Author: Jim Kourlas
-
November 2022 Mix
Dave Schramm was an original member of Yo La Tengo, then quit before their first album came out to focus on his own band, The Schramms. Whoops, I guess, except he put out a handful of terrific albums. I was obsessed with Walk to Delphi, put out on Columbus, Ohio’s Okra Records label in 1992.…
-
October 2022 Mix
I made a pie from scratch, my first. I didn’t want to buy canned pumpkin so I made it from a butternut squash. I’m in a jangle rock rut listening to a lot of music that would be great if the band had recorded a serviceable drummer and recorded like the 80s. Or even 90s.…
-
September 2022 Mix
A song by Jellyfish randomly came up in my queue and I was thrown back into memories of those glorious late-80s, early-90s American Music Club albums. The pedal steel guitar sounded just like Bruce Kaphan in AMC, and lo and behold “Russian Hill” featured his dreamy, cosmic warmth. It’s a glorious song. The rest of…
-
August 2022 Mix
I fell down the lady singer rabbit hole again with this entry. I wish the Spotify algorithm didn’t seem to divide by gender the way it does, but here we are. Any more when looking for new music I’m weighting the scales for male voices, but so many indie dudes are mealy-mouthed, hiding behind sensitivey…
-
Age of the Dinosaurs
This piece called “Age of the Dinosaurs” in HAD is my favorite because it’s the first collaboration with my son Theo, who’s not quite five years old. He was playing LEGOs in my office while I was working when a HAD submission notice appeared in my inbox soliciting weird, short work. I had a few…
-
July 2022 Mix
I’ve been on this big Beth Orton kick all month. Central Reservation holds up about as well as anything and I found it more than a little disconcerting to think it’s twenty three years old now. That’s insane. I sort of quit on Orton after Comfort of Strangers because it sounded so dull, but I…
-
Moses in the Chevy
“Moses in the Chevy,” was published by the fine people at Lost Balloon. It’s voice-driven flash fiction. I still miss my pit bull Stanley, may he rest in peace. After he died ten years ago, I would drive through Humboldt Park in Chicago ogling the pit bulls, but really I just wanted Stan back.
-
June 2022 Mix
My four year-old son discovered the label maker. Our front door is labeled “HOUSE” now. This mix is way too long but I haven’t been able to figure out what to trim. I’m in love with the chorus of the Julia Jacklin song “Lydia Wears a Cross”: I’d be a believer if it was all…
-
May 2022 Mix
I grew up listening to the marching band version of “Hang on Sloopy,” came to love The McCoys’ version, and was charmed by the cover version by GOLDEN that leads off this mix. It’s plaintive and warm and full of love. There’s more twang on this than most of my mixes. Back in the 90s,…
-
April 2022 Mix
I’m lazily loyal to Spotify even though Joni Mitchell’s desertion has left gaping holes in my playlists. Come back, Joni! You are not saving the world by denying me “Clouds”! Anyway, here is my latest playlist, 040622.
Jim Kourlas 