Month: December 2022

26 Dec

I Get Up, I Get Down: A Yes Song Countdown

dvadminFeature
In choosing the band name “Yes” in 1968, five young Brits aimed to personify the positive spirit of the ambitious music they wanted to make—expansive, adventurous, and full of possibility. Over the course of more than five decades since, the band has persevered through myriad lineup changes while releasing somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 songs ranging in length from half a minute to 22, and ranging in style from bleeding-edge progressive rock to mainstream arena rock to mild-mannered adult contemporary. It’s a rich catalog of songs of wildly divergent approaches (and quality) to explore and consider—which is why we’ve…
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12 Dec

2022: A Challenging Year With Fabulous Music

Peter PiatkowskiBest Of
The year 2022 was a great year for veterans like Bonnie Raitt, Dolly Parton, Madonna, and Judy Collins, who made some of their best music in their later careers. Superstars like Harry Styles and Megan Thee Stallion each made a bid for legendary status with excellent releases, building on the successes of their relatively young careers. It’s been yet another challenging year, in what feels like a challenging era (seriously, since 2016, we’ve been cursed to be living in interesting times), music has been a source of escapism and fun in the face of some grim headlines. Though some artists…
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12 Dec

2022: Tom’s Top Ten

Tom HaugenBest Of
A great year for new music in my opinion, and a return to seeing live music for myself, i.e Jawbreaker/Smoking Popes/Dillinger 4, and Hanson/Allen, Mack, Myers & Moore (the latter being an evening for my wife), trimming it down to 10 for 2022 was no easy task, but here they are, in no particular order.despAIR Jordan – Before Your Wings Gave OutI'll forever be a sucker for modern bands who don't hide their influences from ’80s post-punk and shoegaze, and this Denver outfit are doing it better than just about anyone. They don't shy away from post-rock and psychedelic moments,…
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12 Dec

2022: Duke’s Top Ten, er, Nine

Duke EgbertBest Of
So, for those who have been reading my stuff for a while, this has been a rough few years. I’ve fought cancer, sepsis, and a pulmonary embolism. I’ve spent a lot of time in the hospital. What that means is out of the reviews I did manage for the Teeming Horde of DV Fans, a lot of them were older albums I was comfortable with. (And then there was the Kate Bush Artist Spotlight That Wasn’t An Artist Spotlight, for which I still owe Jason one review.) Because of that, I can’t come up with ten new albums for an…
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12 Dec

2022: Crazy Times

dvadminBest Of
Twenty twenty-two was a year when it seemed like chaos reigned pretty much everywhere, and we were all spun in circles by the lingering uncertainty we’re forced to wade through every day. In the midst of it all, music once again proved to offer so much: a salve for the soul, a source of insight, a reason to dance. And while there wasn’t that one singular album that carried me through the year like there sometimes is, my Best Of 2022 list quickly filled up with an abundance of high-quality material. In that regard, one program note: several albums I…
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