Email Author Ryan Foley

2011 Stories by Ryan Foley

• In Which Three Young Boys Weigh in on the Best Songs of 2011

  published Dec 20, 2011

  The year is drawing to a close, which means it's time for us music writers to puff out our chests -- those chests emblazoned with big red "C's" for "critic" -- and be extra insular, bombastic, and pis... More >>

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  Metallica's Top 5 Most Alienating, Hate-Inducing Actions

  published Dec 09, 2011

  "Metallica loves to be hated," James Hetfield told Playboy in a 2001 interview. The group's detractors would argue that over the years, Hetfield and the boys have done a more than capable job of culti... More >>

• Sad But True: How the Black Album Both Made and Ruined Metallica

  published Dec 06, 2011

  See more of our Metallica Week coverage: Metallica Kicks off Its 30th Anniversary Week with Notable Guests, Rare Songs, and Lots of Talking Can't Make It to Metallica's 30th Anniversary Concertsr ... More >>

• Learning to Deal With the Great Music Deluge

  published Dec 06, 2011

  Two years ago, Broken Social Scene's Charles Spearin released The Happiness Project, an experimental album that brought together concepts associated with field recordings, sociology, jazz, and phonet... More >>

• What Do You Do If Your Kid Doesn't Like Kissr

  published Nov 22, 2011

  Parents are continually influencing various aspects of their child's character development. You know, important things, like the growth of social competence and self-esteem, as well as how frequently... More >>

• Forget Iron Maiden for Babies, or Mozart -- Raymond Scott Still Has the Best Lullaby Record

  published Nov 08, 2011

  Last night, as I put our 23-month-old twins to bed and flipped on A Child's Gift of Lullabies, or Sleepytime Lullabies, or Sing Me to Sleep, or Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Fat Joe, or Baby's ... More >>

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  Halloween Laughs: The Top 5 Cheesiest Songs From Horror Movie Soundtracks

  published Oct 28, 2011

  In a recent piece for the UK Guardian, Stephen Thrower discussed the dramatic function of a good horror movie soundtrack. Citing examples like the themes from Halloweenand The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,... More >>

• Chasing Trains (and a Sense of Belonging) with Son House, Charlie Patton, and the Country Blues

  published Oct 25, 2011

  I've come to understand that if you geek out over particle acceleration or cryobiology or creating special powders from a pig's bladder for the purpose of re-growing fingertips, then you're spared fro... More >>

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  Five Smiths Lyrics That Would Make Immortal (and Slightly Embarrassing) Yearbook Quotes

  published Oct 18, 2011

  That the Internet hasn't blessed us with a Smiths Yearbook Quote Generator is altogether unforgivable. Knowing that high school seniors are being denied the opportunity to punch in their emotional sta... More >>

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  Deconstructing Adele's Sanity-Preserving Video for "Someone Like You"

  published Oct 11, 2011

  It's humiliating to be imparted a thuddingly obvious life lesson by an individual 14 years your junior. They've circumvented the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom. In the new video for her mas... More >>

• On the 20th Anniversary of Miles Davis' Death, Five Funny Stories About Him You Maybe Shouldn't Believe

  published Sep 28, 2011

  John Szwed's 2002 biography of jazz demigod Miles Davis, So What: The Life of Miles Davis, opens with an acquaintance sharing a hysterically funny yet highly improbable anecdote regarding the trumpet... More >>

• Soundtracking a Soul-Cleansing Trip to Ireland

  published Sep 27, 2011

  In the Irish town of Recess, there is a monument that proclaims: "On this site in 1897 nothing happened." I've never visited Recess during what has essentially become biennial excursions to Ireland;... More >>

• Five Amazing Grunge Artifacts That Time (and You) Forgot

  published Sep 27, 2011

  You stopped scrawling "World Domination" on the backs of school notebooks. You swapped your Pearl Jam Christmas singles for some Warp Records vinyl when you were graciously informed that this was the... More >>

• Nostalgia and the Curious Collector of 78 RPM Children's Records

  published Sep 13, 2011

  As I get older, nostalgia has become an adversary I frequently want to bind with rope, coat in honey, and leave to the insects. "Guess what / nostalgia sucks," goes that NOFX song. Blunt, yet astute. ... More >>

• On the Unifying Power of Angry 9/11 Songs: "It's Like Attending a Memorial"

  published Sep 09, 2011

  It's a scene that's played out innumerable times since 2002 -- and with the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11 here, it will now be executed with even more patriotic fervor and bicep-flexing machismo. Beho... More >>

• 10 Belligerent Songs That Will Scare Children into Leaving You Alone

  published Aug 30, 2011

  In Swann's Way, Marcel Proust spends roughly 5,000 words grousing about how calamitous insomnia can be. One can only imagine how much more monstrously prodigious and exhausting this rant would have be... More >>

• Billy Joel's Roadmap to Success: Five Pieces of Advice He Never Gave, But Could Have

  published Aug 25, 2011

  Say what you want about Billy Joel. Just know that the man has your best interests at heart. Throughout his lengthy career, the singer-songwriter has held Q&A/cocktail sessions at intimate venues, of... More >>

• Angst vs. Acceptance: Easing Midlife Malaise with Indie Rock

  published Aug 16, 2011

  Desperate Bicycles, a '70s punk act largely known for its boastful autonomy when it came to releasing music, isn't a group I typically turn to when in need of clarity and counsel. I mean, these are g... More >>

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  Eight Rock 'n' Roll Poop Bombs: Exploring Pop Music and Shit

  published Aug 02, 2011

  Three of my sons have reached the age where they've begun exhibiting the symptoms of chronic privy mouth. Shakespeare relished a good poop quip every now and then (see Henry V). Ditto for Marquis de S... More >>

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  The Summer Anthem: Does It Get Better or Worse with Ager

  published Jul 19, 2011

  We pop music critics are wired in such a way that articulating a love for Aja and Scott Walker is significantly less difficult than articulating the love for the person we share a toothbrush with. We... More >>

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  Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" Is a Father's Nightmare -- And We Need More Songs Like It

  published Jul 05, 2011

  A father's fears generally fall into two loosely defined, ever-expanding categories. There's the keep-you-up-at-night, bite-your-nails-to-the-quick worries that focus on money, job security, and child... More >>

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  Do You Love Nick Draker Then Thank His Parents

  published Jun 21, 2011

  Over a six-year stretch beginning in 1994, Jason Creed published 19 issues of Pink Moon, a fanzine dedicated to the life and music of deceased English folk singer-songwriter Nick Drake. Pink Moon fea... More >>

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  A Father's Day Wishlist: Kiss Hilarity, Glen Hansard Busking, My Bloody Valentine Humming, and More

  published Jun 07, 2011

  Lou Reed set the bar rather low with his idea of the perfect day: sips of sangria in the park, a trip to the zoo, a movie. "It Was a Good Day" also kept it simple, with Ice Cube's ideal 24 hours cons... More >>

• What Is Dad Rock, Exactlyr One Dad's Opinion

  published May 24, 2011

  In a segment from a Season One episode of The Cosby Show, the sitcom's namesake delightfully illustrates how pop music can function as a generational wedge. "I thought it had come down the hallway," ... More >>

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  Leadbelly, the Murderer Who Sang Children's Songs

  published May 10, 2011

  I recognize that schoolyards are dens of rumor and conjecture, places where, over the crackle of Pop Rocks and the snap of bubblegum, kids swap sordid little secrets. It's why I caught myself smiling ... More >>