Putting Paul Westerberg behind a piano is often a recipe for some of his most moving work – and he’s deft at mixing humor with his pathos. Early in his career – with piano-driven songs like “Androgynous” – the laughs were a way to disguise the more emotional insight. “Androgynous,” despite its jokey lines, is [...]
I’ve never been a huge fan of 14 Songs, which is probably an odd statement coming from a massive fan of both the Replacements and much of Paul Westerberg’s solo work. But when I was first getting into Westerberg in high school, I was always more fond of Eventually and Suicaine Gratifaction. Also, I think [...]
“I didn’t start to make a record. I just had no other options. I didn’t know what to do with my time. I started playing piano and out of the few things I had written down on scraps of paper started to record little songs in the basement thinking ‘well, I’m gonna get off my [...]
Marriage: it’s why we’re gathered here today. It only makes sense that the most common of lyrical subjects, love, would see its supposed apex, the wedding, represented time and time again in popular song. But two’s company, three’s a crowd and rarely is a wedding simply about just the folks getting hitched. Otherwise, why bother [...]
What is it that makes us want to deconstruct art by units of time? Lists. We love making them. We love arguing over them. And here, on the verge of a new decade, we’re in a position to do the same again. What were the best albums of the past ten years? Here at AD, [...]
All has been quiet on the Westerberg front since last September, but lo and behold, the man has sneaked up on us again, this time with the six-song PW & the Ghost Gloves Cat Wing Joy Boys EP that dropped via Amazon today. It follows in the footsteps of his most recent releases – obviously [...]
Perhaps Paul ought to drive a screwdriver through his hand more often. Not that having Westerberg out of commission for a year was a good thing, but ever since his accident, he has come roaring back with a creative vengeance. First the copyright infringin’, vying for best post-Replacements album 49:00 was dropped on us, followed [...]
After barely being released, Paul Westerberg’s excellent 49:00 was pulled from the digital market last week. The reasons are somewhat unclear, but the almost universal understanding seems to be that it has to do with copyright issues – namely the medley of famous songs that Westerberg runs through toward the end of the album. It [...]
