Bloggers don't get out much. At least the kind who don't run review-related sites. From the safety of our laptops and smart phones, at home or at the coffee shop, we either comment on (famous) people and events happening in the larger world or we turn our gaze inward and write about the highs and... Continue Reading →
’80s Week Continues: A Rock Playlist
So I set two small goals for myself this summer: to read Middlemarch and to watch the FOUR-hour, Peter Bogdanovich-directed Tom Petty documentary: Running Down A Dream. It's slow going on both fronts, but I am loving each one. Friends had warned me that George Eliot's writing wasn't quite as 'readable' as say Jane Austen,... Continue Reading →
Monday Morning Music: ’80s ALL WEEK
Hi all, how's your summer going? It's EIGHTIES WEEK at therockmom as I revisit and revise one of my most popular posts: Can It Really Be Summer Without '80s Music? New! Improved! Now with Spotify playlists! It's a funny thing, nostalgia. Recently, I found myself sitting in the way back of my stepmom's minivan listening... Continue Reading →
Monday Morning Music – The War On Drugs
spotify:track:5oMFoh1uOsVzERQyAFe7M8 Sometimes, well a lot of times actually, you get a little obsessive about a song, listening to it over and over again. For me these days that song is 'Under the Pressure' from The War On Drugs. It's almost nine minutes of dreamy, moody pop, anchored by a simple piano-based melody. The ambient layers and clean guitar... Continue Reading →
Talking Rock, Writing & Darius Rucker with Author Suzanne Kamata
So one of the best things about being part of the 'Dragonfruit' anthology is getting to know the work of other expatriate women writers. Women such as award-winning author, Suzanne Kamata, who lives in Japan. Her anthology essay, 'Love and Polka Dots', tells of a museum trip with her daughter, who is a budding artist herself but disabled,... Continue Reading →
Monday Morning Music – Hozier
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bmp4QWzHak It's been several weeks since I posted any enjoyable jams. But while catching up on some SXSW recommendations, I came across Hozier, who's actually one guy from County Wicklow, Ireland. He made a bit of a splash in Austin last month and he'll be touring the US this May before taking part in a... Continue Reading →
Monday Morning Music – Royals
Are you sick of this song already? I hope not. I actually haven't listened to it in a while, but gave it a whirl today in honor of Lorde's Grammy win for Song of the Year. At least the Grammy voters got this right because, in my humble opinion, this was the sound of 2013:... Continue Reading →
2013: The Year in Random Thoughts & Obsessions
Hi everyone & Happy New Year! I just got back from the Christmas holidays where I tried (mostly in vain) to stay offline as much as possible. Damn all those vacation rentals and their easy Wi-fi 🙂 But it was good to get away - we drove down the California coast, saw some nature and... Continue Reading →
And then there was that moment…
When you heard it. Was it on the radio? Or in the middle of a mix tape? An album? A CD? Did you buy it yourself or borrow it from a friend? After you heard it, did you go out and get yourself a guitar or eyeliner or a preacher’s hat? Did you stick a... Continue Reading →
Monday Morning Music: Emmylou!
Here's the everlasting and awesome Emmylou Harris singing 'Luxury Liner'. This comes courtesy of a band called White Denim who curated a video music set on the Gorilla vs Bear website last week. If you don't know any of these guys, you should. White Denim are an Austin-based rock band, hard but groovy with psychedelic... Continue Reading →