The Useless Critic 2.0

I think I promised some Lana-related blabbing, so here it goes. I've been traveling a lot these past several days, which has left me quite some time to enjoy music. And by music I mean 90 percent "Norman Fucking Rockwell." This and "Cinnamon Girl" are, to me, the standout tracks off this album. There's really not a dud among the group - some songs are a little more subdued than others, I will say - but the songs that stand out are like, shit people will be listening to in 20 plus years.  Now, for "Mariners Apartment Complex," there's two reasons it is - without a doubt - one of her top tracks. First of all, it's a classic throwback ballad dressed up in modern production (the help of Jack Antonoff.) This sounds like something that emerged directly for radio play in the '70s. Without the production that is undeniably contemporary - imagine a stripped-down acoustic version - "Mariners" would not be out of place in the singe...

Memo to self for the future: DO NOT LET DOMAINS EXPIRE DURING PERSONAL CRISES. Get your self TOGETHER and renew that damn domain. Geezus. Not dead, internet, not dead. I got royally screwed by this whole situation, and now my OG domain - theuselesscritic.com - is worth a whole boatload of money. Please learn from my errors, and never do such things. So we have entered the part of my life where this is no longer actually "The Useless Critic" but "Useless Critics." This largely does not matter, but I prefer to be candid. Just realized apparently I am wearing part of my bath bomb on my face. This is a good look. As a brief recap, I've been swamped all summer, so I've been putting off bringing back the UC for oh quite a while. Summertimes in Phoenix are uniquely hard due to the unbearable heat, so I did indulge in the "summertime sads" a bit. But September is a good month for me. I'm fresh off from seeing THE NATIONAL and will soon be seeing Ph...

"Without even a prompt from us, the public voted our record number 1 album of the year. It’s those kinds of things I remember, and I will always remember. And it’s those highlights that have brought us to where we are today." - Charles Cave, White Lies  Photo by Steve Gullick  A while ago, I meant to post this interview. But to paraphrase John Lennon, life happened while I was attempting to make other plans.  So White Lies released "Five" earlier this year - their fifth (duh) album in a decade. And "Five" is up there with their debut in terms of my favorite White Lies albums. It's worth a listen. Here are a few questions I asked Charles Cave of White Lies about the band's musical career thus far, "Five," and touring. Also: ABBA makes an appearance. Enjoy!  "Five" marks a decade of White Lies. How have things evolved over the past decade?  We’ve grown into ourselves, and have found a lot more comfort in our own ski...

In this new ongoing series that I have been meaning to do for years but have never done ... I will be comparing songs with the same/similar name and determining which one is better. Utterly a useless exercise, but did you read the blog name?! Yeah ... it's a reoccurring theme ...  This week, we've got in one corner, indie queen Jenny Lewis! Her latest album "On the Line" just dropped this past Friday and Lewis is riding an impressively large wave of media coverage at the moment. And honestly, she deserves it.  And in the OTHER corner, we have that beloved indie rock band from the turn of the century - Yeah Yeah Yeahs! Karen O has been up to a bit lately, but I have only followed from a distance and thus feel unqualified to pontificate on it.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The songs that are duking it out today? "Heads Gonna Roll" vs. "Heads Will Roll." Let's look at "Heads Gonna Roll" first - a lead single off Jenny Lewis's "On t...

(If this doesn't hit you right in the feels, then I don't want to talk to you!) Sid Sriram just released his debut LP "Entropy" and is currently touring across North America. He's a new find for me - an interesting new find, combining elements of R&B, pop, hip-hop, some soul, and Carnatic music - which is a traditional form of Indian music.  "Entropy" itself is a relatively strong debut, but "Limitless" itself feels like it was custom made for pop radio. This clip of Sriram performing the song features noneother than a choir taught by the singer's own mother. It's a cool way of showing a journey going "full circle" so to speak.  Keep this guy in your periphery vision ... he's got a lot of promise. For more, visit his website:  https://www.sidsriram.com/

With Ringo Starr on drums, Jenny Lewis came BACK. She's touring, heavily promoting her new album, and quite frankly, kicking ASS. May age be this graceful to all of us.  Seriously though, this song sounds like if Fleetwood Mac came out now. Jenny Lewis's solo career has been littered with badass anthems (like "She's Not Me") and this track belongs right there with the best of them. WB, Jenny! I would never order this drink EVER - sounds like a stroke in a glass TBQH. 

One thing I'm happy to admit is that I spend a lot of money on music. This is often a Herculean struggle for me internally - as much as I absolutely love the experience of live music, I hate crowds, and I hate the absurd wait times some artists inflict on their audiences. I went to a lottttttt of shows in 2017, cut back some in 2018, and this year looks like it'll be modest but worth it.  I'm not seeking to hit an exact # here - I've been to somewhere between 30 - 50 shows at this point, and probably hundreds of smaller, lesser known bands. I chose 13 for now because that just seems like the fair way to do things.  Is this the best use of money?! For me, YES. I rather collect experiences than things, and look forward to purging myself of some of the junk that I've accumulated the last several years (it does not bring me joy!)  I invite you to comment about any specifically memorable shows you've been to, and what makes them so grand in retrospect.  Honor...