Arts and Entertainment
Song of the Day 6/1: Kate Bush, “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)”
Digitalized music has played havoc with the old-fashioned record charts compiled by the likes of Billboard magazine. Songs released decades ago keep popping up near the top, their spikes in popularity cued by their use in popular movies and TV shows. The latest overnight sensation, Kate Bush’s 1985 hit “Running Up That Hill,” was used […]
‘Bulo’s Fave Tunes: May, 2022
Another great month, full of diversity. And some true tours de force. I’m sure you’ll find plenty to enjoy: The artist is Jett Kwong: My first take: He could be the artist I hoped Mac Demarco would become: ‘I’m making all my rules up.’ Nathan Arizona’s fave of the month?: I briefly worried that Bartees […]
Song of the Day 5/31: Sex Pistols, “God Save the Queen”
With England set to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, marking her 70 years on the throne, it seemed like the perfect time to release a TV series about the Sex Pistols’ constantly controversial 2½-year existence, and the tumultuous times the band both caused and reflected — particularly because reactionary governments and social movements again seem […]
Song of the Day 5/30: João Gilberto, “Chega de Saudade”
Guest post by Nathan Arizona The warm weather always gets me thinking about the beaches of Ipanema. I’ve never been to Rio, but every spring and summer I get transported to Brazil when I break out the bossa nova. The mellow blend of samba and American cool jazz is perfect for kicking back with a […]
Song of the Day 5/28: The Black Keys, “Tell Me Lies”
There’s so much lying in public life that the media has become numb to it — producers and editors aired and printed Trump’s lies with a shrug and without bothering to check or correct them. Maybe that’s why people seem so stunned by the fumbling, bumbling lying by the Uvalde Police Department. The tune appeared […]
Song of the Day 5/27: Emitt Rhodes, “You Should Be Ashamed”
This one’s for all the people who think that gun violence can be curtailed by doing anything other than restricting access to guns. The song, released on Rhodes’ eponymous 1970 LP, is a good example of why people thought this was actually Paul McCartney recording incognito. Rhodes’ three early ’70s albums made him a cult […]
Song of the Day 5/26: Nilsson, “Jump Into the Fire”
I didn’t even have to finish reading the headline about actor Ray Liotta’s death at age 67 for this song to start playing in my head. As any Scorsese fan knows, this is the tune that accompanies Henry Hill’s paranoid drive while a police helicopter shadows him, and it does an effective job of heightening […]
Song of the Day 5/25: Candlebox, “I’ve Got a Gun”
Candlebox released this cri de coeur about gun violence in 2016, long after the Seattle band’s grunge-era heyday. Frontman Kevin Martin, asked about the song’s inspiration by Songfacts, said: At the time when it was being written there was a lot going on in the world with gun violence and it’s still happening on a […]
Song of the Day 5/22: The Velvet Underground, “All Tomorrow’s Parties”
Andy Warhol, who launched the Velvet Underground by making them part of his Exploding Plastic Inevitable, called this first single from the band’s debut album his favorite VU song. Composer Lou Reed claimed it was about the scene at Warhol’s Factory, but the song was written before Warhol became their manager. According to John Cale, […]
Song of the Day 5/20: Kevin Morby, “This Is a Photograph”
With apologies to El Somnambulo, who handles the new music feature round these parts, I’ve been in the car a lot the past few days and have heard this one on WXPN a couple of times. The song, the title track to Morby’s seventh solo LP since 2013, certainly arrests your attention while you’re driving […]
Song of the Day 5/18: Eric Clapton, “Change the World”
Eric Clapton, who’s been in the news several times during the pandemic for his anti-vax and anti-quarantine views, has had to cancel some concerts because, inevitably, he’s caught Covid. What’s surprising is that he’s touring at all, considering his claims about his reaction to getting the Astra-Zeneca vaccine last year. I took the first jab […]
Song of the Day 5/17: Cheryl Wheeler, “If It Were Up to Me”
Folksinger Cheryl Wheeler wrote this in 1998, in the aftermath of the Jonesboro, Ark., school shootings. They were shocking at the time because the murderers were just 13 and 11 years old, but Columbine happened the next year so Jonesboro is largely forgotten. No wonder — there have been more than 230 school shootings since. […]
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