I’m sitting down to type up this list, and there’s a prompt appearing in the WordPress text box, which I delete in order to write this sentence. It says: “Have you ever performed on stage, or given a speech?” The answer to that question, is yes, on both counts, but that’s not why we’re here… Read More My Favourite Albums of 2022
Hey, long time no see, Internet. Here I am, re-emerging from my year-long hibernation to participate in the annual record recap/love-in. It’s been quite the year, but you already know that. It’s been a year for music too, which is something you probably also already know. Here are my choice cuts from the last twelve… Read More My Favourite Albums of 2021
As has become a yearly tradition (and the only thing ever to be posted on this blog anymore), here are my favourite records of the past twelve months.… Read More My Favourite Albums of 2020
There’s a lot that I’ve been grateful for this year, and I am happy to report that 2019 has been a pretty solid year for yours-truly (if not the world at large). I took up running, which meant I took up heavy music again, and I got slightly better at speaking Chinese, even if I… Read More My Favourite Albums of 2019
I don’t know how other to start this post than with the line: I went for a drink with a woman once. It wasn’t by definition a date, and I’m not entirely sure that we knew each other well enough at the time to even qualify as friends, but we went for a drink and,… Read More Answering the Question, Fourteen Months Late (On toe and My Favourite Song)
Featuring: awakebutstillinbed / Muncie Girls / itoldyouiwouldeatyou / Phoebe Bridgers / Looming / Free Throw / The Bronx / Every Time I Die / Nervous Dater / Harmony Woods / Noname / The Written Years / Hovvdy / Nirvana / The Smith Street Band / Conjurer / Slingshot Dakota / Casey / Animal Flag /… Read More The CRM Monday Mix #2
It’s that time of year again. I went all the way back to January to pick out the one-hundred records that have made my 2017. Give it a read:… Read More My Favourite Records of 2017 (100-1)
How about this one for a throwback? Back when I didn’t have much of a fashion sense (not that I do now) and so only wore Nike trainers, tracksuit bottoms, and baggy hoodies, Original Pirate Material was my kind of record. I think of my rundown hometown in the early 2000s when kids used to walk around… Read More Record of the Day #24 – The Streets, Original Pirate Material
I’m not a big advocate of greatest hits compilations. I see their merit, but I tend to treat them cynically – not as cash grabs, but mostly just as unnecessary. I can appreciate the appeal of having a record of nothing but hits, in that the experience is normally a much stronger one than a… Read More Record of the Day #21 – Red Hot Chili Peppers, Greatest Hits
Yesterday I had a lot of writing to do – emails, stories, reviews, lesson plans, the list goes on. It was a day spent in front of the computer (aside from a trip to uni for a swim), hammering the keyboard for hours on end until the to-do list I’d started the day with was… Read More Record of the Day #20 – Sigur Ros, Valtari
This one hurts. Yesterday evening I was left saddened to hear of the passing of soul singer Charles Bradley, and woke up this morning feeling like I should write a few words about a musician I respect a great deal. Born in Florida in 1948, Bradley found success late in his life, releasing his debut… Read More Record of the Day #17 – Charles Bradley, Victim Of Love
I have a lot of love for Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. Maybe it’s because their name makes me think of Jim Carrey films. It’s more the case that their music is really good, and I rate this Springfield indie-pop outfit pretty highly. I was introduced to them back in 2011 upon hearing their… Read More Record of the Day #16 – Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, The High Country
I’ve worked a few jobs across my twenty-two years of living, and my first and favorite role was a relatively straightforward one. Between the ages of thirteen and seventeen, I delivered papers around the neighborhood in which I lived, putting in a shift six days a week so that I could afford music magazines and CDs… Read More Record of the Day #15 – Trash Talk, Eyes & Nines
There was probably a time when I would’ve had a hard time admitting just how much I like this album. That time is in the past, and Brand New Eyes is a great record, finding Paramore more mature, better songwriters, and frontman Williams an increasingly formidable force. It stands as by far my favorite Paramore record, and I… Read More Record of the Day #14 – Paramore, Brand New Eyes
Man, here’s one for the books – Silverstein’s Arrivals & Departures. I used to love this record, like, really fucking love it. I walked home from school every day when I was thirteen and had this record on constant repeat, the album occupying the entire journey and occupying it well. I’m pretty sure that I adored Arrivals… Read More Record of the Day 11 – Silverstein, Arrivals & Departures
I wrote yesterday about what I’m pretty sure was the fourth record I ever bought. Today I’ve turned my attention to the third record I ever bought – Gospel by Fireworks. When I think of pop-punk records I hold particularly dear, I think of Gospel. As far as I’m concerned, the Michigan outfit released a near-perfect sophomore record… Read More Record of the Day #7 – Fireworks, Gospel
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t start listening to Fuck Buttons partly because I liked their name. It’s a good name. I remember picking Tarot Sport up on Amsterdam and the ensuing look on my mother’s face when she asked me who’d made it. Fuck Buttons. A bit of a taboo, a bit of fun,… Read More Record of the Day #5 – Fuck Buttons, Tarot Sport
It’s very easy to state that Every Time I Die are the best band in modern metal and mean it. The New York natives have never released a bad record. Honestly, never. That’s my opinion anyhow, and I know it’s an opinion shared by many others. Every Time I Die are as consistent as they… Read More Record of the Day #4 – Every Time I Die, New Junk Aesthetic
Started in early-2015, the Oneiric Escapism branch of all-things A Lonely Ghost Burning offered something different, the intentions of the compilations varying from those of the counterparts. Here, the emphasis was on finding something sonically absorbing, and the artists considered seemed intent on spellbinding a listener instead of simply soundtracking a mood or moment. It was an… Read More A Lonely Ghost Burning – Oneiric Escapisms
Although not as directly relevant to the content on this site as the Alternative Melodies strand of A Lonely Ghost Burning, the Beautiful Songwriting compilations are well worth a look as well. They’re worth a look more so if you’re a fan of slow, haunting, mostly-acoustic tracks that rely mainly on a great voice above all else.… Read More A Lonely Ghost Burning – A Bounty Of Beautiful Songwriting
Craig Reviews Music 