One of the key benefits criticism can provide is clarity. I am so thankful for this Pitchfork review of the new Sufjan Stevens album.
Month: March 2015
Courtney Barnett
There’s a line in Courtney Barnett’s song “Depreston” that stands out to me, and I can’t get over how great it is. The irony is that the line — “I’m saving 23 dollars a week” — shouldn’t stand out at all. It’s so matter-of-fact, like an unremarkable piece of an unremarkable conversation you might not even remember having.
Some context — the song is ostensibly about moving to the suburbs, and a piece of the first verse concerns how buying a coffee maker saves you money, but I relate to the song as a story about growing up.
Brandi Carlile
Tonight I’ll go to the Robins Center and see the Richmond Spiders men’s basketball team play their last home game of the season. (If they win, they’ll progress to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden.) While not making it into the NCAA tournament stung, this NIT run has been such a wonderful bonus. I assumed that my last time seeing the mighty Kendall Anthony in a Spiders uniform in person would be the double overtime VCU win, so watching him again on Sunday night — in yet another overtime win, no less, this time against Arizona State — was a real treat. A cherry on top of the icing that VCU game already represented.
John Fullbright
Happy tournament, y’all!
My (undoubtedly terrible) bracket has been filled out and submitted, and while I’m bummed that Richmond didn’t make it into the field of 68, I’m hoping VCU has an extended run in them. To that end, I’d like to humbly suggest a companion song for anyone with a team they’d like to see survive and advance in the weeks to come…
John Fullbright may not know it, but he wrote the perfect tournament song in “Moving.”
brb
Heading to America’s Dairyland to meet my new baby nephew, Clark. I’m not sure if you should pray for the cheese and beer I’m about to wolf down or pray for me for how much cheese and beer I’m about to wolf down. Either way, here’s a track from Clark’s (different Clark) 2014 album, Clark.
Clark — “The Grit In The Pearl” [Spotify/iTunes]
Matthew E. White
I’m a sucker for intertexuality, so the new Matthew E. White album is like a gift from above.
Friday Cheers
Backstage with Richmond’s Brewery Boom
Talk about arduous research. I got to write an article for River City Magazine about the symbiotic relationship between Richmond’s breweries and bands. Lots of boozy fun was had, and I’m super-duper excited to share the results — click here to check it out over at Richmond Navigator’s site.
You Hear That 