Tom O'ConnorTHE AURA PT. 1: THE RECORDIn 1984 Canada was in the midst of the biggest recession since the 1930s depression. Dealing with substantial interest rates that loomed…Jun 26, 2021Jun 26, 2021
Tom O'ConnorThe Making of your Musical DNAIn our recent interview with Treephones’ Stephen Trothen, he said “the music you “listen to between 17 and 23, is the thing that makes your…Jun 1, 2021Jun 1, 2021
Tom O'ConnorWhy do we Crave Breakup Albums?Recently I stumbled upon an article comparing Taylor Swift’s Folklore to the confessional poetry tradition of Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath…May 18, 2021May 18, 2021
Tom O'ConnorTom Waits and the Silencing of the Margins.In his book The Many Lives of Tom Waits, Patrick Humphries writes that Tom Waits’ voice “sounds like it was hauled through Hades in a…May 4, 2021May 4, 2021
Tom O'ConnorFUNC MUSIC: FUNCTIONALISM, PUNK, AND ZEN ARCADEThe idea of functionalism is one that we frequently apply to architecture but rarely do we talk about in music. Functionalism theorizes…May 1, 2021May 1, 2021
Tom O'ConnorHear Me Out: Every Picture Tells a StoryRecently I was given the task on social media of listing my 10 most influential albums. I ended my list with Rod Stewart’s Every Picture…May 6, 2020May 6, 2020
Tom O'ConnorAre we Really Improving on Improving?This past season the St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup. The bigger story seems to be that these champions were dead last at the end of…Jan 6, 2020Jan 6, 2020
Tom O'ConnorMy favourite music of 2019: The SinglesJust last week I posted my favourite albums of 2019. The thing is 2019 offered up a plethora of amazing songs that either hint at a future…Dec 26, 2019Dec 26, 2019