MusicRadar has so far mostly only asked me to write about music that I like, but once in a while I have to put my own preferences aside. I did it for Wonderwall, and this week I did it again for ABBA.
Tag Archives: MusicRadar
Everybody Loves The Sunshine
For MusicRadar, I wrote an analysis of “Everybody Loves The Sunshine” to honor the passing of Roy Ayers. I have loved this tune for a long time, but I could never muster the energy to work out those chords until now.
A year of writing for MusicRadar
I am now a year (plus a couple of weeks) into my first professional (non-academic) music writing job as a columnist for MusicRadar. Most of the columns so far have been assignments from my editor Matt. Once I got the hang of things, I started pitching more ideas too, most of which Matt has agreed …
RIP Roberta Flack
I asked MusicRadar if I could do a Roberta Flack column in honor of her passing, and they agreed, so here’s an analysis of “Killing Me Softly With His Song” along with a broader appreciation of her. Before researching the column, I did not know her music beyond the greatest hits, how funky and political …
Is music getting dumber?
For the first time, MusicRadar asked me to write about a couple of scientific papers rather than a song or album. The basic argument of both papers is that popular music is getting simpler over time. The papers have some limits to their data sets and methodology that should lead you to take their sweeping …
Doechii on Colbert
I’m having a busy week on MusicRadar! They had already assigned me the Kraftwerk column, but then Doechii won her Grammy, and like everyone, I got all fired up about her. So I convinced my editor to publish my take on Doechii’s breathtakingly great performance of “Boiled Peanuts” and “Denial is a River” on Colbert. …
Fahren fahren fahren auf der Autobahn
My latest assignment from MusicRadar was to look at “Autobahn” by Kraftwerk. My studies of electronic music history have seriously neglected these guys, so it was nice to have a reason to dig into their music.
New MusicRadar column on Music For Airports
Like all nerds, I revere Brian Eno. When MusicRadar asked for a column about him, I jumped on it. They wanted something about his generative music, and Music For Airports was the obvious choice.
MusicRadar column on one of Bob Dylan’s greatest hits
To tie in with the new Dylan movie, MusicRadar asked me to analyze “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.” My first choice would have been “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)”, my favorite Dylan song and one of my favorite songs by anyone ever, but I was happy to go with their request too, it’s a …
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In defense of “Wonderful Christmastime”
New on MusicRadar, I take a mostly sympathetic look at Paul McCartney’s omnipresent and divisive earworm. I don’t generally like Christmas music, but this song is so goofy and odd that I can’t help but find it endearing. The main problem with it is that the tempo is too fast and the feel is too …