Author Archives: Daniel J. Willis
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REWIND: An American reviews the would-be Eurovision 2020 entries, Part 2
Daði og Gagnamagnið. Courtesy. It’s time for Part 2 of an epic American analysis of the would-be contestants in the canceled Eurovision 2020 competition! The good news is there’s nobody as profoundly bad as Russia in this set. And in fact, Iceland is in here, and it always brings…
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ALBUM REVIEW: Thomas ‘Diplo’ Wesley gets country-adjacent with ‘Snake Oil’
It may have surprised you to hear that Diplo, best known as an EDM DJ, was releasing a country album. Well… it turns out he didn’t; not really. Diplo Presents: Thomas Wesley. Chapter 1: Snake Oil Diplo Mad Decent, May 29 As the controversy surrounding the removal of Lil…
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REWIND: An American reviews the would-be Eurovision 2020 entries, Part 1
Comrade Putin wishes Dear Leader a happy birthday. Also, Russia’s Little Big sings about numbers in Spanish for “Eurovision.” Almost exactly a year ago I rated the 10 “Eurovision” 2019 finalists. I did not like them. Eurovision fans, in turn, did not like me for criticizing them, and I…
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REWIND: Flashback to turn-of-the-millennium electronica with Fatboy Slim and Moby
Moby, Playing. Moby had a new album come out on Friday, and my review… well, let’s say I really liked the first seven songs. I consider it a mixed review since I was very complimentary about that early set of tracks but was not as fond as three of…
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INTERVIEW: Foreigner’s Michael Bluestein passes the time with original song, beer
Foreigner’s Michael Bluestein. Courtesy: Karsten Staiger. Millions of people around the world are stuck at home due to coronavirus, sometimes passing the time by starting a podcast or recording a song for YouTube. But not all of them are a member of a band that’s sold 80 million albums…
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ALBUM REVIEW: Moby’s ‘All Visible Objects’ is a satisfying throwback with a confusing ending
Most of All Visible Objects, the new album by Moby, is a very good throwback electronic dance album. The rest is a maudlin EP of similar-sounding piano ballads. Released separately, they would each be a success for their respective audiences. Unfortunately, mashed together into one album, each undercuts the…
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REWIND: You can’t see your mom for Mother’s Day, so listen to these celebrities’ moms
Diana Ross in 1976. Tomorrow is Mother’s Day. Unless you aren’t reading this on the day it published, in which case heads up, you missed Mother’s Day. This is a weird one for a couple reasons. First, odds are pretty good you can’t actually spend it with your mother.…
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ALBUM REVIEW: I Break Horses provides the soundtrack of our time with ‘Warnings’
Without context or backstory it would be easy to assume Maria Lindén wrote Warnings, the third album by I Break Horses, specifically during the coronavirus lockdown as a soundtrack for these bizarre times. Warnings I Break Horses Bella Union, May 8 It wasn’t, of course. In fact, the album…
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REWIND: Celebrate International Workers’ Day by joining a union
Pete Seeger, photographed in 1964 at a BBC performance, wanted to recruited you. Last year, I opened my International Workers’ Day column by making snarky jokes about the United States not participating and instead opting to have our own Labor Day. All of which I still stand by. Well,…
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REWIND: In honor of Earth Day, some songs about why we need it
All’s not fine on Earth Day 2020. This past week we celebrated Earth Day on Wednesday and Arbor Day on Friday, which is ironic because we weren’t allowed to go outside. Both days were created in the ’70s to promote environmentalism as science began to realize we were destroying…
