Marc Hirsh
Marc Hirsh lives in the Boston area, where he indulges in the magic trinity of improv comedy, competitive adult four square and music journalism. He has won trophies for one of these, but refuses to say which.
He writes for the Boston Globe and has also been spotted on MSNBC and in the pages of Amplifier, the Nashville Scene, the Baltimore City Paper and Space City Rock, where he is the co-publisher and managing editor.
He once danced onstage with The Flaming Lips while dressed as a giant frog. It was very warm.
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Some songs rely more on the ferocity of the person singing it than the song itself. On "I'm Gonna Change My Ways," Peter Case testifies with the conviction of a true believer and howls with the intensity of a recent convert.
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"Cold Blooded," from Shivaree's new covers album Tainted Love, sounds harder and more guitar-heavy than Rick James' original. The song manages to hit a deep funk groove in spite of its near-complete lack of syncopation.
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"The New Girl In Town," performed by Brittany Snow on the Hairspray soundtrack, does what any good song from a musical should do: It reflects the singer's perspective on the plot at that moment. Plus, it stands on its own as the exact type of music it's supposed to be. -
New York's Looker embraces the DIY approach on "Radio," and it seems at first that the band's enthusiasm outpaces its abilities. But the song works anyway, thanks to Looker's melodic sense and its original take on hoary topics.
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Spoon's songs are rarely about any one ingredient, words included. "My Little Japanese Cigarette Case" serves as a prime example of how the band fits many disparate pieces together to create a structure that might well collapse if any one of them were removed. -
"Runouttaluck," from the Toronto band The Golden Dogs, is the sound of pop nerds engaging in charmingly bratty displays of melodic gamesmanship. Throughout the song, the band tips its hat to pop music that can be quirky and hooky all at once. -
An acolyte of the Todd Rundgren school of lone-wolf power-pop, Richard X. Heyman has gone it mostly alone for two decades now. Often playing nearly every instrument on his records, he's produced a slim but sturdy catalogue of superior pop music. -
Singer Kele Okereke watches as society begins viewing him with suspicion in "Where Is Home?" Any instrument that's not a drum kit or a voice is almost beside the point: During the verses, guitars and keyboards hang around for atmosphere when they can be bothered to show up at all.
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As befits its running time — but not its seemingly nonsensical title — The Pipettes' "The Burning Ambition of the Early Diuretics" is simple: A girl doesn't understand why the object of her affection refuses to admit what every indication tells her is true. So she asks, firmly but sweetly, for answers. -
For its contribution to the Band tribute album Endless Highway, Widespread Panic offers neither a faithful cover of "Chest Fever" nor a recasting. Instead, the group takes an approach so obvious, and so unlikely to succeed, that few ever try it: They try to beat the original at its own game.
