Poppy Bush Interzone radio preferred freestyle ballads to the dance tracks. I rank some of the biggest hits. wp.me/pzXeC-kTW

Interesting theory from a mutual bsky.app/profile/rust...

"Smalltown Boy," "And She Was," "Show Me," and other '80s jams that spent record lengths on the Billboard Hot 100 without once going top 40. I rank'em. wp.me/pzXeC-kTG

"Smalltown Boy," "And She Was," "Show Me," and other '80s jams that spent record lengths on the Billboard Hot 100 without once going top 40. I rank'em. wp.me/pzXeC-kTG

We sure did love Kevin Costner during the Poppy Bush Interzone. Perhaps the only white man America would have accepted as Whitney Houston’s security guy in The Bodyguard despite an expression best described as granitic and constipatory. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2025/01/18/o...

Yesterday I gave you my favorite power pop albums. Here are the tracks. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2021/08/24/i...

Yesterday I gave you my favorite power pop albums. Here are the tracks. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2021/08/24/i...

I love ranking these minor hits. I'd never heard Yazz's "The Only Way is Up," a UK #1! And I got to write a little about the Jesus and Mary Chain's only charting hit in America. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/17/r...

Respect for choosing Dear 23 over Frosting on the Beater and Bellybutton over Spilt Milk.

i like this list

Good list

I love ranking these minor hits. I'd never heard Yazz's "The Only Way is Up," a UK #1! And I got to write a little about the Jesus and Mary Chain's only charting hit in America. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/17/r...

Ranking #96 singles, U.S. edition: 1987-1996 Their only Hot 100 appearance, "Sometimes Always" was no sellout. The production was brighter, and Hope Sandoval as co-singer coincided with Mazzy Star's breakthrough in the next year, but the Jesus and Mary Chain, whose gifts include vocalizing as if…

I can live with this list… but if you’d added The dB’s Repercussion as well, I’d say it’s pretty damned complete😬

The first @singlesjukebox.bsky.social rundown of 2026 right here. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/17/t...

I don't often reach for power pop albums (I've expressed my objections), but when I do, it's one of these. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2021/08/26/t...

I don't often reach for power pop albums (I've expressed my objections), but when I do, it's one of these. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2021/08/26/t...

It's great that when you strip out the vocals 'Barbarism Begins At Home' it's basically a disco track. I could imagine Loleatta Holloway putting a vocal on top of it

When Rourke died, Johnny Marr discussed writing The Queen is Dead & thinking, ok, how is this going to hang together? Think about it: the guitars start/stop, speed up... he went to record with Andy not knowing what he'd do - Andy did what you hear on the record. First time. The bass makes that song.

I play "Barbarism Begins at Home" just to revel in Andy Rourke's bass lines. He would've celebrated a birthday. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2023/05/19/a...

Almost 10 years after LOVELESS, MBV influence the AT40 with NIN's first hit. Couple it with Alanis Morissette's musical thank-you and it's a mildly subversive period. Play these songs after "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere." humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/17/r...

Had no idea there was another song called "I don't want to miss a thing" on the charts back then

Almost 10 years after LOVELESS, MBV influence the AT40 with NIN's first hit. Couple it with Alanis Morissette's musical thank-you and it's a mildly subversive period. Play these songs after "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere." humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/17/r...

Listening to Dry Cleaning is like reading Gertrude Stein. I review their album and Zach Bryan's latest sprawl. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/15/p...

An artist for whom art and the leisure to develop it are synonymous (she also earned it financially), Sade Adu and her band have amassed one of the sturdiest of catalogs. Happy birthday. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2019/02/04/c...

I love this album track.

An artist for whom art and the leisure to develop it are synonymous (she also earned it financially), Sade Adu and her band have amassed one of the sturdiest of catalogs. Happy birthday. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2019/02/04/c...

Fabian smirks --the last time he'll ever score so high in one of my lists. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/16/r...

I review Dry Cleaning and Zach Bryan's latest albums (and some Gertrude Stein). humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/15/p...

I review Dry Cleaning and Zach Bryan's latest albums (and some Gertrude Stein). humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/15/p...

Thank you. Catastrophizing makes you invulnerable; nothing can penetrate that carapace of doom.

I can't stand Cate Blanchett but I give it up for her best performance, in a movie about which I had some ambivalences a decade ago. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/13/m...

What makes Captain Beefheart an American to his toenails is his adolescent attitude toward sex; he can’t write about it without distorting it, himself, the object of desire. There is no object of desire, just a series of guitars evoking one. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2020/05/26/f...

What makes Captain Beefheart an American to his toenails is his adolescent attitude toward sex; he can’t write about it without distorting it, himself, the object of desire. There is no object of desire, just a series of guitars evoking one. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2020/05/26/f...

Eve 6 deserve special kudos for squeezing "thereof" and the couplet, "Want to put my tender heart in a blender/Watch it spin 'round to a beautiful oblivion" into an arrangement that makes Marcy Playground sound like The Band. "Intergalactic" still rules. wp.me/pzXeC-kT7

Eve 6 deserve special kudos for squeezing "thereof" and the couplet, "Want to put my tender heart in a blender/Watch it spin 'round to a beautiful oblivion" into an arrangement that makes Marcy Playground sound like The Band. "Intergalactic" still rules. wp.me/pzXeC-kT7

REBUILDING is a wonderful film about a cowboy dealing with FEMA and his daughter. Yet another terrific Josh O'Connor performance. Amy Madigan is more credible here than in her lauded turn in WEAPONS. My review. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/14/h...

REBUILDING is a wonderful film about a cowboy dealing with FEMA and his daughter. Yet another terrific Josh O'Connor performance. Amy Madigan is more credible here than in her lauded turn in WEAPONS. My review. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/14/h...

Few directors use their Best Director Oscar win to make a male stripper film, a Liberace biopic, films made with his own phone, and 90-minute baubles. Happy birthday, Steven Soderbergh. wp.me/pzXeC-exk

Few directors use their Best Director Oscar win to make a male stripper film, a Liberace biopic, films made with his own phone, and 90-minute baubles. Happy birthday, Steven Soderbergh. wp.me/pzXeC-exk

2005-2008 was a good period for pop music: T.I., Cassie, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna. Timbaland back for a last round. But Madonna's last U.S. hit embarrasses me. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/14/r...

I wish THE FORCE had appeared on more 2024 lists. Produced by Q-Tip, it showed how a vet like LL Cool J still had something to say against modern beats. Respect. This man's been around since 1984. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2025/01/14/h...

I still jam this album REGULARLY

I wish THE FORCE had appeared on more 2024 lists. Produced by Q-Tip, it showed how a vet like LL Cool J still had something to say against modern beats. Respect. This man's been around since 1984. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2025/01/14/h...

2005-2008 was a good period for pop music: T.I., Cassie, Mary J. Blige, Rihanna. Timbaland back for a last round. But Madonna's last U.S. hit embarrasses me. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/14/r...

I write about one of my rare award ties, related to one of my favorite queer films -- and the tie involves two of my least favorite actresses. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/01/13/m...

Brian Eno. George Martin. Todd Rundgren. What other musicians doubled as excellent producers? A partial list. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2021/10/09/t...

Brian Eno. George Martin. Todd Rundgren. What other musicians doubled as excellent producers? A partial list. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2021/10/09/t...

Where "Changes" looms in the late Tupac Shakur's legend no one doubts; would that "Why Can't I" also did in Liz Phair's too. Kids, you can't imagine the twaddle written about her 18 years ago for co-writing tunes with Avril Lavigne's team. wp.me/pzXeC-kSu

Where "Changes" looms in the late Tupac Shakur's legend no one doubts; would that "Why Can't I" also did in Liz Phair's too. Kids, you can't imagine the twaddle written about her 18 years ago for co-writing tunes with Avril Lavigne's team. wp.me/pzXeC-kSu