Tag Archives: Rustin Dodd

Jan 01 2013
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Culture, Music

Music and 2012

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I hate many things about year-end lists. For one, I hate the phrase you see when you encounter a list —  “It’s that time of the year” — which is really code for “OK, here’s a list because we need to provide something to click on while everybody goes on a two-week holiday bender of eggnog and Christmas cookies.”

But I also love many things about these lists. Sure, they’re gimmicky and lazy. But they’re also important. Life is fast, and hard, and busy. And sometimes, we need people to remind us what happened. I have been doing this list here for a couple years now. And I’ll go ahead and recycle what I wrote last year. Sure, it’s lazy. But then again, so are lists.

When I think back to (2012), I know I won’t think of one monolithic theme or narrative. Life doesn’t work that way. Not for me. But I will remember certain moments… and certain songs. So here we go, finally, the 12 songs I will remember from 2012.

12 Civilian — Wye Oak

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11 Same Love — Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

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10 Swimming Pools — Kendrick Lamar

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9 Hold On — Alabama Shakes

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8 The House That Heaven Built — Japandroids

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7 Take A Walk — Passion Pit

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6 Ghost Fields — Murder By Death

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5 Live and Die — The Avett Brothers

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4 We Take Care of Our Own — Bruce Springsteen

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3 Harlem Roulette — Mountain Goats

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2 Bigger Than Love — Ben Gibbard & Aimee Mann

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1 The King of the World — First Aid Kit

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Dec 14 2012
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Endorsements, Music

Unsolicited Endorsements IXX

Album: Big Boi — “Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors”

I’ve always been an Andre 3000 guy. When Outkast kinda-sorta split up to create Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (2003), you had to choose a favorite. At the time, I was partial to Andre’s mix of soul, rock and hip-hop.
Since Outkast’s last project dropped in 2006, Andre has lent his vocals and production skills to a collection of strong singles and become the immaculately groomed face of Gillette razors. Big Boi has used that six-year stretch to author two solo albums: 2010’s very good Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty and this week’s Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors. Continue reading →
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Nov 12 2012
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Music

#MusicMonday: The Head and the Heart

Every Monday morning. Music so good, it must be shared. 

This week: “Down in The Valley” — The Head and the Heart, off their self-titled debut album

 

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Aug 13 2012
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Culture, Music

#MusicMonday: Mumford & Sons

Every Monday morning. Music so good… it must be shared.

This week: “I Will Wait” — Mumford & Sons, off their new, yet-to-be released album, “Babel”.

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Well, Mumford & Sons, the British folk/roots/stringy quartet, is just about six weeks away from releasing its sophomore album in America, and last week they revved up the hype machine by releasing this rollicking, “Let’s Go Run in a Field!” track that immediately generated all sorts of feedback in certain pockets of the internet.

On first listen, the song hits all the right spots.

And maybe that’s the thing: If I had to imagine what a new Mumford & Sons song would sound like, “I’ll Will Wait” would be more or less the exact song that I invented in my head. And I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

This is hardly an original thought, of course, but it feels true. The song is everything you want, from the banjo-filled everything, to the crescendo-building chorus, to the tent-revival lyrics.

But there’s also the feeling that you’re being sold something you already bought. Some folks have already proved that it’s pretty easy to rip off (and commercialize) this sound — yea, Phillip, you… — and maybe this just adds to the feeling that Mumford, for all its imagery about running and moving and criss-crossing the country via train, is having a pretty tough time figuring where to go. — Rustin Dodd

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Jul 09 2012
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Music

#MusicMonday: The Thermals

Every Monday morning. Music so good… it must be shared.

This week: “Back to Gray” — The Thermals, off the album, “More Parts per Million”  
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Jun 10 2012
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Culture, Endorsements, Music

Unsolicited Endorsements XXVIII

Because sometimes you just want friends to tell you about cool things… the Brew House team offers up its weekly mix of author-supported goodness. 

Cereal: Frosted Toast Crunch

When I was younger, maybe five or six years old, my mom refused to let my brother, sister and I eat sugary cereals. She reasoned we ate so much sugar during the day, during the rest of our meals that an added significant dosage at breakfast would make us grow up to become bank robbers. This might have been a fair argument. But we were young. We didn’t know any better, and those damn commercials with cartoon rabbits and the fluorescent glow of cardboard boxes perpetrated our minds, alluring us to the sugary side. We begged nonstop.

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Jun 04 2012
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Music

#MusicMonday: Weezer

Every Monday morning. Music so good… it must be shared.

This week: “Undone (The Sweater Song)” — Weezer, live on the John Stewart Show
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Jun 03 2012
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Culture, Endorsements, Music, New York

Unsolicited Endorsements XXVII

Because sometimes you just want friends to tell you about cool things… the Brew House team offers up its weekly mix of author-supported goodness. 

Album: “In My G4 Over Da Sea” — Neutral Bling Hotel

In February 1998, Neutral Milk Hotel released “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea”, a seminal concoction* of lo-fi indie rock.

*If you’ve never listened to the blown-out guitars on “Holland, 1945″, well, do so right now.

After the release of the album, Neutral Milk frontman Jeff Mangum more or less disappeared for the next decade. He stopped releasing music and only showed up to play live shows within the last few years.

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Jun 03 2012
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Art, Nostalgia, Sports

The library, Euro 2012 and how soccer explains my world

When I was in the second grade, maybe 8 years old, that beautiful age when you finally start to formulate your own thoughts, my grade-school class would spend two days a week at a period entitled, simply, “Library.”

You probably had something similar. Most kids did. At Nall Hills Elementary, we spent those Library periods learning about the Dewey Decimal system, how to navigate the card catalogue (what an effing waste of time) and checking out books (think Goosebumps, the Berenstain Bears chapter books or the Illustrated Classics… Three Musketeers!!!).

For me, though, I spent nearly every minute of Library class in the sports section: One wall dedicated just to sports titles. For an 8-year-old kid, this was about the coolest thing in the world. I remember checking out a 200-page, hardbound book about the history of basketball. It was old and faded, big and yellow… and it told me that John Wooden was nicknamed the Indiana Rubberman when he was schoolboy legend in the Hoosier State. I can remember checking out a book called “Baseball’s Greatest Games” — a perfect little introduction to men like Kirk Gibson and Carlton Fisk and Harvey Haddix. And here’s the coolest part: I can remember that our little elementary school library had a series of books chronicling the history of every single MLB and NFL franchise.

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May 18 2012
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Art, Culture, Endorsements

Unsolicited Endorsements XXV

Because sometimes you just want friends to tell you about cool things… the Brew House team offers up its weekly mix of author-supported goodness.

Movie: “Tiny Furniture”

A certain segment of the population knows Lena Dunham as the New York-bred, tattooed creator and protagonist of the HBO series “Girls”. But I, myself, must admit I’ve never seen an episode of the ultra-trendy (and maybe sort of controversial*) series. (Blame my schedule and lack of an HBO subscription.) Continue reading →

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