Category Archives: Uncategorized

50 songs for 50 states: Mississippi

Posted on May 14, 2018 by olneyce

Here’s to the State of Mississippi – Phil Ochs If one wanted to develop a typology of states, there are plenty of features they could use to establish key lines of differentiation. Geography, climate, demographics, wealth, etc. But in many … Continue reading →

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50 songs for 50 states: Minnesota

Posted on May 7, 2018 by olneyce

There are plenty of solid choices for Minnesota—home to Prince, The Replacements, and Robert Zimmerman, just to name a few. Girl From the North Country would be the classic pick, while Prince’s Rock and Roll is Alive, and It Lives … Continue reading →

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Album Review: Structure by Chvad SB

Posted on March 13, 2018 by olneyce

Structure by Chvad SB A deep electronic drone, punctuated by little ripples of organic sound. It’s the sound of quiet unrest, the slow etching of shadows cast by the light of a full moon. It reminds me a lot of … Continue reading →

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The songs everyone should hear

Posted on January 4, 2018 by olneyce

Over the last couple weeks, I ran an informal survey asking people for the ‘five songs they think everyone should hear.’ I left it to those surveyed to decide precisely what that meant. My hope was to get enough responses … Continue reading →

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Top 25 albums of 2017

Posted on December 18, 2017 by olneyce

Last year I struggled to find fifteen albums I could fully endorse. This year I probably could have run the list out to forty or fifty if I had the time to write them all up. I don’t know whether that’s just … Continue reading →

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Top 50 songs of 2017

Posted on December 15, 2017 by olneyce

2017 has been a year of revolution in gender politics, and that has absolutely been reflected in the musical world as well. As with so many industries, there is a sense that the dam may be bursting: that sexual violence, … Continue reading →

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A time of reckoning: the Democratic Party and sexual abuse

Posted on November 16, 2017 by olneyce

Breaking news today that Al Franken kissed and groped a woman without her consent.  Franken has long been a minor hero of mine. An ideologically passionate but intensely pragmatic politician, who took advantage of his celebrity to move into public … Continue reading →

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Top 10 Ani DiFranco songs

Posted on October 28, 2017 by olneyce

Ani DiFranco burst out in 1990 with a self-titled album of complex, beautiful, haunting songs characterized by a unique guitar picking style and an evocative lyrical style. Ever since, she’s spent three prolific decades experimenting with an impressive array of musical … Continue reading →

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The Beatles from worst to first

Posted on June 9, 2017 by olneyce

In the early days of this blog, I published a series of posts ranking every Beatles song from worst to first. Ten years on, I figured it was time to consolidate those old posts into one comprehensive list, and make … Continue reading →

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It was fifty years ago today: Sgt. Pepper and the Rise of the Counterculture

Posted on June 2, 2017 by olneyce

Today is the 50th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in the United States. In a country as large and diverse as this one, there will never be a true moment of national unity. But June … Continue reading →

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