"Spilt Milk" is a great album for playing "Spot the reference." For instance, "Bye Bye Bye" is heavily infused with Supertramp's "Breakfast in America." (Reference-spotters may also enjoy the records by the Dukes of Stratosphear.)

"Spilt Milk" is a masterpiece. I remember thinking that the album sounded like a dream sequence (which even begins with a lullaby). I was pleased to find confirmation in the liner notes to the Omnivore reissue. (Where's the rest of the goddam Posies reissues you promised me, Omnivore?)
But I don't think power pop…

I'm closer to 50 (younger than Chris Murphy, older than Patrick Pentland) and I've only been to Canada four times.
Or maybe you meant that, among all the commenters, approximately 35 of them are Canadian males….

The animated short "Pickle's Day Out" previously explored the theme of sentient foodstuffs discovering, too late, that they are foodstuffs.

I can see why some people wouldn't like "Commonwealth," as it departs a bit from the usual Sloan formula. (Not nearly as dramatic a departure as the Posies' "Solid States," but still.) Breaking the album up into solo EPs changes the flow. But I like it. Some parts better than others, but that's usually the case. …

Sloan is a fantastic, underrated band. I'm glad to see them get a second entry in "Permanent Records," but how come the A.V. Club (apparently) hasn't been reviewing their newer work? Their latest album, "Commonwealth," is (to my ears) their best since "Never Hear The End Of It." I was lucky enough to meet the band…

Not necessarily. It's conceivable that Paul's death is the real reason the Beatles gave up touring in 1966. By limiting the band's visibility to comparatively rare TV and film appearances, they could have employed a sound-alike in the studio, and then hired a different look-alike to lip-sync. (Surprisingly, I have…

Fake theories can be entertaining, even (or especially?) when they're full of holes. A few years ago, I was embroiled in a newsgroup discussion with someone who insisted that, while Paul McCartney is not really dead, nevertheless the Beatles deliberately planted death clues, as an elaborate practical joke. Using the…

Those lyrics always confused me. Is the lime-infused coconut the CAUSE of the belly-ache, or the CURE? Or is it a "hair of the dog" kind of thing?

NIlsson was one of those enigmatic, mercurial figures with soaring peaks and deep, abyssal troughs. I listened to some of his music earlier today, in fact.
The still from "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" reminds me that little Eddie was played by Brandon Cruz, who later wound up working as an editor on "South Park." …

"Talking for Clapping" contains some of Oswalt's best work; he's probably my favorite living comedian. I just feel sick knowing that he never had a chance to enjoy the accolades he deserves for it, because he tragically lost his wife the day the special came out. Losing a family member is hard enough without having…

I haven't seen any of the "Pirates…" movies, so I won't guess as to how they'll fit Sir Paul into the movie, but I have a mental image of him showing up in jeans and a PETA t-shirt, saying to someone offscreen: "This music cruise is going to be hard going, what with all these . . . [turns to camera] PIRATES OF THE…