It’s difficult to pick out a single incident in Emily Hashimoto’s A World Between to serve as example of the messy relationship dynamics between protagonists Continue Reading
Music Dose
Thaba Captivate with Their Electrosoul on 'Eyes Rest Their Feet'
In more than one way, Eyes Rest Their Feet is a bittersweet listen. The debut album of duo Thaba is one packed with expansive synths Continue Reading
Sam Amidon Is Not the Man He Used to Be
Multi-instrumentalist and singer Sam Amidon reworks the nine folk songs on his eponymously titled album because they were familiar to him and associated with personal Continue Reading
'The Baby-Sitters Club' Can Help Children Cope with COVID-era Death
Like many elder millennials, my 1990s childhood consisted of a steady diet of MTV’s Total Request Live, Cool Ranch Doritos, and The Baby-Sitters Club books. Continue Reading
The 10 Best Warren Zevon Lyrics
From as early as his teenage years, it was plain that Warren Zevon was never going to be an ordinary person, or at the very Continue Reading
John Ford Silent Westerns 'Straight Shooting' and 'Hell Bent' Raise a Ruckus
John Ford launched his career as a feature director with a string of more than 20 wildly successful westerns starring cowboy actor Harry Carey, who Continue Reading
10 Essential Shoegaze Albums That Aren't 'Loveless'
10. The Jesus and Mary Chain – Psychocandy [Blanco y Negro, 1985] Whilst not a “shoegaze” record by any strict definition of the term, Psychocandy is Continue Reading
'Alive' Showcases the Two Sides of Fred Eaglesmith and Tif Ginn
There are two kinds of “Fred Heads” (dedicated Fred Eaglesmith fans). Some relish his songwriting skills. His ability to evoke life on the farm and Continue Reading
Celebrate People's History Vol. 2: Power to the People!
The ‘people’s history’ approach to thinking about and interpreting the past has gained momentum over the last few decades. From Howard Zinn’s indispensable A People’s Continue Reading
Dan Weiss Starebaby Blend Metal and Jazz on 'Natural Selection'
Why shouldn’t jazz and metal find a common cause? A good slice of both genres thrive and precision, complexity, and instrumental prowess. The composer (and Continue Reading
Randy Newman's 'Born Again' Is His Best Critique of Toxic Masculinity
In 1977, Randy Newman had the biggest hit song of his career, “Short People”, which somewhat incredibly made it to number two on the Billboard Continue Reading
Ron Miles' 'Rainbow Sign' Is Quietly Fantastic
Ron Miles’ last album, 2017’s I Am a Man was elite. It brought together a striking band—his triomates Bill Frisell on guitar and drummer Brian Continue Reading
Experimentalist David Grubbs Documents a Live Set with 'October 19, 2017'
6 April 2020, “The Quarantine Concerts”: This is the first time I remember hearing David Grubbs like this, and I was unmoored by the presentation Continue Reading
'I Just Wanted to Save My Family', or, How European Institutions Profit from the Refugee Crisis
In the summer of 2011 the Syrian civil war broke out. After struggling for four years to hold on in the capital of Damascus where Continue Reading
Prince and the New Power Generation – 'Diamonds and Pearls' (Between the Grooves)
Prince’s 1991 album Diamonds and Pearls, which introduced his band the New Power Generation, is by some counts his second best-selling album period, after Purple Continue Reading
'Captain America: Civil War' Mirrors Another Kind of American Civil War
In the year 2016, battle lines were drawn. I’m not just referring to on-screen, where heroes fought other heroes in Captain America: Civil War (Russo Continue Reading
Steve Wynn Cracks Open the Archive with 'Decade'
Steve Wynn has the patience of a saint. When he formed the Dream Syndicate in 1981, he was up against it, as all the hip Continue Reading
'Live 80-81' Is Testimony to How Hot This Heat Were on Stage
At age 13, I encountered my first bootleg: a murky cassette of a Nirvana performance from 1988, seemingly recorded from a toilet stall in the Continue Reading
JW Francis Shares Joyous New Video For “All There”
One of the first new tracks I shared this year was JW Francis’ ‘Gold‘ which also found him gracing the cover of my Must Hear Continue Reading
Charles Mingus @ Bremen 1964 & 1975
Bassist and composer Charles Mingus used to be a figure of controversy for ten different reasons, some political, some personal, and—though this all seems silly Continue Reading