Today’s entry is a good test of my basic musical preferences. I like to think of myself as a well-rounded music fan, one who can find enjoyment in many different genres and many different sounds. But one genre I have never liked, and suspect I never will like, is hard rock/heavy metal.
Sure, I’ve enjoyed some harder-edged detours by otherwise “quiet” bands (R.E.M.’s Monster comes to mind) but those are definitely exceptions.
The rap album with the best showing on critics’ 2002 lists was Missy Elliott’s Under Construction, her fourth and most successful record.
I have no real association with Elliott’s music. I’m familiar with her as a pop culture fixture, through commercials and television appearances, but I can’t say I’ve listened to any of her songs in full.
Over the last two weeks I counted down my ten favorite albums of 2002. Over the next two, I’ll feature ten critically acclaimed albums from the same year that somehow escaped me.
Spoon is an Austin indie rock band that’s been recording since 1996. I first learned about them following the release of 2005’s Gimme Fiction, their fifth album. Since then I’ve picked up 2007’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and 2014’s They Want Me Soul, somehow missing out on 2010’s Transference.
Here’s a favorite track of mine from Morrissey’s 1992 album, Your Arsenal, his best solo record.
This is the quintessential Morrissey track: morbidly depressing and self-pitying, but quite lovely.
An interesting tidbit I learned when Googling the lyrics of the song today is that they are loosely based on a Joni Mitchell song called ‘Silky Veils or Ardor.’
Brad Paisley’s 2013 album Wheelhouse was a rare miss for the artist (and best remembered for the laughably ill-advised track ‘Accidental Racist’) but opening cut and lead-off single ‘Southern Comfort Zone’ is a keeper.
The track’s theme epitomizes Paisley’s appeal as a bona fide country star whose creative purview extends well past Nashville.
Meet Me In Montauk 