I'm at an impasse. I was originally planning on listening to Bloc Party's new album Hymns this week because I fall into the camp of people who naively think they will return to their roots. I started testing the waters this morning and have already thrown in the towel. Their first album, Silent Alarm, was released in 2005, and played a large role in...

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I think it would surprise some people to learn that my first concert was to see Mary Chapin Carpenter, a country artist. I've never self-identified as a fan of the genre, which is interesting considering so much of what I enjoy now has deep roots in it: namely folk, bluegrass and the blues. To be fair, it was 1992: a time before I...

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Starting Monday I'll be listening to Mystery Jet's new album Curve of the Earth. From the little bit that I've gleaned from the first track, this album is about to be much different than its 2012 predecessor Radlands. This seems to be a return to their roots, which Wikipedia tells me are 20 years old. These guys look like they're perpetually 25 due to questionable haircut...

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15 Tracks For A Cozy Winter Day Spent Contemplating Your Mortality from cait.cliff on 8tracks Radio. 15 Tracks For A Cozy Winter Day Spent Contemplating Your Mortality from cait.cliff on 8tracks Radio. ...

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I have successfully found an enclave of young people ("young" being subjective) who have a shared love of NPR and podcasts. Because this is a music blog, I won’t delve into a 30 minute breakdown of my take on Serial and the probability of Adnan’s guilt versus innocence, and you will be spared from any offensive Diane Rehm impressions. I want to talk...

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Next week I'll be listening to Not to Disappear by Daughter Daughter released the singles "Numbers" and "Do the Right Thing" in the fall, and I've been physically restraining myself to not listen to them on repeat until I could listen to the whole album.  Luckily, the wait is over! Not to Disappear dropped today! If you've never listened to Daughter, start by checking...

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This week I'll be listening to Blackstar by David Bowie Originally, I had slotted Joanna Newsom's album Divers for this week. However, given the circumstances I've decided that this would be a better selection. I listened to it on my way in to work this morning, and I would be lying if I told you I didn't cry the most painful tears in...

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Disclaimer: When I'm not writing my weekly album updates, I want to take a stab at writing about some things in music that define my mediocre personality. If you follow me on twitter, you might as well turn back now. This is just me being unfunny without a character limit. The song "Engine Driver" by The Decemberists has a particularly special place in...

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I'm kicking off the first week of the new year with Ivy Tripp by Waxahatchee. This morning one of my coworkers asked which album I was starting with for 2016 and I told him "I can't pronounce the artist." I made a strange attempt anyway. We agreed it was "good enough." I mean, it looks pretty straightforward, but I pronounced "paradigm" wrong until I was...

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