folk rock

Record #672: Heart – Dreamboat Annie (1975)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

It’s easy to take Heart for granted.

Their powerful blend of hard rock virtuosity and folk songwriting have made them an indelible part of the rock and roll canon. It’s almost impossible to listen to a classic rock station for more than three hours without hearing at least one Heart song.

But beyond enjoying every song I’ve heard of theirs on the radio, I’ve never had much of a desire to dig into their albums. However, after finding a copy of their debut Dreamboat Annie in a box of records given to me, one listen showed me just how foolish that oversight was.

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Record #670: Fleetwood Mac – Tango in the Night (1987)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

After the manic scattershot of Tusk, Fleetwood Mac pulled hard to the center with 1982’s Mirage, a pleasant enough record that I remember being a bit dull (though I’m overdue a relisten).

After a five year break, they returned with Tango In the Night, an album that combines their winning popcraft with Lindsey Buckingham’s more esoteric tendencies in a way that feels like they’re actually in concert with eachother.

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Record #669: Fleetwood Mac – Tusk (1979)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald / 1 Comment

How do you follow up a masterpiece?

It’s a question that every artist asks after releasing a perfect work. Some try the same formula again, hoping lighting will strike the same place twice. Others decide to take a major left turn (see: Radiohead). Some have even gone mad under the pressure.

After the impeccable Rumours, the songwriters behind Fleetwood Mac chose option D: all of the above.

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Record #564: JD Wright – Lake Effect (2018)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

A few weeks ago, my friend Ryan Kerr played in my living room with some friends he was touring with.

One of those friends was JD Wright, a singer/songwriter from Detroit who grew up in a small coastal town overrun with tourists.

And as he played alone and unamplified in my living room, that sort of small-town disillusionment was the loudest part of his performance. But on record, he’s joined by a full band that puts some volume to his disenchantment—and with excellent results. Continue reading →

Record #559: mewithoutYou – [untitled] e.p. (2018)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald

Few artists have as diverse and unpredictable a sonic palette as mewithoutYou. From the scorched-earth post-hardcore of [A–>B] Life to the ambient punk of Catch For Us the Foxes to the rambling quirkfolk of it’s all crazy! it’s all false! it’s all a dream! it’s alright, few bands have created more different-sounding music that still sounds distinctly like themselves.

And nowhere is that wide-ranging individuality as completely displayed as the twin untitled releases that came out this year.

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Record #303: Crosby Stills & Nash – Daylight Again (1982)

/ Nathaniel FitzGerald
Record #303: Crosby Stills & Nash - Daylight Again (1982) I was entirely prepared for this album to be terrible. The 80s offered some pretty notoriously awful music from legendary 60s groups (I’m looking at you, Beach Boys), and the neon alien...

 

I was entirely prepared for this album to be terrible. The 80s offered some pretty notoriously awful music from legendary 60s groups (I’m looking at you, Beach Boys), and the neon alien invasion scene on the cover does absolutely nothing to convince us that this isn’t the same sort of synthy-schlock that the sometimes Y in CSNY was releasing around the same time. And there’s also the talk about David Crosby only appearing on one song (due to a crippling drug addiction, I think. Elsewhere his parts were performed by an up and comer named Art Garfunkel), but his contributions are almost always my least favorite, so I can deal with that.

But despite its contemporaries and cover, this isn’t too far from their (excellent) debut.

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