This Track Is Fire!

Note: this week, in honor of the legendary  Steve Albini's  birthday, I am highlighting his impressive audio engineering work (he refused to be called a "producer"). These five posts are a small example of his musical prowess, selected by me, just a fan with a blog. Certainly I was aware of who Albini was and his importance in the state of music prior to this album, but I am starting with this one because of how surprised I was to see his name in the credits. Dogs  was released on a very small label, Socialist Records, but the version that I became aware of due to NPR playing it was the re-issue from Touch and Go Records in 2004. That was the first time I had heard of Nina Nastasia. The fact that it was such a small label shows what's great about Steve Albini: he didn't care about how big of an artist you were or how big your label was, if you produced good music, he wanted to work with you. I love that! He was well-know to have a sliding scale for his services. A...

As I look out my window today I fully relate to the title of this track, if not the words. Sometimes at the end of the week I want something that adrenalizes me for the weekend, but sometimes, like today, I want a song that feels like a blanket near a fire with a hot mug of something. And while I get that this may not be the happiest song, comfort is sometimes knowing that others have struggled as well. Misery loves company, and all that. Lastly, I wanted to note that this is another track that my daughter introduced me to. I think she's a keeper. Happy Friday!

  Let me first say that I respect Phoebe Bridgers and I fully recognize that she is massively talented. That said, for some reason her music just never seemed to click with me.  I am not saying I dislike her music, and if I could explain it better I would, but there's something about her music that just does not resonate with me even though everything else about her says that I should like her music, that I should be a fan of hers. I like strong, independent women who are singer/songwriters; in my defense I point to my love of Nina Nastasia, Fiona Apple, Ela Minus, Annie Lennox, Lady Gaga, Pink, Billie Eilish, Loretta Lynn, etc., etc., etc... Again, as I said, I respect her. I have listened to many of her hit songs and as much as I wanted them to resonate with me they just didn't. I even listened to the Boy Genius super-group she formed, and again, everything on paper said that I should like them, but again, nothing. To be clear, I didn't dislike her music; at no point did...