reviews
Abbey Road - The Beatles (1969)
What an album, do other people know about this?
-January 12, 2026
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles (1967)
A pretty solid album overall.
-January 12, 2026
Rubber Soul - The Beatles (1965)
A whimsical, jaunty ode to domestic violence, and 13 other songs.
-January 12, 2026
Smile - The Beach Boys (2011)
One of the finest uses of the Electro-Theremin to date.
-January 12, 2026
Feel Flows (The Sunflower & Surf's Up Sessions • 1969 - 1971) - The Beach Boys (2021)
Some good songs in this, among others.
-January 11, 2026
The Beach Boys Rarities - The Beach Boys (1983)
This has some very good Beach Boys songs, and the Beach Boys covering some very good songs; and, a rendition of The Lord’s Prayer.
-January 11, 2026
20 Grossten Hits - The Beach Boys (1977)
Confirmed, these are the grossten.
-January 11, 2026
Pet Sounds - The Beach Boys (1966)
Top quality pet sounds, and several good songs.
-January 10, 2026
Brandenburgische Konzerte Nr 1-3 - Johann Sebastian Bach (1959)
Another instrumental album from Bach, all good though.
-January 10, 2026
AM - Arctic Monkeys (2013)
This one comes and goes as it pleases.
-January 10, 2026
Lost Highway - David Lynch (1997)
We’ll need to sit with it, but early contender for 2026 Movie of the Year.
-January 10, 2026
Icky Mettle - Archers of Loaf (1993)
Strange that we missed this in ‘93; we started paying more attention in ‘94.
-January 10, 2026
The Suburbs - Arcade Fire (2010)
Peak Arcade Fire, as far as I know.
-January 10, 2026
Funeral - Arcade Fire (2004)
Simpler, better times.
-January 9, 2026
Pan’s Labyrinth - Guillermo del Toro (2006)
Brilliant, unexpected sequel, creating a new story and setting it in 20th century Spain. Second installment of the Labyrinth Trilogy.
-January 7, 2026
Travellers In Space And Time - The Apples in Stereo (2010)
As much as I’d like another Discovery or Wonder, I’d be happy enough with another Travellers In Space and Time.
-January 5, 2026
Electronic Projects For Musicians - The Apples in Stereo (2008)
All proper bands eventually make a theme song for themselves. See also Wilco (the song), Heartbreaker’s Beach Party, and I guess This is Cracker Soul.
-January 5, 2026
New Magnetic Wonder - The Apples in Stereo (2007)
Tail end of a great aughts-run for the Apples.
-January 5, 2026
The Discovery Of A World Inside The Moone - The Apples in Stereo (2000)
Peak Apples.
-January 4, 2026
Her Wallpaper Reverie - The Apples in Stereo (1999)
Perfectly good Sunday morning album. Best song about Y2K. Benefits of Lying (With Your Friend) has stuck with me 25 years now.
-January 4, 2026
Tone Soul Evolution - The Apples in Stereo (1997)
Starts strong, ends strong, probably strong in the middle too but that part always gets lost in the dream.
-January 4, 2026
Science Faire - The Apples in Stereo (1996)
Compilation of the first two EPs, plenty of good here, though Time For Bed / I Know You’ll Do Well is probably the best.
-January 3, 2026
Tracking the Hits - The Animals (1965)
A good greatest hits collection, which we don’t listen to much because we forget we have it.
-January 3, 2026
Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free - Akron/Family (2009)
Plenty of bright spots, but none more so than River.
-January 3, 2026
1989 - Ryan Adams (2015)
Still one of the best albums called 1989 and featuring songs written by Taylor Swift.
-January 2, 2026
Easy Tiger - Ryan Adams and The Cardinals (2007)
There’s always new songs to sing - particularly true of mid-aughts Ryan Adams.
-January 2, 2026
Cold Roses - Ryan Adams and The Cardinals (2005)
All the best genres are either alt-something or anti-something else. Anyway, great alt-country album.
-January 2, 2006
Love Is Hell - Ryan Adams (2004)
Hard to find in northern Kazakhstan when it was first released as EPs, fortunately more attainable now, nothing wrong with this album.
-January 2, 2026
Cloverfield - Matt Reeves (2008)
Still one of the best Cloverfields.
-January 1, 2026
Demolition - Ryan Adams (2002)
Solid album even if it’s not Heartbreaker, strong early-aughts run.
-January 1, 2026
Gold - Ryan Adams (2001)
Salad days for Ryan Adams and songs about New York.
-January 1, 2026
Heartbreaker - Ryan Adams (2000)
Sounds like he was going through some stuff, but, good album.
-January 1, 2026
Reviver - Abe Vigoda (2009)
Good, mostly for Wild Heart. 45 RPM though, fyi.
-January 1, 2026
Top Ten Concerts of 2025
10. Modest Mouse / Built to Spill - Brooklyn Paramount (21.10.25)
We should have prepared for this more, but two good bands in a good venue, not much tops that, except for exactly nine other shows.
9. People Have the Power: A Celebration of Patti Smith - Carnegie Hall (26.3.25)
Not grimy enough, but good performances from Bruce Springsteen, Karen O, Kim Gordon, Michael Stipe etc etc etc.
8. Howl Owl Howl - Webster Hall (11.11.25)
They seemed like they were having a great time, and was not expecting a live Losing My Religion in 2025.
7. Jeff Tweedy - Brooklyn Steel (22.10.25)
Fully non-Wilco, but fortunately Twilight Override is pretty good so this was a good show.
6. Kim Deal - Brooklyn Paramount (13.3.25)
A hint of Breeders, but mostly her new album, which is great because it’s a good album.
5. Kevin Barnes - Night Club 101 (24.11.25)
Tiny, cramped venue, playing some soon-to-be released Of Montreal songs and some classics, this was great.
4. Nerf Herder - The Meadows (13.4.25)
Delightfully played We Opened For Weezer, along with Nosering Girl, Van Halen, and the theme from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And Raining Tacos because apparently he does kids’ music too.
3. Outlaw Music Fest - Jones Beach Theatre (1.8.25)
Wilco, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, a decent-enough lineup.
2. Jeffrey Lewis - Union Pool (23.7.25)
This was a pretty perfect little show.
1. Patti Smith - Beacon Theater (22.11.25)
Celebrating the 50th anniversary release of Horses, plus some Television covers and a Michael Stipe guest spot in the encore, plus a My Generation that seemed to surprise everyone, best show of 2025.
-Dec 29, 2025
Top Ten Movies of 2025
10. 28 Years Later - Danny Boyle (2025)
Reasonable enough follow up. Assume we’ll see the bone temple or whatever too next year.
9. Running Man - Edgar Wright (2025)
It’s been 24 years, they should have stuck with the original ending. Still, an endearing coming of age tale set in a dystopia that fortunately feels at least several months away.
8. Naked Gun - Akiva Shaffer (2025)
A 90 minute comedy with theatrical release.
7. Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery - Rian Johnson (2025)
A good mystery, though no real menu tie in at Nitehawk.
6. Eraserhead - David Lynch (1977)
Pixel perfect depiction of fatherhood, also led to a good Pixies song, easily the 6th best movie of 2025.
5. Pieces of April - Peter Hedges (2003)
The reason why we listen to nothing but the Magnetic Fields over Thanksgiving weekend.
4. Weapons - Zach Cregger (2025)
Fucked up little kids.
3. Eddington - Ari Aster (2025)
Enjoyed with a Gunther’s Pistol Palace at Nitehawk. This is a good movie, a proper movie.
2. One Battle After Another - Paul Thomas Anderson (2025)
Similar palette as Eddington, and like Eddington, a good, proper movie.
1. Smokey and the Bandit - Hal Needham (1977)
Far and away the best movie of 2025 is 1977’s Smokey and the Bandit. The boys are thirsty in Atlanta, and there’s beer in Texarkana; as clear and necessary a plot as there’s ever been.
-Dec 27, 2025
Top Ten Albums of 2025
10. Outside Society - Patti Smith (2017)
Still outside, though not alone there at least, especially at the Carnegie Hall tribute concert and the 50th anniversary of Horses shows we saw this year. This album narrowly edges out Marquee Moon for the 10th spot, an album that was also well represented at the Horses show. Absolutely killer Smells Like Teen Spirit on this one.
9. Built to Spill Plays the Songs of Daniel Johnston - Built to Spill (2020)
Because someone has to, post-2019. Not the more familiar songs on this album, but solid, and we saw Built to Spill at the Brooklyn Paramount in October, and they didn't play these songs, but they played other songs that were nice enough, which they presumably had written themselves.
8. dBpm 15 - Wilco / Jeff Tweedy / Daniel Johnston (2025)
Daniel Johnston is owning this list so far, the Kim Deal of 2025, though Kim Deal is also on this list later on, so really Kim Deal is the Kim Deal of 2025. Nevertheless, this album suffers a bit from the relative scarcity of Daniel Johnston, only including the one song, but does manage to compensate with Nick Lowe and Sleater-Kinney covers, plus a new addition to the Christmas playlist. dBpm 15 narrowly edged out Twilight Override for the Jeff Tweedy spot on the list; he will, however, show up twice on an end of year ranking of the best shows we saw, because we saw him twice.
7. Collected R.E.M. Fanclub Singles - R.E.M. (1988 - 2011)
Technically less of an album and more of a collection of FLAC and mp3 files we recently found online, this nevertheless managed to overcome that obstacle, along with being between 14 and 37 years old, to be the 7th best album of 2025. The 80s/90s songs are the strongest, with Christmas covers and a few others like I Will Survive and Summertime, and we had at least a few of these, like the Only In America 45, as well as Live for Today, E-bow the Letter on VHS and Country Feedback on CD, though our fan club membership seems to have lapsed after that. Still, along with Weezer, a peak 90s fan club experience. A hard act to catch in 2025, though we saw 2/3 (or, 2/4) of them this year - Mike Mills at Howl Owl Howl, and Michael Stipe both times with Patti Smith. Will look for Drink the Sea next year.
6. Pieces of April - Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack - Stephen Merritt (2003)
Frustratingly unavailable on vinyl, the judges should be commended for overlooking that flaw to correctly give this the 6th best album of 2025 slot, which coincidentally, features two songs from the 6ths. One April Day is the standout. Also a contender for the Best Movies of 2025 list, essentially the Elf of Thanksgiving.
5. Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party - Hayley Williams (2025)
Another album that was actually released this year, Ego Death make the 5 spot largely on the strength of having many songs that are good. Among those is Discovery Channel, which reminds us of deadlines at The Old Gold and Black, but is not in fact a cover of the Bloodhound Gang song, rather an homage of sorts. We don’t know if she made a video of that song, but if she has, it is likely less ***problematic*** then the Bloodhound Gang’s.
4. At The BBC - Pixies (1998)
Thus not only do the Pixies make the list for the second year in a row, but Kim Deal continues to hold down the 4 spot. This album, strong throughout, was catapulted into the top 5 on the strength of affection for David Lynch, which also makes this the second best album / best movie crossover. But all the other songs are good too. We missed them this year but will likely catch the next tour.
3. Rockingham - Nerf Herder (2016)
Much of this is standard Nerf Herder fare, from The Girl Who Listened to Rush to Ghostbusters III, which in retrospect is less prescient than it likely would have seemed at the time. But We Opened for Weezer, describing in very literal detail their 1997 tour as well as the very Flood Zone show where a kid rushed the stage, which was the fourth show we ever saw, makes this 2016 album a top three album for 2025. And they seemed to be having a fun time when we saw them at a bar in Williamsburg this spring. Nerdcore heaven in ‘97!
2. Pontiac - Lyle Lovett (1988)
Another album that makes the list on the strength of being a very good album with many good songs. As good as non-Highwayman country can be.
1. The Even More Freewheelin’ Jeffrey Lewis - Jeffrey Lewis (2025)
An excellent 2025 album from start to finish, covering fathers dying young, self-medication, girlfriends falling asleep too early and the importance of never being yourself. Jeffrey Lewis has plenty of great songs but this is easily his best album, and he put on a good show this summer in the back room of a bar in Williamsburg. Only downside to this one is my daughter gets angry during Sometimes Life Hits You because we shouldn’t be listening to music with bad words in it, but, Jeffrey Lewis knows what he is doing, so we make the exception.
-Dec 26, 2025