Tag Archives: Tom Waits

LxListening: Faith & Music

19 Apr

Festival of Faith & Music Review

This past weekend, my wife and I went to the 6th biennial Festival of Faith & Music in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and it proved to be one of the more interesting conference/festivals I’ve ever attended. Culture criticism often has an adversarial relationship with faith and faith often has an adversarial relationship with pop culture, so it was cool to be somewhere where the two were openly discussed together and how better each can be incorporated into each other. So here are five choice cuts relating to the Festival of Faith & Music.
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LxListening: Odds and Ends 2.0

1 Mar

Odds and Ends 2.0 playlist

Around this time last year, I did an odds and ends playlist of just random music I was listening to, and this year you get the same. It seems this time early in the year, there usually isn’t a ton of releases and because of this, I try to use this time of year to explore some older artists I haven’t had a chance to. So without further ado, here are five songs that have really struck me this past month.
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Top Ten Thursday: Feelin’ Kinda Autumn

27 Sep

One year ago, LxL brought you our top ten albums of autumn, which we posted again this morning because we still feel it is a very strong list.  Never ones to sit on our laurels though, we thought we could tackle the best songs of autumn, which is a much more convoluted conversation.  Do we insist the song make mention to falling leaves, postseason baseball, or pumpkin patches?  Do we go by feeling?  We did exactly what we always do, which is whatever the hell we want.

Fall brings about a lot of different emotions, memories, and feelings for everyone.  For Todd, Wes, and I, autumn is probably most closely tied to our rural Indiana upbringing, where hooded sweatshirts, Friday night football games, bonfires on the peninsula, and homecoming were the most important thing in our lives for years.  Luckily our horizons have expanded, but that in no way taints the memories of humble beginnings.  We are and will always be Midwesterners at heart, and these are a few of the songs that take us back to those glorious days.  Enjoy our top ten songs of autumn, and as always remind us what we missed or errantly included.
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Top Ten Thursday: Albums to the Tune of Autumn

27 Sep

Wes’ old dog Slippers running through the fallen leaves.
-R.I.P. Slippers- (1989-2001)

Yes, this is the same exact list we posted last year, but we were happy enough with it that we would like to remind everyone of our greatness.  Don’t worry though, look for a completely fresh fall-themed list this afternoon, but for now LxL would like to share what albums put us in that apple cider, leaves off trees, pumpkin picking/carving/eating, and brisk fresh air type of mood.
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Dinosaur Jr. Review: I Bet On Sky

10 Sep

Dinosaur Jr.

I Bet On Sky

Dinosaur Jr I Bet On Sky album cover art

Unlike their species namesake, Dinosaur Jr. survived their age (the garage rock/grunge era) and have even aged nobly with some of their best albums coming this past decade, over 20 years after their debut in 1985. While it definitely isn’t appropriate to compare this crunchy raw garage trio to a fine wine, the better comparison would be fellow nobly aged rock stars Neil Young and Tom Waits. The reason these artists’ music still works well years after they started is their music is raw, honest, and ugly (in a good way) as they sing about being tired and weary – all things people become more and more of as they age, making the music feel truer than ever. One look at J Mascis, the band’s guitarist, singer, and primary songwriter, and there is no doubt the dude fits all those descriptions.  The band’s latest, I Bet On Sky, is more invigorated muscular rock from Dinosaur Jr. that doesn’t quite reach the height of their last couple releases.
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