Month: December 2020

In the middle of a year that redefined the term “rolling disaster,” the world’s musical artists came through in a big way. Yes, by and large 2020 suuuuuuuucked—but the music didn’t. To the contrary, a number of artists stepped up to deliver some of their most pointed and poignant work ever, a testament to the power of music to engage and inspire, and the power of artists to transmute human experience into stories rich with meaning and resonance. Context Matters Award The Chicks – GaslighterThis long-awaited, somewhat uneven return might not make my top five albums of the year, but…

It’s been a year of losses, the profound ones and the small ones. It’s been a year of narrowing, of redistributing the weight of our lives. It was the year my dog and cat became my most valuable colleagues (and at the very least, it’s been the best year of their furry little existences). A year of long walks, finding pleasure and presence in the way the light refracted on the Hudson River, letting the water work its magic. I spent three months watching a family of ducklings in the pond near my apartment, counting the nine tiny puffs of…

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of great music that came out in 2020. I was also able to spend much more time listening to music this year than in previous years. Of course, when your work closes down for four months, that helps quite a bit. Here's my most visited albums from the year in no particular order, except Bob Mould; I played that one the most by far and consider it the best record of the year.Bob Mould – Blue HeartsToday's political climate has given Mould plenty of fodder for his bristling guitar-fueled anthems, where the intensity…