Thursday, February 9 2012
Playing Guarde: Music Metacreation and the Vanguard
To create something or to create something that creates something; that is a question. But if you lead an electric horse to art, does it dream of the avant-garde?
Monday, February 6 2012
‘Nebraska’: Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Heart of Darkness’
In 1982, with the charts ruled by “Physical”, “Don’t You Want Me” and “Eye of the Tiger”, along came a low-tech record about killers, small-time thieves and other forgotten souls -- and it's still one of the best albums in American music.
Thursday, February 2 2012
Tower Songs: Townes Van Zandt
I'll Be There in the Morning offers an affectionate but hardly rose-colored view of Townes Van Zandt and his influence on other songwriters.
Tuesday, January 31 2012
Jazz Triumphs of 2011 That Only a Fool Could Miss
Critics can be fools, particularly in their own eyes. Here are five jazz discs from 2011 that should have been on my top ten list but slipped from view, then. It's not too late to dig them.
Monday, January 30 2012
The Mythical Country
Where are these towns and neighborhoods that Montgomery Gentry sing about? The Mythical Country; the country that exists in the collective imagination of Nashville songwriters and singers, and that of the audience.
Tuesday, January 24 2012
Navigating the SOPA Soap Opera
The most frustrating thing about the controversial new copyright legislation making its way through Congress? It lacks creativity.
Monday, January 23 2012
A Joy to Experience: Neo-Soul Singer Bilal Oliver
Bilal Oliver belongs to an elite class of late '90s Neo-Soul singers, but his guest appearances may be the true gems of his career.
Wednesday, January 18 2012
Gleeks and Beliebers Rejoice: In Defense of Pop
Pop music makers like Rihanna, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry may get the kiss off from critics, but really, what's the harm in getting your pop groove on to their style of music?
Tuesday, January 10 2012
Remembering Paul Motian: The Drummer Who Quietly Shook Things Up
It may seem odd to call a drummer “quiet”, but Paul Motian was Mr. Subtle. From the start of his career until the last months of his life, he was shaking things up. Quietly. Brilliantly.
Monday, January 9 2012
Queer Country: Chely Wright’s Coming Out
The upcoming documentary, Wish Me Away, centered on country singer Chely Wright chronicles the pains of coming out in Nashville and raises questions about why more country musicians haven’t come out.
Thursday, January 5 2012
2011: Music’s Most Electronic Year Yet
Vestigial organs like industrial music and the radio dial proved vital in 2011, while house and dubstep were invaded by hordes of uninvited outsiders, proving once again that electronic and plugged-in music is at the vanguard of change throughout the world.
Tuesday, January 3 2012
Kicked in the Teeth by Art
For a full day, it seemed like I got pummeled by unflinching art. And I feel like I'm better for it.
Friday, December 16 2011
O Captain! My Captain! Going Where No Octogenarian Has Gone Before
As "Bill" explores the meaninglessness of celebrity, "Shatner" embraces the shallow and the superficial like an Andy Warhol soup can come to life.
Monday, December 12 2011
A Holiday Mix Tape, YouTube Style
Who hasn’t sat through those holiday parties with the cozy but yawn inducing classics of Burl Ives playing ad nauseam? I can help with that.
Friday, December 9 2011
As the Spirit Moves Mary: The Life and Art of Mary J. Blige
If My Life gave people insight and empowerment who shared the singer’s despair, My Life II is the amplification of three of the most important words in the English language: It is possible.
Thursday, December 8 2011
Art for the Hip-Hop Generation
The Legends of Hip Hop chronicles 50 deserving pioneers of the culture, and ultimately transforms and humanizes them.
Wednesday, December 7 2011
Walkin’ to the Beat, the Rhythm in My Feet
Walking around a new city is a good way to get to know its nuances -- the sights, the smells, and especially, the sounds. Boston taught me its rhythm, and I kept in step.
Monday, November 28 2011
Simon Reynolds Redux: A Conversation from the Past About Post-Punk
Simon Reynolds discusses Joy Division and The Ramones, sex and politics, and punk's blatant localism and latent racism around the time of the release of Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984.
Wednesday, November 23 2011
On Making that Holiday Music List and Checking It Twice
It's that time of the year, again. Music fans are making their lists of what they hope to find wrapped in pretty paper at Christmas, and music publications are making their lists of what should be on those lists. Now, I have something to say about lists.
Tuesday, November 22 2011
Sympathetic Vibrations
There's a renaissance for the vibraphone in jazz, even though many folks don't even know this instrument exists.
