High as Hope Florence + the Machine “And it’s hard to write about being happy / ‘Cause the older I get / I find that happiness / Is an extremely uneventful subject,” begins “No Choir,” the final track in the latest Florence + the Machine album, “High as Hope.” Like, I have no doubt, many […]
Read more "“High as Hope” by Florence + the Machine"Wildness Snow Patrol As you may or may not know, I’ve been a Snow Patrol fan for a number of years, with my fandom gradually gathering momentum like a slow-moving avalanche (you see what I did there?) ever since I heard “Called Out in the Dark” when it was first released. Before then, I’d had vaguely […]
Read more "“Wildness” by Snow Patrol"Native Invader Tori Amos I’ve always been conflicted about Tori Amos. Actually, that’s not true. I thought, and still think, that “Under the Pink” and “Boys for Pele” were not just a couple of the best albums released in the 1990s, but perhaps some of the best albums released in the 20th century. Bold words, […]
Read more "“Native Invader” by Tori Amos"How to define Paramore? Are they pop? Rock? Something else entirely? To be honest, I had always thought of them as catchy rock light, and liked them (or didn’t) on a song-by-song basis. “After Laughter” is the first album of theirs that I’ve listened to as an entire album; with that caveat, I’ll boldly claim […]
Read more "“After Laughter” by Paramore"I’ve always had mixed feelings about John Mayer. “Your Body is a Wonderland” was, and continues to be, a guilty pleasure (I just relistened to it several times), and I thought “Waiting on the World to Change” was amazing, but overall his sound was a little too…I don’t know, jazzy and…I don’t know, overthought or […]
Read more "“The Search for Everything” by John Mayer"Misfortunes of T-Funk, Book 1: (Built-in Music Edition) Long-time friends and musical collaborators Theo and Judah, now in their late 20s and getting by on dead-end jobs and part-time gigs, start music school together. What follows is the story, not of sudden success, but of the ups and downs of musicians who haven’t really hit […]
Read more "“Misfortunes of T-Funk, Book 1” by Barnaby Hazen"Prisoner “Do you still love me, babe?” Adams asks in the opening track to his latest release, “Prisoner.” The answer, as the album unfolds, is a resounding “No.” The result is a breakup album for grownups. Musically, the sound is an homage to ’80s classic rock, with a side of country. This is nothing particularly […]
Read more "“Prisoner” by Ryan Adams"
E. P. Clark: Author, Book Reviewer, and All-Around Literary Handiwoman 