Everything Now, the Skateboard Edition
To celebrate the release of Everything Now by TMN co-founder Rosecrans Baldwin, we're partnering with his publisher to give away a skateboard.
Andrew Womack
Black Market Dub and an Alternate History of Popular Music
Turns out that reimagining the music you know and love through a dub filter makes you love it even more.
The Top Albums of 2019
Ninety-three albums that sounded like this year.
The Top Albums of 2018
Following a mid-year checkpoint, catching up on the rest of 2018 with picks from the year in music.
The Top Albums of 2018 (So Far)
With 2018 a little more than half over, a check-in on the year's best long-player recordings.
The Top Albums of 2017
This is the way the year ends: with a fade-out.
The Top Albums of 2016
The best music from 2016 meant more than usual this year.
The Top Albums of 2015
Why we like the music we do is a matter of personal history—and in at least one case, a profound experience of hearing David Bowie.
The Top Albums of 2014
Music writing and music enthusiasm don't mix—let's change that. With the help of an army of YouTube commenters, we gush over our selections for the 31 best albums of the year.
The Top Albums of 2013
A full calendar year of only listening to music that was released in 2013 comes down to this: The Morning News Editor's Choice Awards for the 19 best albums of the year.
The Top 10 Albums of 2012
A year's worth of music listening, whittled down to the core. Because in the end, there can be only 10.
Explaining My Alertness
Right now I am drinking Nespresso. A cup—a very little cup—of the Dulsão de Brasil, currently my favorite variety. And I am about to make some more Nespresso. I’m finding it’s the rare coffee person who knows what I’m talking about when I say I
The Top 10 Albums of 2010
It's the end of the year, and time to sum it up: Ten albums, all great, no filler.
The Top 10 Albums of 2009
The past 10 years have upturned the music world, and we're all better for it. A countdown of the year's best music, and the artist of the decade is named.
What Are Your Past Year's Solutions?
The end of the year is nigh and perhaps too the world. Forget new year's resolutions; we want to pause, take stock, and celebrate this past year's solutions. December's Of Recent Note celebrates the good things of your 2009. What minor achievement, what big
What Are Your Nontraditional Traditions?
We want to hear about the unique, unusual, creative, strange, interesting ways you and your family, friends, and household pets celebrate the holidays. Is there an accidental custom your family has turned into a time-honored tradition? A special meal? A sibling-only field trip to the roller derby? Tell us all
Is Rapper Kanye West Dead?
Suspicious lyrics and other clues suggest something may be amiss among the hip-hop royalty.
What Was Your First Horror Movie?
Let's celebrate the age-old art of scaring yourself silly. This month, we're wondering: What was your first scary cinema experience like--in theaters or at home, eagerly anticipated or forced into viewing by your much heartier friends/evil older siblings? For this month's Of Recent
What Is Your Most Beloved Children's Book?
With the imminent release of the movie version of Where the Wild Things Are, we're caught up in a wave of nostalgia, and our thoughts turn to the bookshelves of our youth. For this month's Of Recent Note we want you to tell us: What is
What Is Your Superpower?
Maybe it's fitting all the luggage into the trunk of the car, or picking the right time in the movie to go to the bathroom, or knowing when fruit is ripe, or getting a great deal on car insurance. For this month's Of Recent Note we
Where Were You on August 14, 2003?
Six years ago this Friday, a major power grid failed and a stripe of Northeastern North America was plunged into darkness. For a special anniversary Of Recent Note we want you to tell us: What are your memories of the 2003 blackout? Email your story to bridget@themorningnews.org by
What Is Your Favorite Conspiracy Theory?
From our president's citizenship to the moon landing to rent control, conspiracy theories are eating up headlines. For this month's Of Recent Note we want you to tell us: What is your favorite conspiracy theory? Maybe your uncle told you about it, maybe it was Fox
What Are Your Favorite Worst Movies?
It is a truth universally acknowledged that Road House is no Citizen Kane (though some may argue it's a poor man's Casablanca), but we both know which one you're going to stop to watch when you're channel-surfing past TNT. (Swayze, of course.
How Are You Coping With the Recession?
This month's Of Recent Note topic is: Recession Confessions Are you stealing paper as well as pens from the office? Furnishing your apartment with castoffs? Attending parties you wouldn't normally attend just for the free food? Have you become a coupon clipper? Maybe you're
What have you been paranoid about lately?
This month's Of Recent Note topic is: What have you been paranoid about lately? There's always job loss and pandemics to worry about, and zoo carousels that go much faster than a zoo carousel ought to go, and two-year-old nieces who can run up and down
Tell Us Your Favorite Print Periodicals
This month's Of Recent Note topic is: Your Favorite Print Periodicals The ones you love--whether thriving, surviving, or recently defunct. Tell us about your morning coffee with the New York Sun, your favorite section of the Seattle P-I, the vice-like grip you have on the last Washington Post
Tell Us Your Favorite Thing About the Recession
This month's Of Recent Note topic is: Your Favorite Thing About the Recession Maybe it's that you're suddenly thankful for your thankless job. Maybe it's that Restaurant Week turned into Restaurant Month and then Restaurant Forever. Maybe it's your shiny
Your Would-Be Acquaintances
This month's Of Recent Note topic is: People I Wish I Knew. They're your would-be acquaintances, your potential best friends, your maybe-someday muses. They're the person you don't know that you'd like to go out to dinner with. They'
TMN Annual Now for Sale in New York
Attention New Yorkers: Our limited-edition TMN Annual 2008 is now for sale at one of our favorite bookstores, the Strand in Manhattan (828 Broadway, between 12th and 13th Streets). Will our shrink-wrapped volume suffer the same lustful attacks as the erotica collections just five feet away? Only you can decide.
Broken Resolutions
It's that time of year again. The time of year when you get to feel like a failure because you did not stick to your pre-appointed resolution. Perhaps because you drunkenly blurted it out at 12:03 a.m., right before lighting another cigarette. Perhaps because it'
The Top 10 Albums of 2008
After 12 months of listening, only 10 records remain.
Of Recent Note: 2008
Here it is, the final Of Recent Note of 2008: What's the best thing you discovered this year? It could be the Fleet Foxes album, it could be tweed moccasins, it could be "change." It could be something that makes you think about what 2008 has
Guilty Favorites
Tell us about your favorite, semi-secret, slightly (or mostly) guilty genre of books and a couple of recent favorites in said genre. You know: crime, romance, sci-fi, founding father biographies, New York Review of Books titles, vampire lore, cats who solve mysteries, etc. If you hoard philosophy textbooks in a
Fall Food
It's fall, which means many things. You know: New England scenery, school buses, the crippling inability to get out of a warm bed on a cool morning. One more wonderful thing about fall is the food. Give us a pumpkin anything, an apple whatever, a baked good or
Behind the Times
It’s time for our latest Of Recent Note. This month’s theme is: Stuff You Should've Gotten Into Before Now You ignored the critical acclaim and the praise heaped upon it by your friends, and stayed in the dark on that TV show/album/book/etc. But
The Hot _______ of the Summer
August’s Of Recent Note is upon us. This month, we are handing over an inordinate level of control. The theme is: “The Hot _______ of the Summer” Meaning: First you fill in the blank, and then write about the thing that you think deserves the most buzz of the season.
Re-Digested
Three times a week since 2006, we’ve been publishing our Digest features with the goal of bringing TMN readers the latest in our favorite books (Mondays), mp3s (Wednesdays), and videos (Fridays). This morning we’re dismantling that calendar with our revamped Digest, a blog (because every magazine should have
Summer Staycations
This month’s Of Recent Note is already here, and we’d love for you to take part. This month’s assignment is: “Summer Staycations” You missed the boat to the Bahamas, declined the road trip to the Grand Canyon, and that means you're right at home—right
The Top 10 Albums of 1989
Because album lists shouldn't happen only once a year. Rounding out the '80s, music from the year America chose wrong.
Todd Osborn
Hometown: Wayne, Mich. Occupation: Music producer, tinkerer I love the short video Ghostly posted about you. One unexpected bit shows you polishing off a plane. I’ve been flying for maybe 15 years but it was really sporadic. I like the flying, of course, but I also really enjoy the
Ways We're Saving Money
Hail! Another Of Recent Note is upon us, and we’re inviting you to take part. This month’s assignment is: “Ways We’re Saving Money” The economy is doomed, the price of everything is going up: So how are you preparing? Maybe you’re brownbagging your lunches, cutting back
Introducing Our Summer 2008 Interns
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our Summer 2008 interns, who by right of even being interns in the first place are more of overachievers than we ever were. Do the old eat the young? The young eat the old? It's one or the other, and we forget. Good
The Top 10 Albums of 1988
Because album lists shouldn't happen only once a year. Now arriving within two decades of the present day.
What are we denying ourselves?
Next week we’ll be publishing our monthly installment of Of Recent Note; and just like last month, we’re inviting you to participate. Here’s this month’s assignment: “Things We’re Denying Ourselves” What have you been holding back on, holding out on, holding yourself up to? Ideals
What's the last great thing you downloaded?
We're trying a new thing here. We'd like you to tell us your most recent, favorite download--a song, a movie, a piece of software, anything at all that you downloaded from the internet to your computer or whatever you compute on. Please send us your 75-100-word
The Top 10 Albums of 1987
Because year-end album lists shouldn't happen just once a year. In this installment: The lists and timeline converge.
Astoria: Andrea Reese
Name: Andrea Reese Hometown: Washington, D.C. Occupation: Writer/Actress/Artist/Singer/Career Counselor How did you break into acting? Both of my grandmothers were in the arts, so I grew up in an environment that was very supportive of my creative sides. In college, I focused on classical singing.
The Top 10 Albums of 2007
In the past 12 months thousands of albums were released, but there are only 10 you'll need to remember.
The Top 10 Albums of 1986
Emptying out a storage space in Houston means judging sentimental value against what fits in the car.
Catching Up With T-Pain
Almost exclusively, I listen to the song “Bartender” by T-Pain. When I moved back to Texas, my grandfather gave me his old car. It’s just turned 10 and in the two months I’ve had it, things are declining at a worrisome rate. A taillight jumped ship in the
The Top 10 Albums of 1985
Even though it wasn't an election year, in 1985 Alex P. Keaton could have run for president--and won.
The Top 10 Albums of 1984
It was no Orwellian nightmare; to have nightmares you need to sleep, and you can't sleep when you lay awake terrified about nuclear war.
The Haçienda Must Be Built
From “Formulary for a New Urbanism” by Ivan Chtcheglov (Internationale Situationniste, October 1953): AndyouforgottenyourmemoriesravagedbyalltheconsternationsoftwohemispheresstrandedintheRedCellarsofPali-Kaowithoutmusicandwithoutgeographynolongersettingoutforthehaciendawhere the roots think of the child and where the wine is finished off with fables from an old almanac.Nowthat’sfinishedYou’llneverseethehaciendaItdoesn’texist The hacienda must be built. Before—A Factory Documentary During
Video Digest: August 10, 2007
Not until somebody gets a drumstick through the throat, will drum aficionados cease debating who’s the superior stickman: Neal Peart or Phil Collins. But one argument is still unexplored: Is Peart’s favoring of do-rags an attempt to mimic Collins’s hairless pate? Doubtful, but drummers are unpredictable—as
Mp3 Digest: July 25, 2007
Apparently Daft Punk is currently touring the U.S. with what some are calling “the best show they’ve been to in their ENTIRE LIFE.” (Emphasis Daft Punk nut.) Since just about the rest of the tour is sold out, however, your best chance to catch them may be in
"This Ain't No Fado Part II," guest-edited by Philip Graham
Did you know the Portuguese Empire lasted from 1415 to 1999? I sure didn’t. I sure do miss the Portuguese Empire. Philip Graham will too, as his year abroad in Lisbon will soon be coming to an end. And of the many things he’ll need to declare at
The Top 10 Albums of 1983
Because album lists shouldn't happen only once a year. In this installment: The New Wave was drying up and the New Romantics were taking hold. But tell that to a Cub Scout in 1983 and you'll get a blank stare.
Sacrifice
From choosing a mousetrap to moving across the country, parenting requires tough decisions.
Driving Me Backwards
Riding New York subways for so long, I long to drive cars again. I love the part in Raising Arizona when John Goodman’s convict character, behind the wheel and having just kidnapped Nathan Jr., turns to his little brother and says, “I loooove to drive,” to which his brother
The Top 10 Albums of 1982
MTV was shaking up the airwaves, but if it was happening during an episode of Diff'rent Strokes. Ten favorite albums from the year the '80s really began.
"This Ain't No Fado," guest-edited by Philip Graham
My roommate my first year of college had spent the preceding summer traveling across Europe and buying albums by artists who never had a hope of getting distribution in the U.S. Was this invisible blockade yet another example of American cultural imperialism? Of the closed-mindedness of Western audiences? Yes,
The Top 10 Albums of 1981
Because album lists shouldn't happen only once a year. In this installment: Iran's taking hostages, Pat Sajak’s still on the air, and all of a sudden 1981 doesn’t feel like so long ago.
A Misplaced Comeuppance? Part Two
Dear friends at TMN, TMN is my homepage. I consider myself a fan of your work. Does that give me the liberty to be critical? Probably not, but you’re gracious enough to have a feedback link, so I’ll just bite the bullet and use it. For what it’
A Misplaced Comeuppance? Part One
Dear TMN, What is up with that bullshit piece by James McManus? It’s one thing to point out the inconsistencies between a person’s not supporting stem-cell research and the fact that her father might have been helped by that very research. Point taken, although it’s also notable
Band Bashing and Guitar Smashing
That new Arcade Fire album sure does suck. Like you, I got it when it leaked, downloaded it while I was listening to other leaked music. (The next Arcade Fire album sucks as well, by the way.) So yeah, I listened to it in my iTunes a couple of times,
The Top 10 Albums of 1980
Because album lists shouldn't happen only once a year. In this installment: The dawn of a new decade saw punk rock fading away, or at least saving up to buy a synthesizer.
The Top 10 Albums of 1979
Because album lists shouldn't happen only once a year. In this installment, times were good: Every album came with a poster, disco was dying, and actors weren't Presidents.
The Top 10 Albums of 1978
Year-end album lists shouldn't happen only once a year. Inaugurating a new series, Andrew Womack raids his music collection to rank his favorite albums from every year, year after year, starting with as far back as he can recollect.
Terrified of New Music
Right now there are a number of upcoming albums that have the mp3 bloggers blogging up their lunches in excitement. And anticipation-wise, I’m no exception; however, ever since the Stone Roses’ Second Coming let down the entire world (I’ve reversed my position) and played no small role in
More on the Prison on the Park
A friend of mine just sent me the article you published about the history of the Lincoln Correctional Facility on 110th Street and Central Park West. I was so thrilled and fascinated to read it. I went to the New Lincoln school for 15 years, graduating in 1975. My mother
The Top 10 Albums of 2006
The "record" industry is dead and 99-cent singles are now the rule, and yet terrific, cohesive rock LPs kept appearing every week.
Name That Congress
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we reveal how George W. Bush will nickname every one of his new, non-Republican buddies in Congress.
Choosing Music for Storms and Whatever Comes After
It’s November, and it’s raining in Brooklyn. Unlike almost every other day, music didn’t feel quite right on the way to the subway. At least none of what I scrolled through on my iPod. Of its many extrasensory qualities, something profound about music is its ability to
Everything But the Music
When Peter Saville created the artwork for Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasureshe’d never even heard the album now wrapped in what is arguably the work for which he is best known. He also claims he’d only heard a couple of their songs prior to that—and didn’t
Employees Must Double-Wash Hands
The recent E. Coli scare sent many bags of spinach into the trashbin. Now that the FDA says the outbreak is over, how will restaurants assure us what they're serving is safe to eat?
A Response From John Warner
I am writing in regards to your article of July 15, 1977, titled “Gender-Bending Grade-Schooler Attracts Notice,” which reported on my emergence as a leading androgynous figure in the fashion world. I would have written sooner and not allowed the record to stand uncorrected for almost 30 years, but at
Prog (Not Prog)
If you lived in Austin right now, you’d have every right to be angry. The reason: last weekend’s Austin City Limits Music Festival, which must be something like the opposite of South by Southwest, given its more mainstream lineup. (Howdy, John Mayer!) As a former Austin resident, I
Seeking the Jam of the Summer
Now that Labor Day has come and gone, and summertime is officially over, and you’re regaling your friends with tales of Canadian girlfriends and Mexican boyfriends and getting tiny coffins sent to you in the mail, it’s time to ask: What was the jam of the summer? First
Mp3 Digest: August 23, 2006
Every Christmas morning, my mother would construct elaborate treasure hunts—one for me and one for my brother. We’d get a riddle whose solution would lead us to another spot in the house (or when she got elaborate, the subdivision), where we’d find an envelope that contained another
Funeral Rider
Available at the service to all attendees must be a compilation of the below songs, as specified by the deceased. The music should be distributed in whatever format is deemed appropriate in that era of technology. On a space tape, or whatever. » Hear “Time Thief” by the Pale Saints at
Not-Quite Cover Versions
Would the opening sequence in The Royal Tenenbaums have been as effective set to the Beatles original recording of “Hey Jude?”—as Wes Anderson first imagined it? I’d say no way: Mark Mothersbaugh’s instrumental version, prepared especially for the movie, though very much like the original, engineers a
Truth in Advertising
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we show a reader concerned about television's wasteland how advertisers could create more socially aware campaigns.
Mp3 Digest: June 28, 2006
Austinist has an excellent interview with Red Hunter of Peter and the Wolf, which may or may not comprise 18 members. For those OK with the informal thing, it’s a musical collective, and that means they all shower together. Hey, that’s where you write your best songs, isn’
Rachael Ray's Secret Travel Tips
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we help a reader combine travel and eating--with knowledge cribbed from the Food Network star.
Mp3 Digest: June 14, 2006
It was Bauhaus’s cover of “Ziggy Stardust” that turned me (and I suspect many others) into a David Bowie fanatic. I’d heard their version of the song long before Bowie’s, and in fact still prefer it to the original. The urgency in their pacing, the extra push
Stage Directions
Pornography Soap Operas Movies for the Lifetime Network Voiceovers & Commercials Reality Shows Movies for Other Cable Networks Television Hosts (Most) ↑ OUTSIDE THE ACTOR'S STUDIO ↑···································································· ↓ INSIDE THE ACTOR'S STUDIO ↓ Television Hosts (Very Few) Movies for Network Television Prime-Time Television Show Voiceovers (Fortune 500) & Commercials (Japan)
Am I a Hypochondriac?
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we introduce a paranoid reader to our personal physician, Dr. Google, who has induced paranoia in more patients than anyone.
Mp3 Digest: May 31, 2006
It’s well known how you blow up a computer: You give it conflicting information until it can no longer process what you’re saying, until its motherboard eventually fries up and explodes. “Ain’t Nobody Straight in LA” does the very same thing, only to the human mind—see,
Mp3 Digest: May 17, 2006
Canada’s Bedouin Soundclash should be the bearers of a new wave of pop reggae, but that’s not a wave we’re going to see anytime soon, is it? That doesn’t change how terrific their newest work is; note, in particular, the wildly off-kilter bass lines that wrap
Back Off, Man, I'm a Scientist
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we help a forlorn scientist understand why his friend and co-worker chose to quit her job and leave the state.
Coachella, MySpace & the Octopus Project
The single greatest problem our country faced throughout the 1990s, the summer music festival, was responsible not only for 90 percent of infections in 18-24 year-olds, but also for Live’s Throwing Copper going platinum eight times. Thankfully, the vast majority of music festivals are now confined to the Chicagoland
Piping Hot
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. This week we show a tenant how to beat the heat that's still pouring out of the radiator.
Menacing Chamber Blues
Sometimes I just have to gush. I don’t know much about the Candy Bars (MySpace page), but I do know they’re a new-ish trio from Tampa. I’ve never read an article about them, I’ve only heard that they were great at SXSW. What I have heard
Not Getting all Dewey-Eyed
In “Doozy of a Decimal System,” published April 5, 2006, Anthony Doerr admits that his half-serious censure of library borrowing is “silly.” I’d like to argue that not only is it silly to suggest that libraries make it harder for writers to get published, it is also wrong. Libraries
On Morrissey and Career Arcs
This month it’s been 18 years since Viva Hate, Morrissey’s initial solo foray. That’s right—and that means it’s been over 18 years since the breakup of the Smiths, one of the two most important guitar bands of the 20th century (next to the Beatles), the
Attention Screenwriters
I've noticed an abundance of horror films over the past few years, the premises of which involve a thing that somehow somebody gets a hold of that winds up killing them. Like The Ring, where a videocassette is traded around, and whomever sees it is later dies. Or
How My Chemical Romance Will Save the Record Industry
Depending on whom you ask, the business of buying and selling music is or is not in the toilet. I propose that not only is it down there, but that we go ahead and yank the handle. The argument goes that many people treat file-sharing services as listening stations, and
On the Secret Machines' New Album
Since their 2002 debut EP Brooklyn-via-outer space-via-Texas rock trio the Secret Machines have led a charmed life. The group’s rise has been meteoric: rescued from seedy Williamsburg loft parties, knighted by Warner Bros., and anointed in Hedi Slimane suits, the Secret Machines appear in every aspect to be here
New Reviews
If it's true that opinions are like assholes, and that the internet is full of both, then please tell us why aren't we a natural part of that? Which is exactly what we asked ourselves, and which is why, beginning today with Robert Birnbaum's
Itchy
On the subway this morning, I saw somebody reading one of the free dailies. The cover headline, referring to the Cheney hunting accident, read, "Triggy Dick." Ah, so they mean "triggy" as in "trigger," as in, "itchy trigger finger," which is how