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
Well it could rain for days, and then where would I be?
2009 is already shaping up to be a pretty great year for music. I had two highly anticipated albums for the first month. One was the new Bruce Springsteen, which isn’t terrible but mostly gets a big meh (review forthcoming, … Continue reading
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The Judd Gregg appointment
So it looks like Obama is going to pick Judd Gregg (R-NH) to fill the Commerce Secretary position. Part of the arrangement is that Democratic Governor John Lynch will select a Republican to fill that seat. I’ve got a few … Continue reading
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Society must be defended
Continuing thoughts on my post from yesterday about engaging adversaries. The liberal blogosphere has of course become enraged at Chait’s suggestion. In some sense, I’d almost say that the visceral backlash (the deliberate misreading of his point, the yelling and … Continue reading
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You can’t see that you’re just the same as all the stupid people you hate
I Need All the Friends I Can Get – Camera Obscura Jonathan Chait comments: It’s kind of funny how, when it comes to domestic politics, many liberals employ assumptions about human naturethat are wildly at odds with the assumptions they … Continue reading
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The jingly-jangly songs from distant years
Music To My Ears – Champagne Riot Here’s a treat for a Friday evening: a tasty little EP of Danish indie electro-pop. There’s a ton of New Order here, but you get the sense that it’s not an homage to … Continue reading
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I see no shame in putting my name to socialism’s cause
I Don’t Need This Pressure Ron – Billy Bragg I’m pretty far left on most issues. I believe in affirmative action. I think the government should actively be in the business of desegregating schools. I think the US should probably … Continue reading
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Recent examples of things getting zero votes
Zero – Smashing Pumpkins Number of Illinois Senators who voted to let Blagojevich stay in office: zero.Number of Republican members of the House who voted for the stimulus bill: zero. I’m just sayin’ is all.
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You say you recognize your dreams
The Furnace – Meursault I feel like any attempt to describe what Meursault sound like is going to make them sound a lot less interesting than they actually are. Electronic folk? A backyard Arcade Fire? Folk-driven noise rock? It seems … Continue reading
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Take that John Ensign!
The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act passes. Surely our economy is now doomed. DOOOOOMED. The vote in the Senate was 61-36. As Kevin Drum notes, all 56 Democrats (seriously, can we get this up to the actual 59 sometime soon?) voted … Continue reading
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Sleep is not an option
The poem. It wasn’t good. It would have been nice if it was good, but it just wasn’t. Or, to be generous, the poem itself might have been okay (if a bit milquetoast) but the delivery was really poor. Listless … Continue reading
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