RustedRobot

On this day, at this time (roughly 1pm) ten years ago I was at my apartment (Allston, MA) preparing for New Years Eve at my friends John and Kris Cain’s house, over in Melrose, MA. That house holds some of my fondest memories of last decade, the 1990s. That year, however, was not one of [...]

When I think of positively infectious music, the first band that comes to my mind is The New Pornographers. This band is a buzzing beehive of electric tastiness. You know how when you were a kid there was always that one treat that you just couldn’t stop eating? Do you remember that feeling you got [...]

As the train for this decade hurtles down the track and out of sight, there’s still a few more hugely influential bands to talk about that did it for me during this timespan. Midlake has got to be one of them. The Denton, Texas-based band formed in 1999 and started off as jazz nerds, but [...]

Sometime during the autumn of 1998, the Crankyville Trolley rattled and popped its way towards Chicago, Illinois. I remember falling asleep in the sunny daylight as we cruised through the western part of Ohio and I remember waking up in the dark to a rainy night in Indiana. It was a two week tour with [...]

As I continue summing up some of my favorite music of the decade, what can I say about Spoon that hasn’t been said already? There really isn’t anyone today that sounds like them. I really appreciate that. When you hear Spoon, you know it’s Spoon. Whether it’s Britt Daniel’s semi-robotic vocals and tat-tat-tat singing or [...]

I don’t know what to call this decade, so in the spirit of complete herd mentality, I’m going with “the naughts.” Over the next couple of weeks, I will attempt to briefly lay out some of my favorite music artists of the decade. I don’t know how many there are and I don’t know how [...]

Growing up, our house never lacked sarcasm. We were not a  house full of stand-up comics by any stretch, but humor was always lurking. My mother’s parents, Irish folks, had a pretty unique sense of humor, right up until the end and my dad’s family had some characters as well. I sure do wish I [...]