Thunder Pie | How to Grow Old Gracefully When Everyone Else is Doing It...

“When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.’ — Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man Even now, in the evening with the hot water running over my hands, I am half asleep. Given...

Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | Your Little Art Collection

There are some albums I buy solely for the artwork. And I don't mean, "Hey, that looks cool... Here's hoping it is!" I'm talking about records I buy with...

Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | Greetings! Welcome! Take Your Seat!

I have a clear memory of reading the lyrics to Hello Hooray, printed on the inner sleeve of the copy of Billion Dollar Babies I got for my tenth...

Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | OMG Sphex!

It happened again: I inherited a box of dusty old records with a treasure inside. If you ever come across some obscure Canadian vinyl you've never heard of before —...

Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | A Two-Horse Race

A recent Stylus Counsel column I wrote — in which I compared the number of hit albums and singles by Taylor Swift to Paul McCartney, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Elvis...

Thunder Pie | My Life in Country Music (Part 1)

The decision was made without my input. I would be riding with Dave, the owner of the camp, my stepdad’s best friend. Dave would put me in a spot...

Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | What’s Your Favourite Record Label?

Next time Sticker Mule has a deal on T-shirt printing, I think I'm going to finally get one made honouring my favourite record label logo — Parrot Records. The...

Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel: Time Is Swift And Taylor is Money

At the end of February, Taylor Swift officially knocked The Beatles out of No. 1 in a category many probably thought nobody ever would — the most weeks in...

Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | I’ve Got Blisters On Me Fingers!

The Beach Boys franchise is a freak show. The band announced a new tour in February which will run right through the end of October. There has not been...

Thunder Pie | Suit Made of Stranded Moonlight

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” – Soren Kierkegaard On my way through the bathroom I notice myself in the orange string lights that dangle...

Too Much Of A Good Thing: 60-Some New Album Announcements

Some days are quiet. Some days are busy. And some days are just freaking nuts. Today started off the first way. Then I got a whole whack of sponsored posts...

Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | The Screech Beaver’s Mean, Mean Pride

It's like, "How much more Canadian can it be?" And the answer is, "None. None more Canadian." The cover of Rush’s 1981 album Moving Pictures is basically the equivalent...

Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | Also Known As…

For a while when I was in high school, one of the handful of TV channels we got in rural Upper Ottawa Valley started showing late-night reruns of Don...

Thunder Pie | Our Dead Name

“There is something seriously, terribly wrong with a person if they manage to get to a certain age — cross a lot of bridges; bury a lot of friends...

Area Resident’s Stylus Counsel | Can’t Go Wrong

Last year I reached out to my social media friends for help filling a gap in my record collection. I didn't own any Sun Ra albums, and had no...

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