Proud to tout P.M. Dawn, 17 years later

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 …?"

...Anger and the Ponderance of Life and Existence" made a big impact on 15-year-old Paul Shirley

Two ends of the rap spectrum

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.

Don't worry, great music is on the way

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.

In Uniform or Not, Magic Unwelcome at MSG

...for) in cities hosting the NBA All-Star game; 50 percent off at the NBA store; Paul Shirley will run your twitter account. Members: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Charles Barkley Patrick Ewing David Robinson Hakeem...

'Wheels' sets Foo debate in motion

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.

Paul Shirley

Shirley's Top 10 albums of the year

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.

Wednesday Bullets

By Henry Abbott Tim Varner of 48 Minutes of Hell: "Life in San Antonio is fairly meaningless if it's not lived in the winner's circle. You don't g...

Doldrums give way to musical ghosts

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.

MINNEAPOLIS - OCTOBER 2: Paul Shirley #18 of the Minnesota Timberwolves poses for a portrait during Media Day at the Target Center...

Old music favorites get better with age

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.

Smell the memory with music

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.

Music ideas for everyone on your list

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.

Charisma energizes a musician's stature

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.