Battlestar Eclectic
Sarah Torribio and her right brain. Music. Musings. Writing. Style.
Category: alt-rock
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My mind is boggling. I had no idea that The Church was an Australian band, more specifically from Sydney. Until this moment’s googelry, I was sure the alt-rock outfit hailed from a dark Scottish moor. I had two things I wanted to find out about The Church this evening. The first was the lead singer’s…
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My song of the day is “Sam’s Town” by The Killers. Its title presumably comes from the Las Vegas Casino of the same name, nothing fancy but a staple of the gambling capital of the United States. It’s the kind of a place where gamblers, both dilettante and desperado, man slot machines next to chain-smokers…
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Today’s song of the day is “Sleep to Dream” by Fiona Apple, off her gorgeous and endlessly bold debut album Tidal. This alt-rock queen is such a bad-ass and talented singer-songwriter. The album came out when she was only 18, pressaging the precocity of teen sonstresses Lorde and Billie Eilish by many years. Produced by her…
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I’m fueling my writer’s journey by listening on repeat to “Rise” by Public Image Lt. (PIL, if you want to be quick about it.) Because that’s what I intuit I need to keep going. I need to listen to Johnny Lydon and put one word in front of the other. You should try writing to a certain rhythm,…
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My song of the day is “Black Boys on Mopeds’ by Sinead O’Connor off her 1990 album “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got.” It’s a loving and moving protest song that sings softly while carrying a big stick. The voice of this Irish singer/songwriter, who was cited by the Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan as…
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“Song from the Edge of the World” by Siouxsie & the Banshees is my song of the Day. It was released in 1987 as a stand-alone single, which I had, or shared with my high school boyfriend, on cassette. Perhaps fittingly for such a strange and lovely offering, the outside of said tape was left melted…
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Is there anything better than this New Wave holiday classic?, with its fun irreverence and sprightly disillusionment. And then there’s that virtuoso saxophone ranging from jaunty to downright pretty. My song of the day is “Christmas Wrapping” by The Waitresses Lead singer Patty Donahue died of cancer in 1996 at the tender age of 40.…
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I’m recovering from the flu and so especially nostalgic this Christmastime. I very nearly cried while listening to “FairyTale of New York” by The Pogues, with added vocals by Kristy McKall, today. Hence, it’s my song of the day. I’ve got lots of Irish blood but not much Irish culture, but I swear, this song…
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This new offering by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird is arresting and inventive. Bird is as genre-bending as Beck in “Capital I,” which throws roots rock, chamber-pop and alt-rock into the sonic blender. This hot-off-the-presses showcases Andrew Bird’s mastery of strings and the strange. –Sarah Torribio <<last post >> next post Listen to more songs…
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When it comes to Tori Amos’ “Under the Pink,” forget “Cornflake Girl.” Try “Pretty Good Year,” a honey-voiced wist-fest filled with characteristically oblique metaphor. It’s like I don’t know what she’s talking about, but I do. Maybe Tori Amos’ warm, octave-straddling voice and star-spangled fingers are filling in the banks. “Pretty Good Year” is an…