Over those last two years I only wrote 63 reviews.
Since I had been reviewing about 100 new bands per year -- even with some duplicates -- well, you can see the decline.
There is still some pain there remembering how impossible it became to keep up with anything, and how crushing the last year or so of care giving became. Despite that, there are good memories.
While I was still trying to keep reviewing new bands, I found some good ones.
When I could not manage to review two new bands per week, I started combining new bands with new releases by previously reviewed bands. They put out some good stuff.
Toward the end, I was only reviewing concerts, but those were some pretty fun concerts.
Also, it was toward the end that I was managing to bring in some interviews. I want to get back to that.
I realized at one point after giving up on reviews that I was giving more meaning to the daily songs. I think as I started losing the ability to keep putting out reviews, the ones I did meant more.
Daily songs:
“Another Girl, Another Planet” by The Only Ones -- My first time at an Oregon Zoo concert was the triple bill of Berlin, OMD, and The B-52s. All good shows, but in between sets this song I had never heard before grabbed me right from the intro. I remembered lyrics and looked it up later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilDD5SeHxXE
“The Right Thing” by New Chums -- I did still get a few new bands in, and this was one of my favorite songs from that. There is almost a retro feel to it. Worth a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgIh3KGV8Ic
“Still A Beautiful World”
by Chris Barron -- While each of my four interviews was important to me, that I got Chris Barron of Spin Doctors fame to answer my questions is probably the most impressive. Angels and One-Armed Jugglers fit with the times, and this song fit with me, falling apart but still finding good things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jhasVdrB8w
“Tunnel Vision” by Grumpster -- Very fun punk, but also significant in that this review happened around release because I'd had some contact with the label owner. I don't have much of a reputation, but every now and then it's nice to be vaguely recognized.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR8VuMBiuQg
“Pin the Grenade” by Blink-182 -- After reviewing Nine (which was excellent), I chose the similar sounding "Dark Side" for the song of the day, on the strength of the video. They are both good songs, but this one is my real favorite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0JlOOtB5ug
“Forever Is This Night” by Gin Blossoms -- I had not initially included video links in the retrospectives, so I had to go back and add links to the earlier ones. When I was updating the Gin Blossoms, I did not recognize this video at all, leading to two realizations. As I kept changing my selections for the daily songs, I left an extra song in the blog post without noticing. Also, the Gin Blossoms did a bunch of extremely low-budget, low-concept videos for Mixed Reality. They are still surprising me and making me smile, and that's why they are the only band with their own retrospective post to also end up in another one, thus getting this eighth song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4VMuFUKrhs
“Heroes” by David Bowie -- This is to represent the Bowie Alumni tour. There are a few videos of them online, but this is the right song for that night, and this point in my life. I don't see a video of them performing it, so here it is from the one who inspired them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLp2cW7ICCU
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