Opinion
Justin Timberlake And Derek Jeter And the Secrets Of stardom
They both entered the public conscious around the same time and both have distinct personalities while remaining essentially unknown qualities. You never get to the bottom of these guys, all the charm is a layer of finesse to help maintain complete privacy, every action a modulated concern of career and counter career, every event a non event, every story a scolded subtraction.
My Angle On Angles; A Strokes Rant
I didn’t understand Angles. Every song made me cringe. Though I will admit, “Under Cover of Darkness” did have that familiar Room On Fire melody, but it still felt a bit forced and cheap; the furthest away from musical catharsis. It didn’t trap me like Is This It did, that record raised me
Conor Oberst And What Happens When A Superstar Falls To Earth
Conor Oberst is becoming the Elvis Costello of indie Kings. After years and years of ruling the earth, of being such an obsessive songwriter his girlfriend at the time, Maria Taylor, wouldn’t let him drive when they went out, he became… I don’t know what he is? A dick
Pete Seeger Reconsidered – Thoughts From a Punk Rock Cynic
“Hey, let’s sing this song together that will end war, poverty, injustice, and bee stings,” always seemed a bit soft in the noodle to me. I’d rather hear about Joey Ramone’s need to sniff glue. However, on the passing of Pete Seeger, it struck me how little conversation there was about his contributions to music
Dave Grohl, Anti-Christ, Amway Salesman
It might not be fair to lay the blame for the hell that is 21st century rebellion at his feet, but he personifies it so perfectly. He is such a cheerful shill for organized crime known as the music business, it offends me to look at me. Grohl is the rock and roll star as Amway salesman.
Bruce Springsteen: How Did We Get Here?
before their ridiculous four and a half star review of Bruce Springsteen’s High Hopes, they printed yet another exclusive interview with Bruce and this is what Bruce had to say about unreleased songs: “I take them out just to amuse myself. Very often, if I have nothing to do late at night, I’ll take them out and look at the different bodies of music.”
There's A Place Where Time Stands Still
I went to visit Joseph and Donna and they had changed hospices by then and the new one was quieter, but it had the quiet of neutral, a place where everything was grounding out of time, where it felt like you had falled down a trap door, where you were floating in a sea of grief
The Repeat Concert That Goes Wrong
Perhaps I was right but the Phish effect didn’t survive a lousy concert last December where all the good will they’d accrued went out the window and I remembered exactly why I’d been born sick of them for decades on end.
Can Music Help Us Grieve?
It seems as though for once and perhaps the only time, music can’t seem to help. I go back to Aretha Franklin and I wish I had a copy of that February 17th, 2012 concert at Radio City where Aretha mourned her Goddaughter Whitney Houston.
John Lennon And Me
When you get past his agitprop and get closer to the pan-humanism of Imagine and Mind Games, this is what you find. The heart of Lennon, of Double Fantasy, is placing the love of one on an equal footing with the love of the many. Seeing one as part of the other.
The Record Industry Is Asleep For The Next Month So Release Your New Album ASAP
It seems to me a possibility that the casual listener will not be buying albums they don’t really know for friends and lovers and that’s true but on the other hand, serious music fans won’t be taking the holidays off and this will be a terrific opportunity to reach people who wouldn’t have the time to check out stuff they don’t know under normal circumstances.
A Sense Of Wonder Years
Don’t judge a band by its chorus, the seven minute “I Just Want to Want To Sell Out My Funeral” has the band ascending to a huge tempo shift and descending again over and over while they contemplate the residue from the inside out
Is The Song Dead As The Currency Of Modern Pop?
At the heart of so many 2013 big albums, is the lack of song, from Prism to Artpop, from New to Hesitation marks, from …Like Clockwork to Britney Jean, the lack of songs kills the albums in their tracks. They don’t get heard often enough and when and if you do give them the time they need to hit your pleasure button they don’t.