“What a year, what a day, what a life it is” – Supertramp’s “Crime of the Century” questions fitting in by standing out

I have always had a soft spot for melancholy music, melodies that take on sadness with a flair of dramatic awareness. A minor chord progression that presses on the tear ducts just a little bit, swelling strings and grand pianos that underline existential dread and questioning minds. Add to that a couple of sweltering guitar… Continue reading “What a year, what a day, what a life it is” – Supertramp’s “Crime of the Century” questions fitting in by standing out

Chevys, Camaros, and Cadillacs or Meet me at the Lost & Found – Bruce Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town”

How can a white, salt-of-the-earth rock musician from New Jersey, obsessed with the metaphoric potential of car brands, his father's working class heritage and the ideal of rock music as a proletariat/political genre not only have a career spanning 20 albums, but make music that still sounds good to a 20-something arts student living in… Continue reading Chevys, Camaros, and Cadillacs or Meet me at the Lost & Found – Bruce Springsteen’s “Darkness on the Edge of Town”

Sing me a Song of Hope and Despair or Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”

I don't know how to write about Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. I've been staring at my laptop for more than ten minutes, trying to find the words to describe how I feel about this record. Trying to capture when I first listened to it, how it became the most important record in a… Continue reading Sing me a Song of Hope and Despair or Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”

A Study in False Advertising – Captain Cool Presents: “Floating Harmonies” by Júníus Meyvant

When you're being recommended an album titled Floating Harmonies by an Icelandic singer-songwriter making music under the name 'Júníus Meyvant', your first instinct, like mine, may be to expect a record à la Björk or Emilíana Torrini. Something soft, whimsical, introspective, something in line with the Scandinavian aesthetic one may find on the Etsy front… Continue reading A Study in False Advertising – Captain Cool Presents: “Floating Harmonies” by Júníus Meyvant

Send in the Swiss – Captain Cool Presents: “Wohri Fründschaft” by no future

Thinking of Switzerland I think of mountains, chocolate, cheese fondue, Wilhelm Tell and political neutrality. When no future think of their home country, they think of friendship, the compulsory military service and reggae rock. Wohri Fründschaft (True Friendship), released in 2008, is a left wing reggae rock EP covering political issues as much as celebrations… Continue reading Send in the Swiss – Captain Cool Presents: “Wohri Fründschaft” by no future