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After casually dropping hints in past columns, Paul Shirley has finally explained the enduring musical and personal impression left on him by P.M. Dawn's "The Bliss Album …?"

After listening to recent works by Kid Cudi and Gucci Mane, The Life's Paul Shirley thought one rapper was enjoyably creative while the other was miserably predictable.

Paul Shirley anticipates some great music in the coming months from some old favorites, but the work of artists he has yet to discover has him happy about what's to come in 2010.

A surprising fondness for the song "Wheels" made Paul Shirley rethink his dislike for Foo Fighters and what exactly falls under the label of pop music.

The past year wasn't so good for a lot of people, but there was plenty of great music that Paul Shirley had to choose from to make his Top 10 albums of 2009 list.

While being reminded of the Sunday doldrums of his youth, Paul Shirley is visited by the Ghosts of Musical Past, Present and Future, who are better known as Spoon, Metric and Hockey.

Paul Shirley debates author Todd Gallagher about the quality of music high schoolers listen to today compared with 15 years ago, and somehow Pink gets caught in the middle.

Certain albums once marked significant moments in Paul Shirley's life. But as his musical library has expanded, those noteworthy Shirley sound track events have somehow become less frequent.

Finding the right musical gift for everyone on your shopping list isn't easy, so Paul Shirley is here to match those diverse personalities with the albums they need.

As the sometimes puzzling allure of Leonard Cohen shows, singers better have a healthy dose of charisma to go along with whatever amount of talent they possess if they want to survive in today's music industry.

How can you define post-rock if the bands of that genre are reluctant to be labeled? Paul Shirley gives it a shot.

Paul Shirley's plans for a musical man date unfortunately had to be altered because of a tragedy in Bruce Springsteen's inner circle, but Dinosaur Jr. came to the rescue.

Brand New isn't afraid to write about religious subjects, but that doesn't make them a Christian band, writes Paul Shirley.

Jamie T's "Kings and Queens" is an impressive sophomore follow-up to the 2007 song "Sheila," which sparked Paul Shirley's interest in the British singer-rapper.

Grunge greats Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains recently released new albums mere days apart, so Paul Shirley pits them against each other and declares a winner.

Los Angeles' welcome back for old acquaintance Paul Shirley included a concert with familiar favorite Phoenix, a "Jennifer's Body" premiere after party and an appreciation for Bad Veins.