The new year is almost here, and with it comes a maelstrom of “End of the Year Lists.†Here on Ex-Spectator, I’ll be rolling out a few “End of the Yearâ€/â€End of the Decade†lists. Today’s list: The Best Albums of 2009. As I’ve mentioned previously, there are a lot of pitfalls for “best of†… [Read more…]
Setting: Lincoln Hall, Chicago. About 10:30ish, 15 minutes or so into Headlights‘ set, about a half hour after Maritime‘s performance. Mike Kinsella and his friend (who I unfortunately did not get the name of) sitting at the southern end of the bar. I pop up before I leave the show… Me: Hey, it was really … [Read more…]
The new year is almost here, and with it comes a maelstrom of “End of the Year Lists.†Here on Ex-Spectator, I’ll be rolling out a few “End of the Yearâ€/â€End of the Decade†lists. Today’s list: The Best Free Albums, EPs and Mixtapes of 2009. Since Radiohead made the pay-what-you-want model so notable with … [Read more…]
Indie Rock Reviews have posted information regarding a rumor that beloved Chicago emo acts Cap’n Jazz and Owls may reunite. Take a look [Thanks Ori Nevo for the tip]: With Pavement’s reunion plans all but finalized, it was only a matter of time before other defunct acts added their name to the list. The latest: … [Read more…]
The Indiana Daily Student‘s Cory Barker recently put out his “Best of the Decade” list on emo. Fine enough. Except that he begins with this little quote: Before 2000, we’re pretty sure that the word emo didn’t even exist. What? No need to really delve into this, but shouldn’t Barker have, I don’t know, say, … [Read more…]
Eye Weekly has a pretty great interview with Christopher R. Weingarten, formerly of good ole’ Parts & Labor, now known most prominently for his Twitter account, 1000TimesYes. Anyway, Weingarten has some pretty stellar things to say about the omnipresence of emo and indie in the early part of the decade, the impact of crowdsourcing on … [Read more…]
I’m still kicking it over at True/Slant, and my latest is a piece on an Australian news site’s puff piece on the new My Chemical Romance album. Read it. Reblog it. Tweet it. Tumblr it. Love it.
Another day, another journalist seeks to kill a genre of music. Today’s suspect is news.com.au‘s Neala Johnson. The weapon – My Chemical Romance. What got the axe? Emo, of course: NO MORE angst. No more whingeing. No more playing the victim. When My Chemical Romance re-emerge in early 2010 with their fourth album, any trace … [Read more…]
I’d heard of Kuma’s Corner for months and have craved their metal-themed hamburgers and pretzel buns for many a month I’ve lived in Chicago. Tonight, I set out for the famous metal bar and was able to snatch a spot before the looming crowd grew larger than the small room had space for. And I … [Read more…]
Overlooked in the Aughts is an ongoing feature focusing on some of the best albums from the 2000s that haven’t quite received the attention they deserved. Today’s post: Milosh’s Meme. Love songs and break-up songs. Seems as though a large majority of pop music can be fit in one of these two categories. So there’s a … [Read more…]