Office Culture Sparkle on the Grooving, Moody ‘Big Time Things’
Office Culture sing of love, sadness, and city life on Big Time Things, buoyed by a four-piece combination that locks in with a unique brand of art-pop.
Chris Ingalls
Chris is a Massachusetts native who spent seven years as a broadcast journalist in the U.S. Navy, serving in overseas locations such as Keflavik, Iceland and the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. He was also a videotape editor for a CBS affiliate TV station, a newspaper editor at a military public affairs office in Naples, Italy, and spent 14 years as a videographer for a Boston-area cancer research institute. He was born in 1969 and has been a rabid music fan since at least 1970, thanks to his three older siblings. A PopMatters writer since 2016 and a contributing editor since 2019, Chris also contributes to the experimental music website Tome to the Weather Machine and is on Twitter @Ingalls1969. He lives in the leafy suburbs outside of Boston with his wife, son, hyperactive dog and ornery cat.
‘Think Twice’ Is Savoir Faire’s Irresistible, Jazz-Infused Take on the Big Issues
Savoir Faire’s three-song EP Think Twice goes a long way in demonstrating her penchant for combining topical lyrics with deeply felt, retro-themed jazz and pop.
Mr. Bad Example: 10 Underappreciated Warren Zevon Songs
We unearth 10 Warren Zevon songs from the second half of his career that deserve to be placed among his famous songs like “Werewolves of London”.
Way Up on Rehab Mountain: Warren Zevon’s ‘Sentimental Hygiene’ at 35
In 1987, a clean and sober Warren Zevon bounced back from a five-year recording hiatus to make one of the best albums of his career with Sentimental Hygiene.
Nick Storring Creates an Ensemble Within a Piano on ‘Music from Wéi 成为’
Music from Wéi 成为 is an affirmation of Nick Storring’s status as one of the most creative and exciting experimental artists working today.
‘Confetti in a Coalmine’ Is Matt DeMello’s Joyful Explosion Amidst a World Falling Apart
Experimentalist Matt DeMello throws his ample talents and wide-ranging tastes into a blender for ‘Confetti in a Coalmine’ which is full of chaotic, dense mirth.
New Weds and Nearly-Deads: 10 Under-Appreciated Elvis Costello Albums
While many of Elvis Costello’s albums are regularly heralded as masterpieces, these ten albums don’t get nearly the love they deserve.
Love and Unhappiness Go Arm in Arm: Elvis Costello’s ‘Imperial Bedroom’ at 40
Elvis Costello’s Imperial Bedroom is a shape-shifting masterpiece of chamber-pop, folk, bursts of punk rage, Beatlesesque earworms, jazz-leaning future standards, and bits of pysch rock.
Field Guides Mine Ethereal, Tuneful Territory on the Striking ‘Ginkgo’
Field Guides’ Ginkgo derives from a profoundly organic, indie-folk space that encourages a stream of consciousness and unique melodic lines seemingly plucked out of thin air.
Thomas Dollbaum Launches Impressive Debut with Folky, Textured ‘Wellswood’
New Orleans singer-songwriter Thomas Dollbaum fuses vivid lyric imagery with eclectic musical choices on his impressive debut album, Wellswood.
Jessica Pavone’s ‘…of Late’ Is a Bold, Tense Contemporary String Ensemble Composition
Composer and violist Jessica Pavone continues to explore the tactile and sensorial experience of music as a vibration-based medium on ...of Late.
Sharon Van Etten Carries the Weight of the World on ‘We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong’
Sharon Van Etten grapples with love and parenthood in pandemic times in the ten deeply felt songs on We’ve Been Going About This All Wrong.
