Archives

Neutral Milk Hotel Collected Works (Merge Records) I confess I never listened to Neutral Milk Hotel before. I knew it was considered one of the great alternative bands, but I never heard anything else that made me want to listen to them. There were moments I...

The Philosophy of Modern Songby Bob Dylan Could anyone but Bob Dylan have written a book like this? I use the words “book” and “Bob Dylan” lightly because I don’t think either of those things are true. Let me explain. The Philosophy of Modern Song is just a...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Ramones In Love LP by Kepi Ghoulie. No matter how open-minded listeners might be, some albums are simply intent on challenging their audience’s expectations – and Kepi Ghoulie’s Ramones In Love is definitely...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the 30th Anniversary 2LP reissue of Dirt by Alice In Chains. While there are plenty of deluxe reissue versions of classic albums on the market at the moment (including of Dirt, actually; there are multi-disc sets of the album...

Captain Beefheart & His Magic BandTrout Mask Replica There is a bit on Marc Maron’s standup album Thinky Pain where, after talking extensively about his vinyl midlife crisis and trying to find the perfect record player how it’s time for him to “understand...

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 What can I possibly say about Star Trek that hasn’t been said already. If you don’t know what it is, get a clue and get on board. I was very late to the party but have since gone very deep. Star Trek is a warm fuzzy place I don’t think...

Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilizationby Neil deGrasse Tyson I know Neil deGrasse Tyson is often the victim of ridicule, but I can’t help but like the guy. At the very least he’s considered annoying because he likes to challenge our understanding of...

Dave HillLive @ Village Social Club I’m all for checking out new venues in Boston, and lord knows we need them. The smaller and more intimate, the better. But, what I didn’t expect is that one of my favorite comedians would be playing a venue I’d never heard of....

Iggy Pop Every Loser (Atlantic/Warner Bros.) I’m never sure what I’ll get when I get a new album by Iggy Pop. Usually, there’s some version of the standard Iggy — rocking hard, with some social criticism, and a ballad or two – but every now and then he throws...

Lou ReedTransformer (RSD 50th Anniversary) Lou Reed is a hard man to pin down. He’s simply unknowable. Either because he wanted it that way, or because he himself wasn’t quite sure of who he was. He’s been analyzed and idolized endlessly as a messiah or a junkie...