Hello and welcome to another episode of Blerd Radio! In 2013 and 2014, we took time to talk about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, its induction process, and that year’s crop of nominees. While there was talk about retiring the Hall of Fame-cast this year, 2015’s crop of nominees resulted in some of our most spirited conversation to date. Of course it helps that the gang’s all here: so join myself ( Big Money ), Dr. Z , Michael Parr and Mike Cunningham The Packet Man for an episode […]
Posts tagged "power pop"
Mikal Cronin, MCII: Album Review
Mikal Cronin is making music to get addicted to. The Ty Segall sideman and solo artist is far from a household name. Google searches and Rateyourmusic keywords seem to suggest that the singer-songwriter exists in the realm of “garage rock”, although that hardly seems like a fair shake for a guy responsible for some of the most addictive, giddy pop music of 2013 yet. Mind you, the multi-instrumental’s sophomore set, MCII, does occupy the same headspace as, say, Guided By […]
Air Traffic Controller Takes Off with Lyric Video for “You Know Me”
Best lyric video ever? Quite possibly.
Discography Fever: Ben Folds
Fiercely talented pianist, purveyor of smart-ass wit, humanist and surprisingly moving storyteller, encyclopedic and agreeably nerdy singing-contest judge; Ben Folds has been accumulating his vast fanbase for two decades now, sucking listeners in with his spirited piano-pop jams, and keeping them around for his left-field stylistic excursions and smarmy observational humor. Long gone are the days when Folds was strictly known for the glum 1997 Ben Folds Five abortion ballad “ Brick “; these days, with a creatively prosperous solo career […]
Spin Cycle: Motion City Soundtrack, Go
An early summer night in 2008. Boy scoops girl up in battered Grand Am. A tentative, innocent kiss. “Where to,” he asks? “Let’s just drive. I finished your mix!” She smiles, handing him a slim disc case. There are graphics, a tracklisting, liner notes. My kinda girl, he thinks to himself. He scans the tracklist: Counting Crows, Deborah Cox, Motion City Soundtrack, Evanescence. He slips the disc into the player, willing to forgive the Evanescence in lieu of the sheer […]
The Blerd Interview: Bleu
When interacting with power-pop artist/in-demand songwriter/mutton-chop maestro William “Bleu” McAuley, one thing comes into crisp, refreshing focus: Bleu is one nice dude. You see, a few weeks ago, Bleu was nice enough to set some time aside to talk to us; when a technological failure resulted in an entire, story-packed interview getting lost in space, I was awfully glum. As an avowed and longtime fan, it was disheartening to lose so much interesting material, and to waste a favorite artist’s […]
Spin Cycle: Fountains of Wayne’s “Sky Full of Holes”
Check out our review of Fountains of Wayne’s fantastic new album “Sky Full of Holes”.
Spin Cycle: The Ark’s “Arkeology: The Complete Singles Collection”
There are a lot of reasons that pop music is delightful, chief among them the ephemeral pleasures of instant gratification; Swedish glam-rock act The Ark peddle this sort of feeling like crack, writing direct, hook-heavy, sugar-rush power pop that sticks in the craw and stays. Splitting up after more or less ruling their homeland for the past decade, The Ark have bestowed upon fans and neophytes alike [amazon-product text=”Arkeology: Complete Singles Collection” tracking_id=”popblerdcom-20″ type=”text”]B004WLUJ6I[/amazon-product], a career-spanning platter of The Ark’s […]
