First, unrelated: couple of weeks ago I shot an interview with Oberhofer for Speakers In Code; it’s up now, and you can read it and see my photos here. And now: two sentence reviews of new albums I listened to in February (and a few in January that missed the cut-off for that edition, but…
the baseball project — vol. 2: high and inside
The Baseball Project — Vol. 2: High And Inside. Out 3/1, Yep Roc Records. Sometimes I’m pretty sure that I’m the only person who loved the Baseball Project’s 2009 release Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes & Dying Quails as much as I did; it was in my top 25 for that year. I loved it because…
why college baseball matters
Today is college baseball’s opening day. This is a post that I’ve been trying to write, in a variety of formats, for at least three years now; since the summer of 2008, when I bristled at Red Sox fans bandwagoning on to the Carolina train in the College World Series, calling our I-hate-your-feelings-just-shut-up-and-pitch catcher by…
drive-by truckers — go-go boots
Drive-By Truckers — Go Go Boots. Out 2/15, ATO Records. I am going to get this out of the way first: I do not like this album as much as I liked The Big To-Do; in fact, it isn’t even close. There are tracks I love, and there are things about it that really work…
i am the shiver down your spine
you are the lump in my throat i am the aching in your heart [John Doe, “The Golden State”] This song is either the creepiest romantic song I have ever heard, or the most romantic creepy song. I can’t decide. It’s gorgeous, regardless. Go tell the people you love that you love them. Actually, do…
happy pitchers and catchers day!
Matt Wieters: the subject of all love songs ever written. Happy pitchers and catchers!
onward, soldiers @ open eye cafe
Wilmington’s Onward, Soldiers are spending a lot of time up in the Triangle these days, and I, for one, couldn’t be happier — the Open Eye is not an ideal performance space, weirdly shaped and full of graduate students with laptops who don’t understand why there is a rockin’ band playing and also made of…
i don’t feel much like starting now
will i ever know silence without mental violence will the ringing at night go away
to hate like this is to be happy forever
Dean Smith made basketball a religion in our family, rivaled only by Presbyterianism, barbeque, and the Democratic Party. For many years, our dream scenario had gone something like this: Dean beats archrival Duke and its coach, the detested Mike Krzyzewski, for the national championship in April, then runs for the Senate (for which he had…
there was a band playin’ in my head
Another good friend, Michael Cooper, I used to hang with a lot. Great photographer. He could hang and hang; he could take so much stuff. He was the only photographer I ever knew who actually had a tremor when he was taking pictures, and yet they’d come out right. “How did you do that? Your…
brand new kind of photography 