While the numbers help us track adoption now, the future of all these numbers is moot. In the long run, social networks as destinations will fade into the background (like air) and we’ll just be able to access or be guided by our friends wherever we are in life at any given time we want.
ABC After-School Specials hit their zenith (or nadir) with The Day My Kid Went Punk, a punksploitation show to rival the CHiPS "Rip and Destroy" episode (and yes, that's Bernie Kopell, the doctor from the Love Boat, as the outraged dad).
Being a first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. If the leader is the flint, the first follower is the spark that makes the fire.
Because Internet radio can and will cannibalize over-the-air broadcast listening, not replace it. And it will cannibalize radio's advertising pool, not replace it.
Eno’s debut post Roxy Music was a dense, intricately layered pop record full of surprises. Blending elements of glam, noise and art-rock, Eno captivated listeners then and continues to do so now. This is one record that ages remarkably well despite plenty of imitators and misunderstandings. Ever since I discovered it, it’s been dear to my heart. Then again, I’m kind of an Eno nerd so perhaps that’s a no-brainer.
Brian Eno “Needles in the Camel’s Eye”
It may be that our memories have been shortened by the constantly advancing onslaught of new technology (after all, doesn’t it feel like we’ve been DVR-ing and text messaging all our lives?), but really, cassettes only stopped getting a significant section of music-related retail floorspace about 7 years ago.
Pavement is probably the band of my formative years, the band that made me fall in love with music, indie rock, punk, noise, you name it. They kind of did it all, and their legacy can be found in almost every group playing fringe-rock today. There’s not a dud on this record, and it’s still one that I gravitate towards whether I’m happy, sad or somewhere in between. It’s a part of me, and will always be.
Pavement “Gold Soundz”
It’s completely understandable that many people don’t get Joanna Newsom. Don’t like Joanna Newsom. And want anything Joanna Newsom related out of their homes. Now. But please, hear my cries for leniency. With so much truly terrible garbage coming out of our speakers, televisions, computers, iPods, etc., Newsom is a breath of fresh air. Yes, she’s odd. Sure the songs on Have One on Me are way too long. Yes, the Medieval thing is trite. But just like “Ted,” the stoned hacky sacker, or the freak on the uni-cycle with the jester hat juggling outside of Starbucks in your hometown, there’s something amazingly, redemptively refreshing about the oddities of America.
I’ve just always been in love with this record. I do like most of McCartney’s solo stuff, and I get Band on the Run, but something about this record has always struck a more serious chord with me. Oddly enough, my favorite track from the whole record is one of Denny Laine’s songs — “The Note You Never Wrote”. This song cuts right to my heart, it’s so slow and painful, like a long goodbye. “Let ‘Em In”, “Silly Love Songs” and “Beware My Love” are both wonderful as well, but something in Laine’s voice on “The Note You Never Wrote” just pulverizes me every time. And the guitar solo … gah. Just a perfect song, a perfect, painful song.
My favorite rock songs are the ones that form a dense cloud of weight, bleak layers and a real sort of feeling (not some fake, ‘hey we’re playing the blues’ feeling) over the sound itself. Plenty of people have written about this record in a much more careful and memorable way, so it’s hard to get my point in with one or two sentences, but you have to understand, this album has every genre, every emotion, every sound you ever heard.
The Rolling Stones “Torn & Frayed”
I think there's something really powerful about seeing an all-girl band, and that power is never really going to go away for me. I'm always going to have a soft spot for it, and I'm always going to have respect for it. Something like the No Doubt-Blondie female frontwoman with a guy band — it's like when friends change their names when they get married. I don't think they are bad people, but there's this little part of me that just wishes it were a little different. That probably has more to do with my own prejudices and insecurities, but that's how I feel about it.
My name is Paige Maguire. I am a freelance web designer and writer, music editor at Austinist, Director of Marketing & Development at WOXY, and I live in Austin.
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