Thanks for this interview—fantastic. Long, long time fan; once even had the pleasure of sharing a bottle of red with Robyn, and have seen many shows.

Belgariad
What did we think of the Belgariad series by the Eddingses? I seem to recall liking it when I was going through an epic fantasy series consumption phase about ten years ago.

Well done
This was a really good piece of writing. Thanks for taking the time to really think about the album, the band, and the context surrounding them. Congrats.

Reading my Mind
Just this week I was trying to figure out where to start with Randy Newman. Really only know him from the usual soundtrack places, but as I seem to be on a bit of a singer-songwriter discovery bent lately, this fits in nicely.

First contact
1977 was the first year I can remember buying music, at the tender age of 9. The start of a long, expensive addiction. I think the first thing I bought with my own money was News of the World by Queen. And the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, naturally.

JCO pleez
Thanks for this—definitely one of those writers that I'd like to dive into but had no idea where to start (apart from having seen Get Shorty and briefly tried to get started there).

As recently discussed in these forums
Jack Nicholson in Broadcast News.

Allmusic has been doing a similar series for a couple of years now, called "Allmusic Loves 19XX". Survey of the year and best album and song lists from all of their reviewers. This one is much more narrative, but I have been digging the lists at Allmusic, which has been a reliable go-to for my autodidactic needs.