The third installment of A Retrospective, this time the focus is on 2002. The year of rebuilding, so to speak. It was the year I discovered Cider Jack (and did so plentifully) at the local Pullman bar Rico’s, and we all would rehearse Bill Brasky skits (from the SNL spots, and made up on the spot) as twenty feet away the university jazz combo performed excellent renditions of Van Morrison’s “Moondance” and various Motown favorites. As we see every year, 2002 saw several real great releases. …

The second installment of A Retrospective, in which I recap my favorite albums released from 2000 to 2008, this time: 2001. Wrought with turmoil and watching a life fall apart as so many others were having similar experiences but in a different manner; that was 2001 for you. The year I turned 21 (hence the wine bottle photo above). A year that lives in infamy. Young or old, we all seemed to grow up that year. Music, too seemed to progress in ways unthought, even …

Longtime fans of Sweden’s pop music scene will recognize the Club 8 name as belonging to one of Labrador Record‘s most appreciated artists. The duo of Johan Angergård and Karolina Komstedt have been making music under the moniker since the mid 90s, and have released six full-length LPs. What sets this new album apart, however, is that Angergård will not produce it — and that’s a first for the band. Instead, Jari Haapalainen (Peter Bjorn & John, Camera Obscura, The Concretes) will be the producer.

I’m always wary of songs that have the word “Jesus” in the title. Growing up, my family attended church only a handful of times and the reasoning behind it was that we didn’t like to be preached to. It’s not that we didn’t believe anything – a common misconception of the non-believer or agnostic. It’s just that we have our own idea of what higher power means, whatever that may be.