Every year is a good year for music. 2025 is no different. Getting the tap on the shoulder to be a contributor to Aquarium Drunkard this past spring meant that I also participated in the 2025 version of AD’s annual Year in Review compilation. Its existence is conclusive evidence of my opening statement. Personally, I’veContinue reading “Favorite Albums of 2025”
Tag Archives: Jim White
Tim Barnes’s Inside Energy
Earlier this year, I interviewed Ken Brown/Bundy K. Brown, musician, producer, engineer, and original member of Tortoise and Gastr del Sol, about his musical project Jungle Boogie. During our conversation, Ken shared that one of the early configurations of Jungle Boogie was Ken and drummer Britt Walford playing with their friend Tim Barnes. Brown relatedContinue reading “Tim Barnes’s Inside Energy”
A Good Year for Stephen Malkmus
Stephen Malkmus had a good year. It was also a busy one for the singer, songwriter, and guitar deity as it included the launch of a new band, more reunion tour dates with foundational 90s indie band Pavement, high-profile interviews, and the premier of a movie which featured his younger self. What follows are 10Continue reading “A Good Year for Stephen Malkmus”
Dirty Three’s Love Changes Everything
Nick Cave famously called Dirty Three his favorite live band. He went on to say about the Australian instrumental band composed of Cave’s fellow Bad Seed violinist Warren Ellis, guitar player Mick Turner, and drummer Jim White: “When I watch them, they ignite something, I start having grand plans and hundreds of lyrics leap intoContinue reading “Dirty Three’s Love Changes Everything”
The Eerie in Dirty Three’s “Some Summers They Drop Like Flies”
“The sensation of the eerie occurs either when there is something present where there should be nothing, or there is nothing present when there should be something.” Mark Fisher, The Weird and the Eerie The opening track of Whatever You Love, You Are, the fifth studio album by the Australian band Dirty Three, is theContinue reading “The Eerie in Dirty Three’s “Some Summers They Drop Like Flies””
Planets
This post was originally published on May 21, 2023 and was updated on July 29, 2024. “I do think that songs are little utopias for people to live in for three or four minutes.” Bill Callahan shared this sentiment during a 2022 interview with Uproxx to promote the release of his album YTI⅃AƎЯ, and itContinue reading “Planets”
Drainface
With the release of the album YTI⅃AƎЯ in October 2022, Bill Callahan shared with Paste Magazine the sonic approach that he took for the recording: “I started becoming more interested in rock music again, so I started thinking more in terms of a band type of record…It seemed like, after the pandemic, I needed allContinue reading “Drainface”
Coyotes
In October 2022, Bill Callahan released YTI⅃AƎЯ, his third album of original compositions in three years, extending his run of putting out excellent new music after a substantial six-year gap between albums from 2013 to 2019. One of the many stand-out tracks on YTI⅃AƎЯ is “Coyotes”: The song begins with Callahan’s acoustic guitar establishing aContinue reading “Coyotes”
Bill Callahan in Asheville, NC – February 26-27, 2023
With the release of his album YTILAER in fall 2022, Bill Callahan shared during an interview with Paste the instigation behind writing the batch of songs featured on the record: “I started becoming more interested in rock music again, so I started thinking more in terms of a band type of record….It seemed like, afterContinue reading “Bill Callahan in Asheville, NC – February 26-27, 2023”
Let Me See the Colts
In 2003, Bill Callahan, still releasing music under the band name Smog, put out the album Supper. The fifth track, placed at the heart of the album, is a song titled “Vessel in Vain”: The song opens with the sounds of twin twinkling from the guitar and keyboard as Callahan sings the opening lines: “IContinue reading “Let Me See the Colts”
Recliner Notes 