Author: Ryan Maffei

Rock 

When Johnny Comes Marching Home: Rock ‘n’ Roll at 50

February 20, 2025February 20, 2025 Ryan Maffei 1 Comment 50th anniversary, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Rock 'n' Roll, Stand By Me, Yoko Ono

Lennon’s covers album looked like one more solo folly, but it was a turning point

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Pop 

Year of the Girlypops or Charli/Chappell ’24

December 12, 2024 Ryan Maffei 0 Comments 2024, Billie Eilish, Britney Spears, Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Girlypops, Madonna, Sabrina Carpenter

A glance back at Brat Summer, from the winter of our discontent

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Alternative Rock Indie Rock Remembrance Rock 

My Vanished Friend: Remembering Martin Phillipps of The Chills

July 28, 2024July 28, 2024 Ryan Maffei 0 Comments Flying Nun Records, Martin Phillipps, Martyn Bull, New Zealand, RIP, Soft Bomb, Submarine Bells, The Chills

Reflecting on the career of New Zealand’s greatest songwriter

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Rock 

The Air Was Magic: Neil Young’s On the Beach at 50

July 18, 2024July 18, 2024 Ryan Maffei 0 Comments 1974, 50th anniversary, David Briggs, Neil Young, On the Beach, Revolution Blues, Vampire Blues

The prettiest “ditch trilogy” album saw the artist climbing out and walking on

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Art Pop Glam Rock 

Mirror Moves: On David Bowie’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Star!

July 12, 2024July 12, 2024 Ryan Maffei 1 Comment 2024, Box Set, David Bowie, Ken Scott, Marc Bolan, Parlophone Records, Rhino, Rock 'n' Roll Star!, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars

A fascinating new Ziggy Stardust box set scrapes the barrel to paint a portrait

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Rock 

Why Caribou Is Elton John’s Most Fun Album

June 25, 2024June 25, 2024 Ryan Maffei 0 Comments 1974, 50th anniversary, Bernie Taupin, Caribou, Elton John

Looking back on 50 years of Captain Fantastic’s eighth LP

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Alternative Rock Country and/or Western Pub Rock Punk Rock 

Shine on Brightly: A Chat with Jon Langford

June 21, 2024June 21, 2024 Ryan Maffei 0 Comments Jon Langford, Jon Langford and Skull Orchard, Jon Langford and the Bright Shiners, Mekons, Men of Gwent, Pine Valley Cosmonauts, The Mekons, The Waco Brothers, Where It Really Starts

The Mekon, Waco Brother and Man of Gwent on old friends, new music and the surprise favorite of his albums 

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New Wave Pop 

Sour Milk Cow Blues: Goodbye Cruel World at 40

June 18, 2024June 20, 2024 Ryan Maffei 3 Comments 1984, 40th Anniversary, Bruce Thomas, Elvis Costello, Elvis Costello and The Attractions, F-Beat, Goodbye Cruel World, Pete Thomas, Steve Nieve

Elvis Costello and the Attractions’ unhappiest (but not worst) album reaches its bitter middle age

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Art Pop Pop 

Tension As Release: In Love with The Blue Nile

May 5, 2024May 6, 2024 Ryan Maffei 0 Comments A Walk Across the Rooftops, Hats, Jack Antonoff, Matty Healy, Midnights, PJ Moore, Robert Bell, Taylor Swift, The 1975, The Blue Nile, The Tortured Poets Department, Travis Kelce

Looking back at Scotland’s beloved tortured poets after a high-profile name drop

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Hard Rock Indie Rock Remembrance Rock 

Missing Kurt Cobain

April 5, 2024April 5, 2024 Ryan Maffei 0 Comments 30th Anniversary, Dave Grohl, King Buzzo, Krist Noveselic, Kurt Cobain, Montage of Heck, Nirvana, RIP, Seattle, The Melvins

30 years later, we are still picking up the pieces of his tragic demise

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Indie Rock Music Journalism New Wave Rock 

Print the Legend: Interrogating The Paranoid Style

February 19, 2024February 19, 2024 Ryan Maffei 1 Comment 2024, Bar-None Records, Chrissie Hynde, Elizabeth Nelson, Northport, Peter Holsapple, Taylor Swift, The Interrogator, The Interrogator Long Island, The Mekons, The Paranoid Style

Elizabeth Nelson on her band’s brilliant new album, the state of the arts and the subtle link between Taylor Swift and fascism

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Indie Rock Pop Rock 

Where They’re Anymore: Why Grandaddy Matters

February 17, 2024February 17, 2024 Ryan Maffei 0 Comments 2024, Blu Wav, Dangerbird Records, Grandaddy, Jason Lytle, Jeff Lynne, Just Like The Fambly Cat, Paul McCartney, Sumday, The Sophtware Slump

Looking back on Jason Lytle & co. in the wake of the lovely new album Blu Wav

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Alternative Rock Power Pop Rock 

LISTEN: Jody Porter Shares New Single “Light Up The Sky”

February 6, 2024February 7, 2024 Ryan Maffei 0 Comments 2024, Adam Schlesinger, EP II, Fountains of Wayne, Gordon Raphael, Jody Porter, Light Up the Sky, The Strokes

The Fountains of Wayne guitarist’s latest, EP II, comes out this Friday

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Rock 

Like a Great Gatsby: Elliott Murphy’s Aquashow at 50

January 13, 2024January 13, 2024 Ryan Maffei 1 Comment 1973, 50th anniversary, Aquashow, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Elliott Murphy, Long Island, The Great Gatsby

A look back at the Long Island troubadour’s well-hyped, long-lost debut

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Art Pop Progressive Rock Rock 

Playing for Time: Inside Peter Gabriel’s i/o

December 11, 2023December 11, 2023 Ryan Maffei 0 Comments 2023, Genesis, I/O, Kate Bush, King Crimson, Live and Let Live, Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Real World Productions, Robert Fripp, Yes

On the Genesis frontman’s beautiful and frustrating new album, 20 years in the making

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