brian, Author at Pop Rock Nation

About brian

Tutor, parent, cat-feeder, and voice-actor Brian Block listens to too much music and glides through life mostly on the strength of his good looks. If he can see farther than others, it is only by standing on the shoulders of giants, an environmentally sound form of public transportation.

#29 album of 2013 – Same Trailer, Different Park by Kacey Musgraves

Artist: Kacey Musgraves

Album: Same Trailer, Different Park

Kacey Musgraves’s debut Same Trailer, Different Park is my favorite country music album in a decade or so. Its status at #29 on this list qualifies that enthusiasm, I realize, but it’s real enthusiasm: she’s a talented songwriter who sings with a forceful, flexible alto drawl. Same Trailer is at least my favorite country record since Son Volt’s Okemah and the Melody of Riot (2005), if that isn’t too […]

By brian|May 30th, 2014|Reviews|0 Comments

#30 album of 2013 – MGMT by MGMT

Artist: MGMT

Album: MGMT (Self-Titled)

In 2008, MGMT debuted as an arty pop band produced by go-to psychedeli-pop producer Dave Fridmann. They scored three hit singles (Time to Pretend, Kids, Electric Feel), and while I wasn’t taken with them in general, I voted Time to Pretend as my favorite single of 2008. Huge-sounding and pretty and minor-key, it plans out a life, starting from “I’m feeling rough, I’m feeling raw, I’m in the prime of my life/ […]

By brian|May 27th, 2014|Reviews|0 Comments

#31 album of 2013 – Pop Full Stop by Statuesque

Artist: Statuesque

Album: Pop Full Stop

Statuesque is the name under which Stephen Manning has played (all but the drums) and recorded his intensely literate, feyly melodic Brit-pop songs since the late 1990s. Their older albums — peaking for me with 2004’s superb Choir Above, Fire Below — often gave a striking imitation of full-band performance and professional production. I imagine that’s expensive and time-consuming for a hobby, though, so by 2013’s Pop Full Stop he’s settled […]

By brian|May 21st, 2014|Reviews|0 Comments

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