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Best of the Bay ’08 (lists of five)
Meric of the Dodos at the Cafe du Nord during Noise Pop by Adrian Bischoff I’m sure you’re just about tired of my year end lists–don’t worry: this is my second to last. I’d like to recap what I...
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my four favorite sacred harp recordings
Little girl leads Odem’s Chapel 1949, still from Awake My Soul I’ve posted a couple times now about Sacred Harp singing. That discussion got some feedback from a friend of mine: I like that song,...
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3 great tracks (that you might not know) from Motown’s first year, 50 years...
a reissue of Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want)”, Motown’s first big in-house hit As I mentioned earlier this week, Motown (official site) turns 50 years old this week. Back then it was...
View Articletwo songs we sang on my school bus when I was in 3rd grade
In third grade, our school bus ride home went down a hill past some woods–the trees are always bare in my mind–and a soccer field. Near the top of the hill, there was a bump where the road went from...
View ArticleIrish music isn’t all U2, Chieftains and Pogues: 14 great traditional Irish...
I have nothing against the Pogues or U2 or the Dropkick Murphys[1]. Black 47 was probably my first exposure to “Celtic” music. But there’s always something around St. Paddy’s[2] Day, where I start...
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10 x 100, desert island discs x songs, ipickmynose’s 1000th post
(I didn’t intend to hit two milestones in one week, but what are you going to do?) I wouldn’t take “Money (That’s What I Want)”, but I would take some Motown. Photo by Adrian Bischoff For my 1000th...
View Articlelocal bloggers ask ipickmynose’s opinion about stuff
New & Used Records has a cool new feature called Jukebox where he asks local musicians, bloggers, etc. for their opinions about four buzzed-about tracks and then asks what four tracks they think...
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what are you getting at record store day? (and bay area participating stores)
Record Store Day at Amoeba last year I’m just going to assume that you’re going to Record Store Day on Saturday because that’s what all the cool kids are doing. What are you going to get among all the...
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damien jurado, laura gibson @ bottom of the hill (reviews, photos, set list)
Last night I saw Damien Jurado (myspace) and Laura Gibson at the Bottom of the Hill. In the cool and misty rain–something that must have made both Pacific Northwest artists feel somewhat at home–I...
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iron & wine @ swedish american hall (review photos, set list)
(This is a follow up to Friday’s teaser post.) As I walked in to see Iron & Wine (myspace) at the Swedish American Hall last Thursday, it was not lost on me that, even though I saw his early tour...
View Article10 things not to yell between songs at a concert
“You rock!†may be an appropriate thing to yell between songs at an indie rock concert. Here are some things that may not be appropriate to yell: “If you were on the radio I would not change the...
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8 bands whose live show changed how I listen to their recordings
Andrew Bird, changing the way I hear his music, at the Fillmore, May 2007 Usually, I like a bands’ recordings and then I’ll see them live. Sometimes, though, something about a band’s music won’t click...
View Articlebands: how to promote yourselves to music blogs
IPMN is winding down and there are a few things I’d like to talk about. First is my recommendations to bands about how to approach music blogs. Ipickmynose is certainly not in a class with Stereogum,...
View Articlelast six CDs in my car
I sold my car recently. I’ve had the same 6 CDs in the multi-disc player for the past six months or so: Octopus Project Hello, Avalanche The Lightning Bug Situation A Leaf; A Stream Kings of Leon...
View Articlehow to write a music blog
I have some strong opinions on how to write and run a music blog. I thought I’d share some of my recommendations on that. If you don’t feel like reading my opinions about this, tune in tomorrow for a...
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best personal music moments; or, top memorable music moments of 2009
Sandy from Slowcoustic asked me if I wanted to take part of his “Best of…Bloggers” series and I was happy to take part. This originally appeared at there. I had a bit of a hard time deciding what “Best...
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top song obsessions for 2009
I couldn’t get a few songs by the Tallest Man on Earth out of my head in 2009 I’m not going to make a best-of 2009 list (thought I did post one other best of 2009 list). I have about 2/3 of the year...
View Articlejeff mangum @ sander theatre (review, setlist, etc) + new neutral milk hotel...
On Friday I saw Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel, recently out of his self-imposed reclusion, play an acoustic set at Sanders Theatre in Cambridge. In the Aeroplane over the Sea is an album of great...
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top song obsessions of 2012
The Lumineers, seen here at Cafe 939 in April, really caught my ear this year Song obsessions are those songs that your brain picks for you, those ear worms that get stuck in your head and have you...
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Best shows of 2012
Charles Bradley at the Brighton Music Hall, photo by ipickmynose During 2012, I went to the most concerts I’ve been to since 2009. It still wasn’t that many but I decided I’d like to wrap up the year...
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