unpopular music
Thank You, R.E.M.
They weren’t my first favorite band—that honor goes to Queen, and next, the Police—but R.E.M. certainly had the biggest impact on me, from high school into adulthood. How did I find out about them? Rolling Stone magazine, probably. I know I bought the second album, Reckoning, first. I was 15 years old and music was […]
Daniel Johnston Day
Yesterday I wore my Daniel Johnston t-shirt. No special reason; it was near the top of my t-shirt drawer. (T-shirt drawer #1, anyway. I have a lot of t-shirts.) I first learned of Daniel Johnston when I was a college DJ at Pittsburgh’s WRCT. The station had a recording of Daniel doing an impromptu over-the-phone […]
His Name Is Earl
This wasn’t my preferred train car, but it gave me extra time to work on my material. For there at the end of the platform was the fluorescent-vest-wearing, long-blond-hair-under-a-hat Fist Bump Guy. Most days when I get off the train at Christopher Street, he’s standing there. He is employed by the transit authority though I […]
Joke for Indie-Rock Geeks Only
Oh sure, as soon as Grant McLennan drops dead, Robert Forster has to totally sell out.

Jack Silbert, curator