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Category Archives: Music
Rankstravaganza 2017: My Top 30 Songs of the Year
Even the shittiest of years can produce moments of musical transcendence. The tumult of 1968 gave us Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison, Sweetheart of the Rodeo and Bookends, for starters. Stephen Foster probably wrote some pretty melody or other in … Continue reading
Posted in End of the Year Rankstravaganza, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged Aimee Mann, Allison Moorer, Arcade Fire, Best Songs, Best Songs of 2017, Carly Rae Jepsen, Charly Bliss, Chris Stapleton, Death From Above, Deb Talan, Everyone is Dirty, Father John Misty, Gabriel Garzón-Montano, Goldfrapp, Grandaddy, Haim, Jason Isbell, JR JR, Killer Whale, Nelly Furtado, Nicole Atkins, Randy Newman, Rankstravaganza, Seth Cohen, Shelby Lynne, Spoon, The Mavericks, The Mountain Goats, The New Pornographers, Timothy Monger, Ty Segall, Waxahatchee, Whitney Rose
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Rankstravaganza 2016: My Top 30 Favorite Songs of the Year
The past year was nothing if not a “low-flying panic attack” … . Continue reading
Posted in End of the Year Rankstravaganza, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged A Tribe Called Quest, Against Me!, Ages and Ages, Amanda Shires, Anderson .Paak, Astronoid, Best Songs, Best Songs of 2016, Car Seat Headrest, Chance The Rapper, Cool Ghouls, Diarrhea Planet, Drive-By Truckers, Frankie Cosmos, Garbage, Into It. Over It., Lydia Loveless, M. Ward, Margo Price, Maria Usbeck, Modern Baseball, Nice As Fuck, Parquet Courts, Pinegrove, Radiohead, Rankstravaganza, Robbie Fulks, Sean Watkins, The Avalanches, The Monkees, The Thermals, Wilco, Wye Oak
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Rankstravaganza 2015: My 25 favorite songs of the year
Ha! You thought this blog was done for. Surprise! I’m back. (Fair warning, though: There might not be another post until New Year’s Eve 2016. I am, however, staying somewhat active with posting both music- and planning-related stuff on this … Continue reading
Posted in End of the Year Rankstravaganza, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged Beck, Ben Folds, Best Songs, Best Songs of 2015, Boxed In, Christopher Owens, Chvrches, Electric Light Orchestra, Jacco Gardner, Jeff Lynne's ELO, Josh Ritter, JR JR, Low, Murder By Death, Natalie Prass, Nate Ruess, Patty Griffin, Rankstravaganza, Ratatat, Sleater-Kinney, Strange Names, The Lone Below, The Mountain Goats, Veruca Salt, Watkins Family Hour, Waxahatchee, White Reaper, Wilco, Will Butler, yMusic Ensemble
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Rankstravaganza 2014: My 30 favorite songs of the year
I basically haven’t posted anything new to this blog since my 2013 year-end roundup. It’s been a busy year full of new challenges and responsibilities, but I’ve continued to listen to new music and compulsively keep track of what got … Continue reading
Posted in End of the Year Rankstravaganza, Local Bands, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged Against Me!, Ages and Ages, Andrew Bird, Beck, Best Songs, Best Songs of 2014, Black Prairie, Bleachers, Bob Mould, Bruce Springsteen, Conor Oberst, Death From Above, Jack White, Jungle, Lydia Loveless, Mimicking Birds, Nickel Creek, OK Go, Pixies, Rankstravaganza, Robyn, Röyksopp, Sharon Van Etten, Sims, Spoon, Sturgill Simpson, The Black Keys, The Family Crest, The Hold Steady, The New Pornographers, The War on Drugs, Ty Segall, Weezer, Wye Oak
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Meanwhile, Elsewhere on the Web: My “Bay Area Mixtape 2013″ featured on the official Avenue Live blog
I meant to do a post as part of my End of the Year Rankstravaganza specifically focused on Bay Area bands and musicians. Of course, I didn’t get around to it. As it got later and later in January, I … Continue reading
Posted in Bay Area Music, End of the Year Rankstravaganza, Local Bands, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged Art Elliot, ATCL elsewhere on the Web, Best Songs of 2013, Everyone is Dirty, Great Lakes Myth Society, local bands, local local local, Maurice Tani, Myron & E, Painted Palms, Rankstravaganza, Shannon and the Clams, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, The Dodos, Thee Oh Sees, Vandella
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Rankstravaganza 2013: My 5 Favorite Albums of the Year
I only did a countdown of five albums this year, rather than what has been the customary 15. Beyond these five, I wasn’t convinced that I truly loved the other albums I listened to in 2013. I might end up … Continue reading
Rankstravaganza 2013: My 30 Favorite Songs of the Year
Once again, I’m turning this in a few days past deadline. No matter! It’s still not too late to celebrate 2013, which in my musical estimation was a year of songwriters singing about specific places, of longer-than-long-awaited follow-ups, of gorgeous … Continue reading
Posted in End of the Year Rankstravaganza, Music, Obligatory List-making
Tagged Amanda Shires, Arcade Fire, Best Songs, Best Songs of 2013, Best Tracks of 2013, Cloud Cult, David Bowie, Dessa, Foals, Free Energy, Janelle Monae, Jason Isbell, Josh Ritter, King Khan and the Shrines, Low, Maurice Tani, My Bloody Valentine, Of Montreal, Okkervil River, Patty Griffin, Phoenix, Queens of the Stone Age, Rankstravaganza, Robbie Fulks, Shannon and the Clams, Son Volt, Steve Earle, Stornoway, Superchunk, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, Thee Oh Sees, They Might Be Giants, Wavves, Waxahatchee
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Racking Up Plays: “I’ll Trade You Money for Wine” by Robbie Fulks
These are the posts where I gush about some song that I’ve got a huge crush on at the moment, and you put up with it and listen because you’re a good friend. “I’ll Trade You Money for Wine,” Robbie … Continue reading
The Annotated Decemberists No. 12: “Cocoon”
The lyrics are impressionistic, aside from a clear, early reference to the victims of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius—a tragedy that may or may not keep coming up throughout the song and may or may not serve as a stand-in for the tragedy of 9/11. Who knows? The meaning of a dream is rarely overt. More likely, you’re left with just the feelings it inspired—and everyone you describe it to is going to have a different interpretation. Continue reading
Posted in Music, Overanalyzing Pop Culture, The Annotated Decemberists
Tagged Mount Vesuvius, song meanings, The Decemberists, tragedy
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Report From the Show: Pink Martini at Stern Grove, SF, 08.11.13
There may be other shows where a 12-piece band performs songs in English, French, Spanish, Italian and I think Japanese. There may be other shows where you’ll find an inordinate number of audience members wearing pink feather boas and playing … Continue reading