet another example of why everyone hates the RIAA over these lawsuits. Now, I could use this space to simply shit all over the rather fascist policies of this organization but that’s been done and probably better than I could this morning. Anyhow, when I read the story, two things stood out and more than likely…
Even as I include the following qualification to this piece, it’ll still probably be misinterpreted. Nickelback is a terrible band, OK. I get it. They’re the band everyone points to when discussing all that’s wrong with modern music, specifically rock. Yes, Chad sounds like the bastard child of a rather violent hate-fuck orgy including Eddie Vedder, Scott Weiland and Scott Stapp. Yes, none of the band members are particularly talented musicians, save former drummer Ryan…
Yes, this column is months and months late. Get over it. I wasn’t writing for ZME in February and, more importantly, I have a valid point to make. So here we go. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences doesn’t know shit about music. The Grammy Awards used to mean something and were actually worth paying attention to. I don’t know when the award’s value began its downward trend. Perhaps it was when Album…
It’s been called one of the defining sounds of this era as well as a trend [that became] a gimmick. TIME Magazine acknowledged it as a rare gimmick that can lead to innovation. Rick Rubin has called its use lazy and argues that using it can remove the emotion from a performance. All this over a simple computer program? Yes, Auto-tune has both captivated audiences and caused tidal waves of hatred usually reserved for Twilight…
Tyler Sonic
Al Byrne
Steve Lampiris