About Me
Charles Olney, Associate Professor of Constitutional Law and Judicial Politics at the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley (academic website). This is a blog about music, politics, and the law. I also write about women’s soccer at Backline Soccer and Stars and Stripes FC.
Bluesky: olneyce
Soundcloud: olneyce
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Recent Posts
Greatest Hits
- Beatles from worst to first
- Top 25 albums of the decade
- Top 50 songs of the decade
- Top 10 Bruce Springsteen songs
- Top 10 Modest Mouse songs
- Top 10 Tom Petty songs
- Top 10 Carissa's Wierd songs
- Top 10 Paul Simon songs
- Top 10 Bob Dylan songs
- Top 10 breakup songs
- Top 20 albums of 2005
- Top 30 albums of 2006
- Top 40 songs of 2006
- Top 25 albums of 2007
- Top 40 songs of 2007
- Top 25 albums of 2008
- Top 40 songs of 2008
- Top 30 albums of 2009
- Top 40 songs of 2009
- Top 25 albums of 2010
- Top 40 songs of 2010
- Top 15 albums of 2011
- Top 40 songs of 2011
- Top 20 albums of 2012
- Top 40 songs of 2012
- Top 30 albums of 2013
- Top 50 songs of 2013
- Top 25 albums of 2014
- Top 50 songs of 2014
- Top 30 albums of 2015
- Top 50 songs of 2015
- Top 15 albums of 2016
- Top 40 songs of 2016
- Top 25 albums of 2017
- Top 50 songs of 2017
- Top 30 albums of 2018
- Top 50 songs of 2018
Music links
- Hype Machine
- elbo.ws
- Music for Kids Who Can't Read Good
- Can you see the sunset from the southside?
- Hits in the Car
- A Certain Romance
- Herohill
- Speed of Dark
- Lost in your Inbox
- Vague Space
- Skatterbrain
- I Guess I'm Floating
- Largehearted Boy
- Neon Gold
- Another Form of Relief
- Cover Lay Down
- The Monsters Under the Bed Are Not Real
- Yellow Stereo
- Quick Before It Melts
- Knox Road
- Sand is Overrated
- Shake Your Fist
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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Top 10 Tom Petty songs
This is a pretty diverse list, with some of his big hits, and a few that are pretty minor parts of the catalogue. Eight different albums make it into the top 10 (with one album placing three in the top … Continue reading
Top 10 Bruce Springsteen songs
There’s a long history of American storytelling, stretching back through folk heroes like Woody Guthrie to authors like Steinbeck and the people who moved out to homesteads on the frontier, braving the cold and the wild all in the hopes … Continue reading
Top 10 Modest Mouse songs
Mandatory disclaimer: these are simply my favorites. I make no claim about the objective list of their ‘best’ songs. I can only tell you what I like. Regular readers will not be surprised to see their work from the 90s … Continue reading
Wreck our dancing shoes
Radio Song – The Felice Brothers (from The Felice Brothers) Campfire sing-alongs from back before they were made cool by Mumford and Sons and the like. But with the substantial improvement of the accordion! It’s such an under-utilized instrument in … Continue reading
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But if I seem to wander off in dream-like looks
Violets Of Dawn– Eric Anderson (from Violets of Dawn) Someone (I think it was Dylan – and it certainly sounds like the sort of thing Dylan would have said) said this song was a piece of total derivative trash with … Continue reading
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Is it time for me to rise?
Rise – Rainer Maria I’ve posted before about my love for Rainer Maria, who I think are one of the most underrated bands of the late 90s/early aughts. I came to them right as it seemed like they might be taking … Continue reading
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But I need you and you’re always on my mind
Impregnable Question – Dirty Projectors (from Swing Lo Magellan) I wasn’t really able to get into the new Dirty Projectors album. And really, I haven’t quite been able to love anything that they’ve done. But this song, precisely because it doesn’t really … Continue reading
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I’m thinking of your wide open eyes
If You Are To Bloom – Hum (from Downward is Heavenward) Big crunching guitars, a nice little groove, and a series of deft little touches on the side. It comes out of the same Chicago tradition of layered guitars and noise … Continue reading
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Don’t you remember love?
Time Ago – Black Lab Hey blog, long time since we’ve talked. In an effort to liven things up around these parts, I’ve come up with a couple projects to keep my occupied with posting for a while. First, I’m going … Continue reading
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The platinum option and the value of executive overreach
Lucky Denver Mint – Jimmy Eat World As our country lurches from crisis to manufactured crisis like a drunken sailor, the next big event on the horizon is the semi-annual renewal of the debt ceiling. If you remember what happened in … Continue reading
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