1. Ha Ha Tonka – Lessons: like the Tonk would break their own streak of topping my lists the years they release albums. This is a flawless record, comprehensively from start to finish, that packs an intense emotional punch and gorgeous harmonies. Probably my favorite band working right now. (Album review.) 2. Josh Ritter –…
Author: brandnewkindof
Photographer, baseball fan, lover of rock music, sweet tea, chili cheese hotdogs, and Matt Wieters.
the first album i ever bought: herman’s hermits – herman’s hermits
The First Album I Ever Bought is an occasional guest post series where friends, family, and strangers talk about, well, the first album they ever bought. A new piece runs every Wednesday, and sometimes more often. If you’d like to submit, please see the guidelines here. The first album that I bought for myself was…
christmas mix: joy to you baby
I’ve been making what I call a Christmas mix — that is, not holiday songs but a mix made at the holidays — since 1997; first they were tapes, then for a few years cds, and finally, in the digital age, the last seven nine years have been downloadable zip files, and this year is…
best of: favorite songs of 2013
How I made this list: these 25 songs are the five-star songs in my iTunes library that I listened to most in 2013. You’ll see a few repeated on my Christmas mix — spoiler alert! — but not most of them. Stream them below via Spotify (tracks not available on Spotify are linked individually), and…
the first album i ever bought: counting crows – august and everything after
The First Album I Ever Bought is an occasional guest post series where friends, family, and strangers talk about, well, the first album they ever bought. A new piece runs every Wednesday, and sometimes more often. If you’d like to submit, please see the guidelines here. There’s a small possibility that the first album I bought…
justin townes earle @ southland ballroom
I didn’t see nearly as many show this year as I have the past three. There are reasons for that, but they’re not particularly relevant. As I was finishing my work day yesterday, though, I reflected that even in a small sample size, I got to see so many bands I adore, it was worth…
song share: the breedings – big blue christmas
Sometimes people you love have flaws. Take my friends Erin, Willie, and Jesse, for example: they’re Kentucky basketball fans, but I look past that flaw, because I love them, and they’re my friends. And Erin and Willie, as the Breedings, have written a great Christmas song, the sentiment of which is one that every college…
video share: frank turner – “river” (joni mitchell cover)
Seasonally appropriate Frank Turner cover.
the first album i ever bought: monty python – monty python sings!
The First Album I Ever Bought is an occasional guest post series where friends, family, and strangers talk about, well, the first album they ever bought. A new piece runs every Wednesday, and sometimes more often. If you’d like to submit, please see the guidelines here. Long before I was a music geek, I was…
album review: mason jennings — always been
Mason Jennings’ newest album, Always Been, takes its title from track 2, “Patti & Robert”, where the phrase is a repeating chorus; the song itself was inspired after Mason met Patti Smith at a benefit concert in New York City and read Just Kids while flying back to Minnesota. So basically that’s a sentence that…
brand new kind of photography 