You know how the music you liked as a teenager sticks with you, and you remain a fan for life? Those songs take you back to a simpler time when you were discovering your tastes and personality, separate from your parents,’ for the first time. What I’m saying is…

Radiohead. STAFF file photo. Usually this column is the top five songs of each year. Sometimes, in an especially good year, I bend that and make it the top 10. This week has nine. The reasons for this are threefold: First, the longlist has 23 songs on it and…

We’ve reached 1991 on our quest to list the best five (or more!) songs released each year. And guess what—1991 is one of the best years in modern music. Between Metallica’s eponymous black album and Nirvana’s groundbreaking Nevermind, that was two spots right off the top. And neither of the other…

Baby Nirvana Good news! We’ve made it to the ’90s in RIFF Rewind. OK, yeah, it’s still technically 1989. But any list that includes Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails and Faith No More’s “Epic” is basically the ’90s, right? In fact, I was surprised by the latter two of those…

The Sonics, Courtesy. Do you know The Sonics? How about Nirvana? The Cramps? Pearl Jam? The White Stripes? All of those other artists know the Sonics and would likely not exist if it were not for their influence. The seminal, and possibly first, garage band has returned from a…