Michael

The National – Alligator (2005)

Posted on May 25, 2025 by Michael

The National’s third album Alligator is where the band took a massive leap forward to the sound that they would take to a much wider audience a few years later. For the first couple of albums, the musicianship lead by the Dessner and Davendorf brothers was the main while lyrist Matt Berninger found his unique voice. On Alligator, Berninger lyrics add much intrigue to several of the songs and show his growth as a musical storyteller.

A solid backbeat from Bryan Davendorf holds the lower end of the whimsical “Looking For Astronauts”. “Secret Meeting” sees some melodic guitars along with a catchy chorus. “Karen” is a particular highlight. Spoken from the point of view of a scattered brain alcoholic, it’s a mysterious story where Berninger sings – “idle, idle, idle, idle, protect the nest, protect the title”.

The band lets loose and rocks out on several tracks including the anthemic single “Lit Up” and the pent up fury of “Abel” where Berninger screams repeatedly, “My mind’s not right, my mind’s not right!”. “Baby, We’ll Be Fine” has an interesting dream verse about running into your boss before the refrain “I’m so sorry for everything” repeatedly appears. The album closes with the somewhat political “Mr. November” who promises “I won’t f*** us over”. Alligator is a really good album by a band on the verge of a breakthrough and on the cusp of indie rock greatness.

8/10

Album Reviews

Jason Isbell – Foxes in the Snow (2025)

Posted on May 22, 2025 by Michael

There was palpable tension with wife Amanda Shires running through the 2023 Jason Isbell documentary Running With Our Eyes Closed. It was still sad news to hear that the couple had broken up and Isbell was pursuing a new romance with painter Anna Weyant. The breakdown of one relationship and start of another runs through Isbell’s new acoustic album, Foxes in the Snow.

Once again working with engineer/producer Gena Johnson, the only sound on the album comes from Isbell. Gut wrenching songs include “Eileen” where he sings that “Eileen, you should’ve seen this coming sooner” and later, “My own behaviour was a shock to me”. “Gravelweed” touches on how love songs take on different meanings in ending relationships on a track that also alludes to a life of past drinking problems. “True Believer” is another one of these songs with lyrics so personal, it’s tough to listen to the chorus.

With a new love in his life, there are moments of lightness as well. “Ride to Robert’s” is a fun night out at the saloon with talk of a new love while “Open and Close” is directly about the Calgary born Weyant. Great moments appear everywhere including opening track “Bury Me” with it’s great chorus but the dark times are never too far away as Isbell later sings, “the thing that nearly took me out was loneliness and alcohol”.

There is nothing flashy on Foxes in the Snow, just extraordinary songwriting, great singing and some terrific guitar singing. The fact that Isbell can keep the listeners attention all the way through the album is a testament to his immense talent.

8/10

Paper Chase

Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson – Abundance

Posted on May 19, 2025 by Michael

Abundance, is a timely book written by popular writer/podcasters Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson. The book focuses on some of the well-intentioned ideals of left-wing liberals that have gone astray and helped create some of the problems that the US (and Canada) are facing today. Some of the problems covered are green energy, the housing crises, invention, governance and deployment. Rules and regulations have sprouted up over the years to slow down progress on many of these issues that has helped lead to crises that nations are now having face.

While I’m not well versed in political opinion books, it was fascinating to read this as the new Trump administration takes over in the US and Canada held its recent elections. Many of the topics discussed in Abundance have been front and centre across North America as governments try to grapple with these issues, especially housing. Abundance does not focus on opinions on how to solve these problems, instead it presents the history of how we got here. It is a fascinating read while individuals navigate through these turbulent times of both right and left wing agendas.
8/10

Album Reviews

Paul Simon – There Goes Rhymin’ Simon (1973)

Posted on May 17, 2025 by Michael

With a more serious tone, “American Tune” has a great Simon vocal on a song that was written soon after Nixon was elected. It’s a tough world politically at times “but it’s alright”. Paul Simon’s third solo album, There Goes Rhymin’ Simon opens with the classic lyric – “When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school”. Further into that #2 hit, “Kodachrome”, Simon sings of the joys and beauty of taking pictures.

Like that first song, the 1973 album is mostly an easy-going affair with subtle beats and acoustic guitars, a bit of piano. Horns add some flair to “Take Me To The Mardi Gras”, that sits in contrast to the very New York song “One Man’s Ceiling Is Another Man’s Floor” about cramped apartment living, the kind of sound Billy Joel would later ride to the top of the charts.

With a more serious tone, “American Tune” has a great Simon vocal on a song that was written soon after Nixon was elected. It’s a tough world politically at times “but it’s alright” he tells us. The infectious “Loves Me Like A Rock” closes out the album with the repeated lines of “she love me, love me, love me, love me”. There Goes Rhymin’ Simon went top 5 in most major markets around the world and is a further showcase of Simon’s songwriting that captures the thoughts and feelings of being a young man in the early 70s.

9/10

Album Reviews

The Charlatans – Wonderland (2001)

Posted on May 4, 2025 by Michael

For their first album in the 2000s, The Charlatans initially decamped to LA to work with producer Danny Saber. As noted in interviews, the funk and soul sounds of LA combined with sunshine and copious amounts of cocaine influenced Wonderland. The first album with keyboardist Tony Rogers lets go of their organ sound and instead embraces electronica with throbbing basslines.

“You’re So Pretty – We’re So Pretty” shows this new sound right away. It is The Charlatans version of The Rolling Stones going disco or Primal Scream going to Memphis in the early 90s. On several tracks, singer Tim Burgess adopts a falsetto vocal with single “Love Is The Key” being the most successful as the band stomps along behind him. “I Just Can’t Get Over Losing You” is the track most overtly influenced by LA’s funk scene and includes terrific instrumental passages in the second half of the song.

Several songs like “And If I Fall” and “Wake Up” have really strong choruses that keep the album buoyant. “A Man Needs To Be Told” is a softer one with acoustic guitar as Burgess sings, “A man needs to be told/There is a world going on”. A bit on the nose with the childlike Burgess personality. Like the finest of white powders that rob a person’s soul, so too does it rob this album of the typical life affirming anthems that The Charlatans produced throughout the 90s. However, the band wanted to change things up which they accomplished on the mostly successful Wonderland.

7.5/10