Category Archives: the pharmacy of dr spin

by Dr. Spin

After playing the role of sideman and producer for nearly a decade, Jellyfish keyboardist and songwriter Roger Joseph Manning released his solo debut in 2006. This album, The Land of Pure Imagination, showed up in the mailbox early in 2008, probably the result of a somewhat irresponsible Amazon indulgence. Of any of the releases by Jellyfish members after their breakup, it had the clearest relationship to the bittersweet, almost tragic nostalgia that that the band’s best work evoked. There were several songs that displayed his significant contribution to the Jellyfish formula, and these were real highlights for me back when I first got The Land of Pure Imagination. land yourself some pure at…

by Dr. Spin

Jason Falkner’s solo debut solidified him as a power pop icon in my book, and his relatively marginal status turned me into a staunch advocate of his work. It’s worth mentioning here that Falkner was also a contributing member of The Grays, and it was around this point in the timeline that I obtained my first copy of their singular release Ro Sham Bo. Creating a family tree based on the comings and goings of this power pop supergroup would also have some interesting results, but it would prohibitively widen the scope of this particular project. I have already dedicated a post to Ro Sham Bo that I am still quite fond of, but I think it would be irresponsible not to directly mention The Grays in any discussion related to Jellyfish and Jason Falkner. .find the fortune of mercurial at the pharmacy

by Dr. Spin

The package arrived at just the right time. The last time I opened my mailbox before I turned in the key to the apartment office, it bore an Amazon order that included Tame Impala’s Lonerism. I deemed it auspicious: new house, new music. The first listen, however, occurred when I was on my hands and knees putting the first coat of grout sealant on between the bathroom tiles. Hardly ideal.

Despite this humble introduction, the albums hyperreal homage to psychedelia immediately grabbed my attention and has evolved into an indispensable favorite... got to the Pharmacy for  more

by Dr. Spin

Over the course of this year, my monthly roundups have evolved into those of an almost “normal” blogger. My usual modus operandi is to write about music, framing reviews on personal experience.  For me, however, everyday experience is interwoven with music, so in my book, periodically taking some space to jot down some generalized thoughts from the month to go along with the playlist doesn’t seem too out of bounds. Reader response has been pretty positive on these posts, though, so I assume that most of my readers don’t mind the indulgence too much.  In truth, the blog’s success over the course of this year has exceeded my expectations.  Thanks for that...give thanks and alms at the pharmacy

by Dr. Spin

Although I was not keeping close track of my favorite albums a couple of years ago, I feel pretty confident in saying that Never Better from P.O.S. was my album of the year from 2009. That was a time of incredible flux for me, when I was trying to make life decisions that I knew would have far-reaching effects.  I found the realistic themes of Never Better to be particularly uplifting as I sorted through them all.  I owe P.O.S. for providing some refuge during that time, so I really wanted to give We Don’t Even Live Here a fair shake…shake it up and twist the baby over at the pharmacy

by Dr. Spin

I admit to having something of a sugar addiction. Although I can generally manage on a regular basis, the holiday season is a bit more difficult to navigate. In addition, this year I have been trying to shield my daughter from the onslaught of refined sugar as it makes the rounds  My grandmother, however, her great-grandmother, has a more insidious agenda...inside gender over at the Pharm…

by Dr. Spin

This month, the world lost two incredible and historically important musicians. Doubtlessly, I have nothing but love and respect for the music and life of Ravi Shankar, but Dave Brubeck was an important personal influence. By extension, Brubeck influenced virtually every student to whom I have had the pleasure of teaching jazz.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet’s unlikely hit Take 5 (written by saxophonist Paul Desmond) from their 1959 album Time Out is a rare beast in the jazz realm. Its infectious melody, which effortlessly flowed over a seemingly un-swingable time signature, allowed the tune to cross over into mainstream popularity. Hiding complexity within accessibility is a surefire way for a song to earn my adoration, so Take 5 had huge appeal...take five over at the Pharmacy

by Dr. Spin

For the majority of 2012, there has been an indie buzz surrounding Death Grips, but it wasn’t until the recent surreptitious release of their third album No Love Deep Web that I took notice. I say surreptitious because this album was not printed on a CD, nor was its tracklist available on ITunes. It was, in actuality, to be postponed by their record company and released next year.

Death Grips, however, had been promising their growing fanbase that the album would be released in 2012, so in response, they simply posted the entire album to the web (with a rather shocking album cover, I might add) without the consent of their record company. There were subsequent heated exchanges between the two entities, most of which the band made public, and in the end, their unapologetic act of defiance against the conventions of commodity got them dropped.  Drop in or drop out at the Pharamacy…