100 New Albums in 2022 Challenge, 1/100 — “can’t stick to that / can’t fade us to black / so I’m coming back/ cause it hurts / like the end of the world” — Coming Back (feat. SZA) Hello album cover I opened Spotify that first day of January with plans to listen to precisely what I can’t remember. My intentions…

A list of things holding me down and keeping me sane — (I never saw myself writing a listicle, but when Terry Barr invites you to join a challenge…) 10 Things I Can’t Live Without, in an order that means absolutely nothing. Crashing (TV Show)— Phoebe Waller-Bridge wrote a perfect one-season tv show that does not rhyme with tea rag. All the characters are deeply flawed, perfectly cast, and working through every human high note…

On growing older and getting hotter INTRO My great-grandmother, my beautiful Naomi, would say heat created the southern drawl. That the defenseless and unprotected vocal cords got overheated and began to melt, like butter, causing crisp sounds to become stretched and loose. Words languished up the throat, then tumbled out…

On yearning, devastation, and one perfect Leonard Cohen cover. — I was at my local bookstore, The Nook, working on an article about George Michael. My table was positioned beside the checkout counter and hidden from the entrance by a floating shelf of Bestsellers. The clerk, a friendly chap named Taylor, was working that morning. …

Meeting on Sunday, December 5th, @ 4pm EST — Why did I not remember how hectic November always is, and thus the worst month for me to volunteer to be the person responsible for choosing this month’s album? It’s been a helluva few weeks, and this is the ball I let drop. I’m sorry, guys. You should have been…

Join us Sunday, August 8th @ 7pm EDT Hello my fellow Riffers! This is your reminder that our Album of the Month meeting is this Sunday, August 8th, @ 7pm EDT. …

Meeting on Sunday, August 8th @ 7pm EDT You guys, last Sunday (7/11/21) was Riff’s July Album of the Month Club meeting, and as you probably expected, it was awful. Hosted by Terry Barr (more on him later), the meeting derailed with Jessica Lee McMillan’s real-time intelligence and thoughtfulness (ew)…