Ten Songs For Myself
Sean MurphyEight years ago today. I'm sure anyone who has lost a parent (or heaven forbid, a child) can understand that when this happens it becomes a line of demarcation: your…
Hey Gibson, Let’s Talk Guitar Albums
Okay. Gibson (the fine folks who bring us some of our best guitars) has recently announced their selections of what they deem the Top 50 Guitar Albums ever. Now, as…
Ten Ways of Looking at Four Decades
I. Listen: When some of your best friends are people who exist elsewhere—characters in books you’ve read, musicians you’ll never meet, people from the past who died decades (even centuries)…
Paint It Black (Sabbath)
I'm so proud of my Pops. Last night, quite out of the blue (or, out of the black as the case may be), he said he had to ask me…
Alligator Lizards in the Air: In Search of the Sublimely Awful Lyric
I can think of a lot of rock bands who have written some laughably awful lyrics. So can you. Part of rock and roll's infectious (and mostly innocuous) appeal is…
Dazed and Confused, or Separated at Birth?
Surely I can't be the only baseball fan who has noticed the rather astonishing similarity between NL Cy Young winner Tim "The Freak" Lincecum and Mitch "The Kid" Kramer from…
My Mix Tape Confession
God I miss mixed tapes. (Which begs the question: Is it mixed tape, mix tape or mixtape? I say all of the above, and shall use them interchangeably.) I know this…
Nothing Golden God Can Stay
29 May 2008 Nothing Golden God Can Stay Aside from the requisite stints in rehab, the Botox and the damage done, and the increasingly profitable reunion tours, not a lot…