I’m not scared — I’ll come right out and say it. Rick Springfield is one of power pop’s unsung heroes and should be held up right next to your Eric…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
The Click Five – Greetings from Imrie House (2005)purchase this album A few seconds into this album’s opening track, “Good Day” (download), and I almost started to believe that the…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband – Dream Big (2005)purchase this album “PostHeeHawFunkadelicHipHopNewGrass.” That’s the type of music Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband play, at least according to them; this description,…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Jack’s Mannequin – Everything in Transit (2005)purchase this album A few frightening phrases which could be used to accurately describe Everything in Transit: 1. “Something Corporate side project” 2. “features…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
According to SiteMeter (which hasn’t been running as long as the site’s been up, but whatever), this place registered its 20,000th visitor today. This makes me feel like having a…
Jeff Giles
14 Min Read
[Here it is, at long last: The Graduate’s conclusion to the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Otis Redding. I’ll be doing next week’s Guide, unless I get a better offer from…
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
You know, I’ve never cared much about Halloween. Even as a kid, the candy didn’t excite me as much as it did my friends — I quit dressing up to…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Neil Young – Prairie Wind (2005)purchase this album Since rebounding from a decade of mostly disastrous albums with 1989’s Freedom, Neil Young has established a pattern for his releases: Loud…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Franz Ferdinand – You Could Have it So Much Better (2005)purchase this album Here are some descriptions I’ve read recently of Franz Ferdinand’s music: “Art-damaged rock.” “Churned-up art punk.” “Garage…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Blues Traveler – ¡Bastardos! (2005) purchase this album A funny thing happened to Blues Traveler on their way to obscurity: As John Popper slimmed down, the band’s songs did too,…
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
It’s almost Halloween at our neighborhood Safeway: Veteran Hostess consumers will recognize “Glo Balls” as cleverly transmuted Halloween versions of “Sno Balls,” which, if you aren’t familiar with them, consist…
Jeff Giles
11 Min Read
[Note: I put out a call for guest Idiots a few weeks ago, and was quite pleased to get a response from one of my favorite bloggers (his comment about…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
It was brought to my attention that this site has been ALL FUCKED UP in Safari and Firefox lately. I think Rahul has fixed it. He’s awesome. Are those of…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Has anyone else caught a whiff of this turkey? We watched a few minutes last night, and it’s powerful bad. Jon Stewart should sue Comedy Central for making him share…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Hey, looks like Salon has discovered my Complete Idiot’s Guide to Toto and whaddya know, they like it. Too bad they’ve credited it to catchdubs. The fucking Web, man:
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Sigur Rós – Takk… (2005) purchase this album So. This is what all the hype is about, I guess? I don’t get it. This music is nice and all, but for…
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
Paul McCartney – Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005)purchase this album As I wrote last week, I wasn’t expecting much from this. McCartney albums can be pretty half-baked —…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
So apparently now I’m sort of syndicated, yet still completely unpaid. I guess this is the new wave for newspaper websites — now that everyone’s a-bloggin’, they just go around…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Miss me? Sorry about that. Work took me out of the loop for a good two weeks, but I’m back now and rarin’ to go with a bunch of posts….
Jeff Giles
14 Min Read
[Note: For those of you who weren’t here a couple of weeks ago — or just have very short memories — this here is Part Two of the Complete Idiot’s…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Linked to by stereogum. I feel like an ugly kid who just got invited to his first party.
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Linked to by stereogum. I feel like an ugly kid who just got invited to his first party.
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
Back in February, I mentioned driving past Crazy Buffet, a new restaurant in Sunnyvale. I didn’t have any intention of eating there, really; I just thought it was a funny…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
All that McCartney ranting yesterday, and hey, the new single ain’t bad: Paul McCartney – Fine Line (download) Huh. I’m sure this is just Macca’s way of getting my hopes…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
I was all set to do a review of the new Herbie Hancock today, but it turns out there really isn’t all that much to say about the new Herbie…
Jeff Giles
3 Min Read
Nada Surf – The Weight Is A Gift (2005)click here to purchase this album I didn’t listen to the radio at all in 1996, so I’ve never heard Nada Surf’s…
Jeff Giles
1 Min Read
Like pretty much everybody else, I’ve had New Orleans on my mind lately. Haven’t said much, because I’m not as eloquent as folks elsewhere, like Atrios and Billmon. Basically I’m…
Jeff Giles
2 Min Read
Bob Dylan – Live at the Gaslight 1962 (The Bootleg Series Vol. 6.5) (2005) Bob Dylan – No Direction Home: The Soundtrack (The Bootleg Series Vol. 7) (2005) I like…
Jeff Giles
4 Min Read
David Gray – Life in Slow Motion (2005) There was a time when I thought David Gray’s music was insufferably boring. Either I was wrong, or I’ve become insufferably boring…