# obviate media
> Public Ghost publication content.
Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. Use `/llms-full.txt` for consolidated page and post context.
Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`).

## Pages
- [About this site](https://www.obviatemedia.net/about.md) - obviatemedia.net is an independent publication launched in June 2026 by Brendan Hilliard. If you subscribe today, you'll get full access to the website as well as email newsletters about new content when it's available. Your subscription makes this site possible, and allows obviatemedia.net to cont…
- [Brendan Hilliard](https://www.obviatemedia.net/brendan-hilliard.md) - Hey! I founded this site in 2006. It has been a lot of things over time – a hub for my friends to write whatever they want, a web magazine, the home of The Eternal Mixtape Project, and for the better part of the last half-decade, a place for me to put whatever I’m thinking. It’s the longest-lasting…
- [Podcasts](https://www.obviatemedia.net/podcasts.md) - ayvee | Crayzee Tayztee Layzeez 7/06/08 | listen We’re back from break and Alexander P. is as well. Crayzee Tayztee Layzeez – AN EXCLUSIVE PODCAST PRESENTED BY OBVIATE MEDIA – is back for yet another superb installment. We’ll spare you overlong introduction this time – and let the songs speak f…

## Posts
- [Quicksand's Bring On the Psychics: What I Needed at 40 Was a Band Closer to 60](https://www.obviatemedia.net/quicksand-psychics.md) - I turned 40 last November. It was a milestone I was weirdly looking forward to, but pretty much immediately after it happened I started to feel an imminent sense of dread, something like how the hourglass might be dwindling a little more than I had expected. Almost immediately some weird, not-terri…
- [Songs of 2025 and Other Stuff](https://www.obviatemedia.net/songs-of-2025-and-other-stuff.md) - Favorite Songs and Other Stuff of 2025
- [Favorite Albums of 2025](https://www.obviatemedia.net/favorite-albums-of-2025.md) - My list of favorite albums of 2025.
- [Wednesday’s Bleeds Shows a Band Leveling Up in Every Direction](https://www.obviatemedia.net/wednesday-bleeds.md) - Wednesday steps up with their most confident, devastating record yet — one that refuses to look away.
- [Greg Freeman Levels Up on 'Burnover'](https://www.obviatemedia.net/greg-freeman-levels-up-on-burnover.md) - Isn’t it great when a record just jumps out at you out of nowhere? I hadn’t even heard of Greg Freeman prior to this April, much less listened to him. But when “Point and Shoot,” the first single from his excellent sophomore album Burnover, was released, it was immediately clear this was the work o…
- [Japanese Breakfast Shifts Gears on For Melancholy Brunettes (And Sad Women)](https://www.obviatemedia.net/japanese-breakfast-melancholy-brunettes.md) - Japanese Breakfast’s new album, For Melancholy Brunettes (And Sad Women), is a study in restraint and reflection. Where 2021’s Jubilee reached for the sky with lush, sparkling pop anthems, this record is more grounded—not somber, but deliberate, with a widescreen scope. It steps away from the exube…
- [Songs of 2024 and Other Stuff](https://www.obviatemedia.net/songs-of-2024-and-other-favorites.md) - Favorite Songs and Other Stuff of 2024
- [Favorite Albums of 2024](https://www.obviatemedia.net/favorite-albums-of-2024.md) - My Favorite albums of 2024.
- [Saying Goodbye to Younger Us with Japandroids 'Fate and Alcohol'](https://www.obviatemedia.net/japandroids-fate-and-alcohol.md) - How do you make peace with something you thought was over? When Japandroids announced Fate and Alcohol, their fourth—and final—album, it was a massive surprise. The fact that it was their last? Not so much.
- [On 'Tigers Blood', Waxahatchee's New Life Blooms](https://www.obviatemedia.net/waxahatchee-tigers-blood.md) - It’s a special thing when a record arrives with a sense of timelessness and a feeling that the songs have always somehow existed in the echelon of popular music. Katie Crutchfield was already a decade into her career recording as Waxahatchee upon the release of 2020’s Saint Cloud, a sonic rebirth,…
- [Songs of 2023 and Other Stuff](https://www.obviatemedia.net/songs-of-2023-and-other-stuff.md) - My favorite songs of 2023 and other music related faves I spent time with this year: Best Reissue: The Replacements - Tim (Let It Bleed Edition) Best Live Album: Sonic Youth - Live in Brooklyn 2011 (8/12/2011) Best 2022 release I discovered in 2023: High Vis - Blending Catalog Releases I spent a lo…
- [Favorite Albums of 2023](https://www.obviatemedia.net/favorite-albums-of-2023.md) - My favorite albums of 2023.
- [Songs of 2022](https://www.obviatemedia.net/songs-of-2022.md) - Top Songs of 2022, followed by everything I listened to monthly in 2022.
- [Favorite Albums of 2022](https://www.obviatemedia.net/favorite-albums-of-2022.md) - My favorite records of 2022 below, with a playlist at the end. 1. Gang of Youths - Angel in Realtime In March, I flew to London by myself. It was my first time on an airplane since March 2020. We made it home literal days before the US started restricting travel because of the quickly emerging COVI…
- [The First Week in June](https://www.obviatemedia.net/june-7-2020.md) - I feel like my brain is broken. I’ve probably thought about how to write this for two months, but I can’t get it to sound right or write how it is in my head. I know from therapy and experience that this is certainly post traumatic stress disorder. It mostly comes in waves these days, multiple time…
- [Songs of 2021](https://www.obviatemedia.net/songs-of-2021.md) - Top Songs of 2021, followed by everything I listened to monthly in 2021.
- [Favorite Albums of 2021](https://www.obviatemedia.net/top-albums-of-2021.md) - My favorite records of 2021 below, with a playlist at the end. Songs to come soon!
- [First Few Desperate Hours](https://www.obviatemedia.net/first-few-desperate-hours.md) - First, today is not Remy’s birthday. That’s this Thursday. June 7, 2020 was a year ago today. It’s an anniversary that I’ve anticipated with a variety of feelings: intense trauma, grief, fear, gratitude and a delayed sense of joy. It is the beginning of three days that inextricably changed our live…
- [Songs of 2020](https://www.obviatemedia.net/songs-of-2020.md) - Top songs and all songs listened to in 2020.
- [Favorite Albums of 2020](https://www.obviatemedia.net/favorite-albums-of-2020.md) - My annual list of favorite albums of the year.
- [On Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's "Reunions", the Songs Feel Like Old Friends](https://www.obviatemedia.net/on-jason-isbell-and-the-400-units-reunions-the-songs-feel-like-old-friends.md) - On Reunions, the latest record by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, finds the songwriter pushing himself in new sonic directions and writing songs about fear, anxiety, sobriety and being a parent. It all seems pretty standard for him, and I’ll probably listen to it forever. That’s the point. Isbell’s…
- [The Strokes "The New Abnormal" is Perfect For Our New Normal](https://www.obviatemedia.net/the-strokes-the-new-abnormal-is-perfect-for-our-new-normal.md) - I am really enjoying The New Abnormal, the latest record by The Strokes. It’s funny, so many people have been quick to dismiss anything after the first two records, myself included, but as time has passed, I’m revisiting that stance. In 2020, are we looking for a Strokes record to really wow us? No…
- [Review: Bonny Light Horseman - "Bonny Light Horseman"](https://www.obviatemedia.net/review-bonny-light-horseman-bonny-light-horseman.md) - Listening to the eponymous debut album by Bonny Light Horseman, it’s really hard to escape the feeling that the songs on the record feel as old as time. Songs like “Jane Jane” and “Magpie’s Nest” have atmospheric flourishes that place them as contemporary songs, but it shouldn’t be a surprise that…
- [Top Albums of the Decade 2010-2019](https://www.obviatemedia.net/top-albums-of-the-decade-2010-2019.md) - I’ve considering albums of the decade for a while now, and this where I’m at. I went through all of my lists for the last decade and pulled from that, plus how much I honestly listened to each of them for the past decade. Spotify playlist below. I don’t know if this really merits full write-ups, bu…
- [Favorite Albums of 2019](https://www.obviatemedia.net/favorite-albums-of-2019.md) - This year featured a lot of veteran artists pushing themselves outside of their boundaries to make records that in some cases, were career-bests. There was so much great music to sift through this year, almost any of these could be interchangeable on this list. A Spotify playlist with every album i…
- [Strand of Oaks "Eraserland" is an Essential Visit](https://www.obviatemedia.net/strand-of-oaks-eraserland-is-an-essential-visit.md) - Strand of Oaks – Eraserland Let’s get it out of the way: Eraserland is a career-defining record from Strand of Oaks. That’s saying a lot, as the project from Tim Showalter is punctuated by plenty of highs and lows. He’s an underrated songwriter that exists in starts and stops. For every HEAL, his b…
- [Favorite Albums of 2018](https://www.obviatemedia.net/favorite-albums-of-2018.md) - As usual, extremely hard to make a list of my favorites this year. There are plenty of great records from 2018 to check out beyond these ten! Spotify playlist of the top ten at the bottom of this article. 1. Foxing – Nearer My God I’m still overwhelmed by Nearer My God after all of these months. It…
- [Drug Church's "Cheer" is  an Excellent Punk-Pop Evolution](https://www.obviatemedia.net/drug-churchs-cheer-is-an-excellent-punk-pop-evolution.md) - What does it mean to be a punk band in 2018? It’s hard to say, really. Ten, fifteen years ago if a band with the reputation of Drug Church made a record so explicitly poppy and clean sounding, it was nearly a guaranteed ticket to losing any kind of credibility they’d earned on their way up. However…
- [On "Nearer My God", Foxing Craft an Instant Classic](https://www.obviatemedia.net/on-nearer-my-god-foxing-craft-an-instant-classic.md) - I’ve been struggling to write about this album since I first heard it a few months ago, and it’s mostly because I’m overwhelmed by every listen of Nearer My God. It’s an album title that smacks with the air of supreme confidence and ambition, one that too many bands fail to live up to. Foxing are n…
- [On "Lessons", The Sharp Shadows Show Off Some New Skills](https://www.obviatemedia.net/on-lessons-the-sharp-shadows-show-off-some-new-skills.md) - On Lessons, The Sharp Shadows sophomore album, it’s clear the band has learned something after 2016’s Small Victories. The Brooklyn-by-way-of-Boston power-pop trio led by Stephen Bailey has returned with a collection of songs that feel a little more lived in then its predecessor. “Believe In Yourse…
- [On "Dose Your Dreams", Fucked Up Return to Their Magnum Opus With an Even Better One](https://www.obviatemedia.net/on-dose-your-dreams-fucked-up-follow-up-their-magnum-opus-with-an-even-better-one.md) - Let me be very clear here: Dose Your Dreams, Fucked Up’s first album in four years, is unquestionably their best record. For a group already known for their ambitious 2011 rock opera David Comes to Life, the thought they would top it with another double album seems patently insane, but they actuall…
- [Restorations Tackle The Tough Stuff on "LP5000"](https://www.obviatemedia.net/restorations-tackle-the-tough-stuff-on-lp5000.md) - On Restorations first album in four years, LP5000, the group delivers an emotional wallop over seven songs in a 25 minute span. It’s a look into being in your thirties – appreciating all the things that the age brings – love, stability and the prospect of a bright future still ahead, but sometimes…
- [Lucero Address Change on the Magnificent "Among The Ghosts"](https://www.obviatemedia.net/lucero-examine-change-on-the-magnificent-among-the-ghosts.md) - Lucero – Among the Ghosts 2018 marks twenty years together for the Memphis-based Lucero, a group no stranger to making classic record after classic record. That’s why it’s not surprising that their ninth, Among the Ghosts might just be their best. On the whole, the album sounds like Ben Nichols com…
- [Wild Pink's "Yolk in the Fur" is Grand Ambition Unfolding in Real Time](https://www.obviatemedia.net/wild-pinks-yolk-in-the-fur-is-a-major-leap-forward.md) - Wild Pink – Yolk in the Fur Any band’s second album is cause for concern. It can go two ways – a retread of the first, a brand new direction, or something entirely forgettable. Yolk in the Fur is none of those. In every way, it’s the sound of a New York-based Wild Pink accumulating mass, becoming s…
- [Hear/Here: John Prine, Courtney Barnett and Maps & Atlases](https://www.obviatemedia.net/hear-here-john-prine-courtney-barnett-and-maps-atlases.md) - John Prine – The Tree of Forgiveness John Prine’s first album of new material in 13 years is a great place to start with the legend’s career, as it kind of covers the ground of the sometimes funny, sometimes terribly sad songs he’s known for. Working with Dave Cobb (known for producing both Jason I…
- [Hear/Here: New Hop Along, Young Fathers, Kacey Musgraves and Wye Oak](https://www.obviatemedia.net/record-roundup-april-2018.md) - Hop Along – Bark Off Your Head, Dog Hop Along have been on a tear since the release of their 2012 debut, Get Disowned and came to proper prominence with 2015’s Painted Shut, a showcase of a young band coming into their own, and placing the extraordinary voice of singer/guitarist Frances Quinlan cen…
- [What I'm Listening To: February 2018](https://www.obviatemedia.net/what-im-listening-to-february-2017.md) - Lucy Dacus – Historian I first heard about Lucy Dacus the way a lot of people hear about new bands: from the playlist of the 2016 VP-nominee, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia. Seriously. He included her song “I Don’t Wanna Be Funny Anymore” on a streaming playlist. Turns out his daughter is friends wi…
- [Superchunk's "What a Time to Be Alive" Handles the Turbulence with Confidence](https://www.obviatemedia.net/superchunks-what-a-time-to-be-alive-handles-the-turbulence-with-confidence.md) - The world feels like it’s coming apart at the seams, some new scandal or piece of terrible news hits daily, or sometimes with even more frequency. It takes more effort to simply keep up than it does just to be able to digest the news. The result is mind numbing. Then you look to find respite from t…
- [Favorite Songs of 2017 and Other Stuff](https://www.obviatemedia.net/favorite-songs-of-2017-and-other-stuff.md) - My Top Songs of 2017 playlist, favorite non-2017 discovery and Honorable Mention albums, as well as my Favorite Moments of 2017. My Top Songs: Also, 4:44 by Jay-Z. Everything I Listened To: I made a playlist for every month this year of everything I listened to individually (excluding albums). Chec…
- [Favorite Albums of 2017](https://www.obviatemedia.net/favorite-albums-of-2017.md) - This year was an extraordinarily strong year for music, so much so that ranking my top 10 favorites was not an easy feat. That said, I included a supplementary 11-20 for some of my favorites from this year. I have linked to some of the reviews for some of those records below. Enjoy! 1. The War on D…
- [Hiss Golden Messenger Find Hope in the Dark on "Hallelujah Anyhow"](https://www.obviatemedia.net/hiss-golden-messenger-find-hope-in-the-darkness-on-hallelujah-anyhow.md) - It’s hard to feel good about the world right now for a variety of reasons. Take your pick: politics, natural disasters and the simple passage of time claiming many of our heroes are just a few examples. It would be easy to be resigned and depressed about all of this, but thankfully there are remind…
- [The National Shake Things Up on "Sleep Well Beast"](https://www.obviatemedia.net/the-national-shake-things-up-on-sleep-well-beast.md) - When you talk about a new album by The National, there’s a few concessions you make. You’re not really stressing sound and progression but you do detail the mood and intensity. They’re a band of Midwestern men, two sets of brothers, and a guy that has a brother (as the excellent 2014 documentary Mi…
- [LCD Soundsystem's "American Dream" is a Remarkable Return](https://www.obviatemedia.net/lcd-soundsystems-american-dream-is-a-remarkable-return.md) - LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy has always been obsessed with aging, the process thereof, and the self-awareness of coming that you are no longer the cool person in the room. One of LCD’s most enduring songs, “Losing My Edge” – is about that. I’m a few months away from being 32, the same age when he…
- [Coming Closer with The War On Drugs "A Deeper Understanding"](https://www.obviatemedia.net/coming-closer-with-the-war-on-drugs-a-deeper-understanding.md) - My first experience with The War On Drugs is in 2009 when I saw them open up five times for The Hold Steady. They had just released Wagonwheel Blues, a promising, if not wholly remarkable debut. Adam Granduciel quickly identified me night-to-night as “Phillies shirt guy” because of the shirt I wore…
- [On "Everything Now", Arcade Fire Sound Infinitely Content](https://www.obviatemedia.net/on-everything-now-arcade-fire-sound-infinitely-content.md) - There’s a real problem of being fatigued through overconsumption. It feels like as a culture we’re maxing out: we now have access to an endless pleasure funnel. If you have the means, you can gorge on all the music, movies, television and food you want. There is so much of everything. It’s perpetua…
- [Waxahatchee Return with the Career-Defining "Out in the Storm"](https://www.obviatemedia.net/waxahatchee-return-with-the-excellent-out-in-the-storm.md) - If you’ve followed the career of Katie Crutchfield and her albums under the name Waxahatchee, it’s clear that she never rests on her laurels. Whether it’s the lo-fi intimacy of American Weekend, the assured full-band sound of Cerulean Salt or the atmospherics of Ivy Tripp, each record shows Crutchf…
- [Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Reinvent "The Nashville Sound"](https://www.obviatemedia.net/jason-isbell-and-the-400-unit-reinvent-the-nashville-sound.md) - Had Jason Isbell stopped making music after his run with the Drive-By Truckers, his output would have already been legendary enough. “Outfit,” and “Goddamn Lonely Love,” alone are inches away from being modern standards. After a few promising records in the midst of a drugs-and-booze phase, Isbell…
- [MUNA Offer More Than Just Making People Move](https://www.obviatemedia.net/muna-offer-more-than-just-making-people-move.md) - Listening to the debut album from Los Angeles-based trio MUNA, it would be easy to assume that based on their sunny synth compositions, they’d make propulsive music for the dance floor set. Part of that is true, but it’s apparent that with About U, they have a lot more to offer than just making peo…
- [On "Big Bad Luv", John Moreland Widens His Scope](https://www.obviatemedia.net/on-big-bad-luv-john-moreland-widens-his-scope.md) - You don’t find John Moreland. He finds you in the sneakiest of ways. Whether it’s a hat tip from Rachel Maddow or an arresting performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Moreland is weaving his way into the public consciousness with gorgeous tales of faith, heartbreak and loss. It’s almost…
- [Vinyl Moon's Wild Approach to Monthly Vinyl Subscriptions](https://www.obviatemedia.net/vinyl-moons-wild-approach-to-monthly-vinyl-subscriptions.md) - Quick heads up: I was provided a complimentary product from Vinyl Moon to review, but all opinions are my own, and no compensation was received. — Vinyl Moon claims to be The Planet’s Only Mixtape Record Monthly. That’s a weird concept – a limited edition record with different mixtapes every month…
- [White Reaper's "The World's Best American Band" is Not Just a Clever Title](https://www.obviatemedia.net/white-reapers-the-worlds-greatest-american-band-is-not-just-a-clever-title.md) - You’d think that a band that titled their album The World’s Best American Band may be getting ahead of themselves. But not every band is White Reaper. They might have just done it. The second album from the Louisville, Kentucky natives somehow takes elements of ear-pleasing 70’s hard rock a-la Van…
- [Khalid's "American Teen" is a View to the Future](https://www.obviatemedia.net/khalids-american-teen-is-a-view-to-the-future.md) - Plenty of musicians can write about the experience of being a teenager, usually long after the time they were one. It’s one of those few experiences that’s almost certainly better examined in hindsight. Almost. That was the case until the release of American Teen by Khalid. Born Khalid Robinson, th…
- [L.A. Takedown's "II" a Journey Worth Taking](https://www.obviatemedia.net/l-a-takedowns-iia-journey-worth-taking.md) - You don’t need to have been to Los Angeles to best experience L.A. Takedown’s latest album, II. It’s an album that’s evocative of a time and place, though it’s one that may or may not exist. The fact that it’s almost entirely instrumental (save for some lightly sprinkled vocoder in its final moment…
- [Restaurant List - 2017](https://www.obviatemedia.net/restaurant-list-2017.md) - Hot Dogs/Sausage Portillo’s– The standard bearer for Chicago style eats since 1963 – Hot dogs and Italian beef are specialties. If you haven’t before, at least once in your life, try a Chicago-style hot dog: yellow mustard, bright green relish, chopped onions, red tomato wedges, a kosher-style pick…
- [Japandroids Return with the Right Album at the Right Time](https://www.obviatemedia.net/japandroids-wild-heartis-the-right-album-at-the-right-time.md) - It’s a weird feeling to be in transition: constantly thinking about where to go next, the thrill of excitement just out of reach, and possibility feeling so endless that it’s overwhelming. What do you do? With Near to the Wild Heart of Life, Japandroids first album in almost five years, that feelin…
- [Favorite Songs of 2016 (And Other Stuff)](https://www.obviatemedia.net/favorite-songs-of-2016-and-other-stuff.md) - My Top Songs of 2016 playlist, favorite 2015 discovery of 2016 and Honorable Mention albums. Heads up, the song list is 80 songs long, so hit shuffle and enjoy! Also, “Home” by Big Sky Hunters Favorite Non-2015 Discovery: Sprained Ankle by Julien Baker Honorable Mention Albums: Carolina Ghost by Ca…
- [Favorite Albums of 2016](https://www.obviatemedia.net/favorite-albums-of-2016.md) - Lots of great music was released in 2016, so much so it was hard to decide what made the list. This year, I also included a list of my favorites ranked 11-20. Favorite songs/moments to follow soon. 1. Modern Baseball – Holy Ghost In a year that seemed anything but normal, a relatively conventional…
- [The Chicago Cubs Won the World Series](https://www.obviatemedia.net/the-chicago-cubs-won-the-world-series.md) - The Chicago Cubs won the World Series. I have been repeating this to myself since Wednesday just to make sure it’s real. It can’t possibly be. But it is. They went to the World Series, were down three games to one, and won. This team won a championship for the first time in 108 years. There are so…
- [Mourning View](https://www.obviatemedia.net/mourning-view.md) - Earlier this week, Morning View by Incubus turned fifteen. While it may not have aged as well as some, it very much played a part in my musical development and remains one of my favorite records. It’s a good one, and one that somehow manages to sound of its time and completely out of it all at once…
- [John K. Samson's "Winter Wheat" is Part Postscript, New Beginning](https://www.obviatemedia.net/john-k-samsons-winter-wheat-is-part-postscript-new-beginning.md) - I dont claim to know the entire Weakerthans catalog, or really know much about John K. Samson, but I can tell you that the release of “Winter Wheat” is an album that hews closest to a new Weakerthans release as we may ever get. Perhaps that’s why he utilizes the band’s former rhythm section through…
- [The Wild Heart](https://www.obviatemedia.net/the-wild-heart.md) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPEhIoKeTg0 This video has been making the rounds lately in large part is that it is an uncredited sample found on “10 d E A T h b R E a s T” by Bon Iver from his new album, “22, A Million”. I can’t stop watching it. While getting prepped for a Rolling Stone photo sh…
- [Every Song Was Right: 10 Years of "Boys and Girls in America"](https://www.obviatemedia.net/every-song-was-right-10-years-of-boys-and-girls-in-america.md) - Today marks the tenth anniversary of Boys and Girls in America by The Hold Steady. Even the casual acquaintance has heard me stump for this album pretty much any occasion I get. But it’s the most meaningful and impactful musical document I know, and quite literally changed the trajectory of my life…
- [Bon Iver's '22, A Million' is Fascinating Transformation](https://www.obviatemedia.net/bon-ivers-22-a-million-is-another-transformation.md) - Today, Bon Iver releases their third album and first in five years, “22, A Million”. Justin Vernon started the project in 2007 pretty much as a guy with an acoustic guitar, and pretty quickly morphed into something that was using a lot of digital manipulation – one song on the follow up EP, “Blood…
- [Amanda Shires's 'Land' Is Her Best Record Yet](https://www.obviatemedia.net/amanda-shiress-land-is-her-best-record-yet.md) - Amanda Shires has been an excellent solo musician in her own right for years, a fact that’s been partially obscured by the runaway success of her husband, singer-songwriter, Jason Isbell. While that fact is never exactly forgotten, her place is often cast as a few things – the fiddle player in Isbe…
- [Lydia Loveless Keeps it Close on "Real"](https://www.obviatemedia.net/lydia-loveless-keeps-it-close-on-real.md) - I saw Lydia Loveless play a street fest this summer and I was wowed by her presence and power. She’s a complete force of nature, synthesizing sorta-country with sorta-punk but maintaining an edge found in only the most classic singer-songwriters. There is not a whole lot like that. That feeling of…
- ["Holy Ghost" Showcases Modern Baseball's Growth](https://www.obviatemedia.net/holy-ghost-showcases-modern-baseballs-growth.md) - Modern Baseball is a great band, but they’re not even as good as they’re going to be. I saw the Philly-based group recently play a show at Empty Bottle in Chicago to a sold-out crowd. The venue was perfect – it’s a bar that Pitchfork recently said was the “last great indie rock dive bar“. It’s inti…
- [Seasons](https://www.obviatemedia.net/seasons.md) - The only album released in Arthur Russell’s lifetime, 1986’s “World of Echo”, is a staggering, ethereal masterpiece. It’s a look at a wildly underrated artist, almost unknown during the time he lived, creating something so overwhelmingly breathtaking that it is hard to believe it is real. It’s a re…
- [On Pablo, Kanye’s State is Cause for Concern](https://www.obviatemedia.net/on-pablo-kanye-is-cause-for-concern.md) - Kanye West – “The Life of Pablo” Kanye West has proven peerless in the hip-hop world. No one can quite do what he can in terms of his creative process. Take any two albums in his catalog – the plastic pop-rap of “Graduation” that dives headfirst into remote, cold AutoTune territory of “808’s and He…
- [Ten Years Ago...This Week?](https://www.obviatemedia.net/ten-years-ago-this-week.md) - Ten years ago last Sunday, February 14, 2006, I started this website. It’s fitting I’m writing this AFTER the anniversary, as nothing with this site ever gets done on time. It’s been a lot of things over time. A hub for my friends to write whatever they want, an ill-conceived web magazine, the home…
- [Favorite Songs of 2015 (And Other Stuff)](https://www.obviatemedia.net/favorite-songs-of-2015.md) - In no particular order after “Maggie”. Enjoy as a Spotify playlist this year! “Pedestrian At Best” – Courtney Barnett “Maggie, I’ve Been Searching For Our Son” – Craig Finn “Need You” – Royal Headache “Depreston” – Courtney Barnett “Hard Luck Kid” – Beach Slang “No Cities To Love” – Sleater-Kinney…
- [Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2015](https://www.obviatemedia.net/top-10-favorite-albums-of-2015.md) - 1. Jamie xx – In Colour 2. Beach Slang – The Things We Do To Find People Like Us In any year but this one, Beach Slang’s aim-for-the-stars would be a no-brainer for number one in my list. But this has not been just any year, and that’s why it’s firmly entrenched in the two spot. There’s something t…
- [Favorite Songs of 2014 (and Other Stuff)](https://www.obviatemedia.net/favorite-songs-of-2014-and-other-stuff.md) - No particular order outside of “Grand Canyon” which is #1. Favorite Songs of 2014 “Grand Canyon” – Drive-By Truckers “Spinners” – The Hold Steady “The Only Thing” – The Hold Steady “i” – Kendrick Lamar “Transgender Dysphoria Blues” – Against Me! “Fuckmylife666” – Against Me! “Black Me Out” – Agains…
- [Live at Winterland - Live Forever](https://www.obviatemedia.net/live-at-winterland-live-forever.md) - I stood outside of Lee’s Palace on a rainy Toronto night in September 2009 chatting with a stranger waiting in line for the same show I was, discussing Bruce Springsteen. I’d mentioned to him I’d seen him and the E Street Band before and then he started talking about the shows he’d seen and how he…
- [On new album, The Hold Steady bare their "Teeth"](https://www.obviatemedia.net/on-new-album-the-hold-steady-bare-their-teeth.md) - The Hold Steady – Teeth Dreams (Positive Jams/Washington Square) I thought about how to best collect my thoughts on Teeth Dreams, the sixth album by The Hold Steady, for several weeks after I first heard it. I’m intrinsically tied to the band in more ways than I can articulate, so giving anything l…
- [Getting Up Seems Impossibly Grand](https://www.obviatemedia.net/getting-up-seems-impossibly-grand.md) - With the year in its final days, I’m giving some last thoughts to all of the amazing stuff I’ve been able to do this year. I saw the Rolling Stones. Ate amazing food. Went to more live professional wrestling shows than I’d like to admit to. I even learned to appreciate certain types of mayonnaise.…
- [Top Albums and Songs of 2013](https://www.obviatemedia.net/top-albums-and-songs-of-2013.md) - Without further adieu, here’s my top ten favorite albums of this year (in order), and then my favorite songs of the year (in no particular order). Top Albums of 2013: 1. Jason Isbell – Southeastern The story goes like this: Former Drive-By Trucker who regularly outshines his peers with his contribu…
- [Haim - The Wire](https://www.obviatemedia.net/i-love-this-song-you-should-too.md) - This song has been on constant repeat for me all week. I can’t get enough of it. Their debut album “Days All Gone” is due September 30th. Enjoy!
- [The Mountain Goats - Transcendental Youth](https://www.obviatemedia.net/the-mountain-goats-transcendental-youth.md) - The Mountain Goats – Transcendental Youth John Darnielle can be a frustrating dude. The highs are high: 2005’s “The Sunset Tree”stands tall as a bonafide masterpiece, but the lows are just as low – try the heavy handed 2009’s “The Life of the World to Come” if you’re curious. It seems that every ot…
- [The Men - Open Your Heart](https://www.obviatemedia.net/the-men-open-your-heart.md) - The Men – Open Your Heart There’s something special about a group that entirely shifts their sound from one record to another. Brooklyn-based The Men are one of those bands. With their new record, Open Your Heart, it’s apparent that it’s miles away from 2010’s Immaculada and last year’s Leave Home…
- [For Lucero, It's Not Work](https://www.obviatemedia.net/with-lucero-its-not-work.md) - Lucero – Women & Work Lucero are on a hot streak. While they’ve made dependable records with tracks that absolutely slay, it wasn’t until 2009’s 1372 Overton Park did they create an album that fully combined their rough-hewn songcraft with hooks that last for days. Punctuated by Memphis horns and B…
- [Top 10 Albums of 2011](https://www.obviatemedia.net/top-10-albums-of-2011.md) - Top Ten Albums of 2011 1. David Comes to Life – Fucked Up 2. Killing The Darlings – Pearl and the Beard 3. Bon Iver – Bon Iver 4. Wild Flag – Wild Flag 5. Long Live All Of Us – Glossary 6. Strange Mercy – St. Vincent 7. The King is Dead – The Decemberists 8. Civilian – Wye Oak 9. Nine Types of Ligh…
- [A New Renaissance City](https://www.obviatemedia.net/new-renaissance-city.md) - Detroit is a forgotten city. While it was victim to the urban decay and abandoned structures that is so often written about, it didn’t, based on appearance alone, seem all that worse than what the rest of this country looks like these days, with shuttered storefronts and high unemployment. But some…
- [Kings Without a Crown](https://www.obviatemedia.net/kings-without-a-crown.md) - Jay-Z and Kanye West’s collaborative album as “The Throne” will survive buoyed on the lofty expectations and reputations of the people that made it. Watch The Throne is not a good album. In fact, it’s not a halfway decent album. It’s microwaved hip-hop for an audience that expects something oven-ba…
- [Somewhere Between The Sleeves](https://www.obviatemedia.net/somewhere-between-the-sleeves.md) - “Horses” is not the best record Patti Smith has ever made. It’s one of rock and roll’s best opening acts, but it’s dwarfed her career with it’s gigantism. That album cover, those opening lines. Great moments, sure, but not everything. “Radio Ethiopia”, her 1976 follow-up, is almost never mentioned.…
- [Pearl and the Beard: The obviate media Interview](https://www.obviatemedia.net/pearl-and-the-beard-the-obviate-media-interview.md) - Unless you’ve been privy to their touring in the past few years, primarily over the east coast, midwest, and at this year’s South By Southwest, chances are you haven’t heard of Pearl and the Beard. Comprised of percussionist Jocelyn Mackenzie, cellist Emily Hope Price and guitarist Jeremy Styles, t…
- [Still, I'm Gonna Miss You](https://www.obviatemedia.net/still-gonna-you.md) - My parents had to put Ruby down today. In June, she would have been fourteen. She most likely was a Collie – German Shepard – Golden Retriever mix. We didn’t get her from a breeder or an animal shelter, so it’s impossible to know. We didn’t find her. She found us. While my dad was out working on hi…
- [Ellis Island and Lady Liberty](https://www.obviatemedia.net/test.md) - Took these photos last weekend at Ellis Island. I’m really just posting them to test out the Lightbox feature we’ve got rolling on the site now. Enjoy!
- ['The King of Limbs' is a stretch](https://www.obviatemedia.net/the-king-of-limbs-is-a-stretch.md) - Few rock and roll bands these days elicit a global response to their every move. Sure, the world has progenitors like Lady Gaga, but there’s not a collective that captures our imagination these days. Except for one. Radiohead. Through the years, they’ve gone from alt-rock afterthoughts to oh-no-may…
- [Zeroing in on Heads Up Display](https://www.obviatemedia.net/zeroing-in-on-heads-up-display.md) - We’re not so far away from the time where technology didn’t dictate every second of every day life. Listening to Heads Up Display’s eponymous album, it’s a reminder of when the world was just a little less complicated. This record bleeds familiarity in the squall of the guitars, wholehearted vocals…
- [Top 10 Albums of 2010](https://www.obviatemedia.net/top-10-albums-of-2010.md) - I stuck strictly to albums and omitted late additions (things I started to listen to after other lists came out). Therefore, Pearl and the Beard’s Black Vessel EP and other 2010 discs did not qualify. 10. River City Extension – And The Unmistakable Man I’m tentative at putting this at the ten slot.…
- [Jim Joe. Jim Joe!](https://www.obviatemedia.net/jim-joe-jim-joe.md) - When I visited in May in the run up to moving here, I spotted this tag on a garbage can in Greenpoint. Womp Womp! Since then, I’ve seen Jim Joe’s handiwork everywhere, and I’ve tried to capture it every time I can. So, who is Jim Joe, you ask? According to this link at Subway Art Blog, he’s “…a gra…
- [Up "All Night" with Houses](https://www.obviatemedia.net/up-all-night-with-houses.md) - Imagine losing your job without any idea of what to do next. Well, other than looking for another job. There’s also that romantic idea of moving somewhere tropical, living off the grid and enjoying what’s around you. It’s fun, but not something that’s easy to do with bills and responsibilities in t…
- [Eddie Argos: The obviate media Interview](https://www.obviatemedia.net/eddie-argos-the-obviate-media-interview.md) - Interview by Brendan Hilliard Transcription assistance by Mike Ross Eddie Argos and Dyan Valdes of Everybody Was in the French Resistance…Now! Eddie Argos, the frontman known best for the three albums with his band Art Brut, has returned with another project titled Everybody Was in the French Resis…
- [Six shows, Five days, One car](https://www.obviatemedia.net/1827.md) - Things are a little less cloudy and my ears have stopped ringing. It turns out the pain I was experiencing was actually a developing ear infection and it’s slowed me down considerably until I went to the doctor and got some nifty antibiotics. I’m just going to ramble here, so if that’s not what you…
- [Chris Stringer's Eternal Mixtape](https://www.obviatemedia.net/chris-stringers-eternal-mixtape.md) - Okay, this is a bit long. Partly because out of the thousands of songs that mean stuff to me, I’ve picked the ones with the most interesting stories – well, I think so anyway. Some of them are funny; some of them broke my heart to tell. But these are the songs I carefully chose to map some really i…
- [Hannah Smart's Eternal Mixtape](https://www.obviatemedia.net/hannah-smarts-eternal-mixtape.md) - When I entered into this project, I had no idea just how much work would have to go into it to make it perfect. This mixtape does not work when listened to in this order, but I decided to go with chronological ordering to show you just how much I have changed, my music has changed and how the two r…
- [Kelsey Pierson's Eternal Mixtape](https://www.obviatemedia.net/kelsey-piersons-eternal-mixtape.md) - When the task was imposed of writing a paragraph about every song that’s ever mattered to me, I thought “oh, that’s gonna be easy.” It isn’t. And as others have said, this project will never been finished, since music is always changing, and my tastes will always be moving forward. But it’s wonderf…
- [Andy Hess's Eternal Mixtape](https://www.obviatemedia.net/andy-hesss-eternal-mixtape.md) - When I first read about this mix tape project I was hesitant to submit something. I have a pretty embarrassing music history. It’s grounded in Top 40 and classic rock formats, but the songs I picked for this were ones that I remember listening to until the magnetic tape broke, CD scratched or I acc…
- [Amy Powell's Eternal Mixtape](https://www.obviatemedia.net/amy-powells-eternal-mixtape.md) - MY PARENTS – Roots Family and Friends at the Ridge – Copper Kettle You can hear the folks on this recording claiming that it is an old folk song, but it is usually credited to Albert Frank Beddoe and was popularized by Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. I think this is a late ‘60s recording of my mother, my…
- [Rich Tarbell's Eternal Mixtape](https://www.obviatemedia.net/rich-tarbells-eternal-mixtape.md) - :: 88 lines about 44 bands :: carroll was a catholic boy he held out until the bitter end exene was a different type she’s the one who put it in violent femmes sand about black girls never been afraid of a girl like that david lowery painted pictures sitting down like the buddhists sat stipe was an…
- [Camie Heller's Eternal Mixtape](https://www.obviatemedia.net/camie-hellers-eternal-mixtape.md) - There is no recognizable order to this list whatsoever. Thriller – Michael Jackson The twelve top singers of the school… something I wanted to be a part of since making it to MSHS. The show choir, or Choraliers as it is called was the top of the performing arts in my high school. If you made that g…
- [John Nagle's Eternal Mixtape](https://www.obviatemedia.net/john-nagles-eternal-mixtape.md) - “The Best Mixtape I Have” George Harrison: “I Got My Mind Set On You” My parents got MTV and a VCR around the same time. When my dad saw a video he liked, he taped it. “I Got My Mind Set on You” was the first video on the tape, and the first music video I ever saw. I didn’t know anything about song…
- [Brendan Hilliard's Eternal Mixtape](https://www.obviatemedia.net/brendan-hilliards-eternal-mixtape.md) - I’m not quite comfortable with the fact that the work for this project is done. I’ve learned that it’s always going to remain unfinished, despite my best efforts. There are still songs out there that I have yet to hear. There’s still those songs that I’ve heard and have yet found a meaning for. Tha…
- [The VISUAL Eternal Mixtape](https://www.obviatemedia.net/the-visual-eternal-mixtape.md) - Check out this amazing logo by Ashley Elander for The Eternal Mixtape Project! Still in the dark? The rules and place to enter are here.
- [Young Hearts Spark Fire (Part III)](https://www.obviatemedia.net/young-hearts-spark-fire-part-iii.md) - Entries logged on Saturday, January 30, 2010 6:36 PM PST – Seattle, Washington ——— Friday, January 29, 2010 We left for Seattle late Friday morning in hopes of pretty much having most of the day to waste. Our residence for the next few days was to be Hotel Max, a sister hotel of Hotel de Luxe. Thin…
- [The Eternal Mixtape Project](https://www.obviatemedia.net/the-eternal-mixtape-project.md) - This is a project that I have been working on intermittently for years. Now, it’s something I want to put in action. It’s called The Eternal Mixtape Project. From when I was in elementary school up until the eighth grade, I didn’t have much use for music. However, when I got “Experience Hendrix: Th…
- [The Boys are Leaving Town (or Part II)](https://www.obviatemedia.net/the-boys-are-leaving-town-or-part-ii.md) - Monday, January 25, 2010 10:26 AM PT – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada This is easily the most gorgeous place I’ve ever seen in my life. Nothing can beat it. The Sea To Sky highway contains the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever experienced. It makes you appreciate things in an entirely different…
- [Rockers East Vancouver...and a bunch of other places](https://www.obviatemedia.net/rockers-east-vancouver-and-a-bunch-of-other-places.md) - I recently returned from a two week, four city trip out west. I spent time primarily in Vancouver, British Columbia, Seattle, Portland and Minneapolis. In order to get there, I took an Amtrak train, since I don’t generally prefer to fly. Also, because it’s awesome. Here are the first few days of my…
- [St. Vincent at Metro, 2/18/10](https://www.obviatemedia.net/st-vincent-at-metro-21810.md) - St. Vincent is for lovers. Or, that’s what it seemed like Thursday night Metro, a post-Valentine’s smattering of pairs, tall and short, black and white, fat and skinny. To the guy behind me: I swear, if I overhear you again telling the obviously bored chick you’re with about how awesome your music…
- [The End of the Beginning](https://www.obviatemedia.net/the-end-of-the-beginning.md) - This is a brand new decade. It can’t be any newer. The one that ended yesterday seemed to go at a traumatically brisk pace. The 1990s seemed to exist way longer than they actually were. This, in part because there was a mélange of cultural moments, styles and ideas that shaped each year and still m…
- [2009](https://www.obviatemedia.net/2009.md) - I felt like Lewis and Clark traveling in a sedan caravan. I suppose what I remember most about my first excursion this year was that endless stretch of Ohio that bleeds into Pennsylvania – the precipice between the hills that age and become mountains when you cross the border. It’s like watching th…
- [Higher and Higher ](https://www.obviatemedia.net/higher-and-higher.md) - I’ve been to shows, but not THAT show. Sure, I could expound forever on the trope of a Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band show being likened to a religious experience, but I won’t because I feel I can do better than that. Forget it. Who am I kidding? If I didn’t before last night, I BELIEVE no…
- [These Projectors Need Cleaning](https://www.obviatemedia.net/these-projectors-need-cleaning.md) - Dirty Projectors at Bottom Lounge, Friday, November 13, 2009 Dirty Projectors’s Friday night show at Bottom Lounge was a definite contrast to the other two bands we’ve seen in the past few days. John Darnielle and his Mountain Goats teeter on the line between celebratory and morose, and Art Brut re…
- [A Tale of Two Rock Shows](https://www.obviatemedia.net/a-tale-of-two-rock-shows.md) - The Mountain Goats, Thursday, November 5, 2009 at Metro The Mountain Goats played to a mostly packed crowd at Metro last Thursday. John Darnielle and the lineup consisting of bassist Peter Hughes and drummer Jon Wurster leaned copiously on last month’s release of The Life of the World To Come, a re…
- [Tad Kubler: The obviate media Interview](https://www.obviatemedia.net/tad-kubler-the-obviate-media-interview.md) - Interview by Brendan Hilliard Editorial Assistance by John Nagle obviate spoke to The Hold Steady’s Tad Kubler last week just as the band was about to play their first-ever Alaskan tour and first full-scale tour of Canada. The band is currently winding down promotion and touring of 2008’s Stay Posi…
- [The Gaslight Anthem @ Double Door 8/8/09](https://www.obviatemedia.net/the-gaslight-anthem-double-door-8809.md) - Out in a sea of Gaslight Anthem fans – especially those at the Double Door Saturday evening – there’s a meshing of two very distinct types of music fans. In one corner, there’s the punk rock fans – kids who get their kicks from groups like Alkaline Trio, Against Me!, and the Lawrence Arms. Those ba…
- [Portrait of the Author as a 10-year-old](https://www.obviatemedia.net/portrait-of-the-author-as-a-10-year-old.md) - After years of searching, I’ve found the Holy Grail of my personal writings. It’s the ‘Goosebumps’ Journal I wrote in from 1996-1997. I initially thought it was lost to the sands of time. I know I hadn’t thrown it away, but I didn’t know where I put it either. Walking on to the loft where we keep m…
- [Buses, Trains and Automobiles](https://www.obviatemedia.net/buses-trains-and-automobiles.md) - I’m always out of town now. I’m constantly documenting where I’m going and what I’m doing when I’m out of town, but never how I get there. Since I turned twenty-one, I have developed an aversion to flying. I can’t tell you why, exactly – but if I don’t have to fly anywhere, I won’t do it. So I reso…
- [Around The World In Three Days (Spread Apart by Three Weeks)](https://www.obviatemedia.net/around-the-world-in-three-days-spread-apart-by-three-weeks.md) - I get asked often “Why do you keep going to Hold Steady shows?” After thirty-two of them since October of 2006 – I can tell you it has a lot to do with the community of people surrounding the band. Throughout the years and in my travels, I’ve met so many great people from all walks of life – people…
- [Jason Anderson: The obviate media Interview](https://www.obviatemedia.net/jason-anderson-the-obviate-media-interview.md) - Very few musicians can match the pure joy that emanates from Jason Anderson. If you are unfamiliar, you probably should watch this video before you read the following interview. The prolific (and incredibly gracious) singer-songwriter took some time out of his day to chat with obviate. ——— obviate…
- [Dinosaur Jr. at Otto's - DeKalb, IL 4/11/09](https://www.obviatemedia.net/dinosaur-jr-at-ottos-dekalb-il-41109.md) - Dinosaur Jr.’s choice to play DeKalb, Illinois, a town 65 miles west of Chicago was a weird one. Then again, Dinosaur Jr. is a weird band. In 2005, the capricious ‘classic’ lineup of the band that fell apart shortly after the release of 1988’s Bug reunited to much fanfare. The legendary feud betwee…
- [The Greatest Spectacle In Sports Entertainment and A Dream Come True](https://www.obviatemedia.net/the-greatest-spectacle-in-sports-entertainment-and-a-dream-come-true.md) - If you were a guy growing up in the 1990’s, there’s a pretty good chance you were a fan of professional wrestling. Admit it. There’s something in all our DNA that attracted us to this flashy, ridiculous form of entertainment that mixes athleticism with soap opera and violence. No matter how book sm…

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