Discovering Elvis Costello was probably the sole highlight of my strange and turbulent sophomore year of high school. It probably would have been runner-up had Continue Reading
Music Dose
'Share the Wealth' Balances Nels Cline's Interest in Tradition and Exploration
Guitarist Nels Cline has released his third album for jazz’s Cadillac label, Blue Note. In a sense, though, it is his first Nels Cline recording Continue Reading
Bobcat Rob & The Nightly Howl Shares “Popcorn Lung”
Bobcat Rob & The Nightly Howl might be my spirit animal if Popcorn Lung is anything to go by, minus the whole popcorn lung part. Laidback Continue Reading
King Hu's 'Raining in the Mountain' Is Rich with Gorgeous Atmosphere
In 1979, King Hu made two epics at once and in the same locations in South Korea. One was the three-hour Legend of the Mountain Continue Reading
Caroline Shaw Dissects Shape-Note Hymns, Water, and Heaven on 'Narrow Sea'
Caroline Shaw is a composer whose approach redefines the term “multifaceted”. The North Carolina native received the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013 for her Continue Reading
'Somewhere Between' Is an Irresistible Dive Into '80s Japanese Pop
Over the last couple of years, Light in the Attic – a reissue label responsible for lavishly reviving the catalogs of artists as disparate as Continue Reading
Hilma af Klint's Art Gives Shape to the Things We Cannot See
In this significant collection of essays and illustrations, curator Milena Høgsberg marvels at the reception to Hilma af Klint’s work at the 2020 exhibition at Continue Reading
Rod Abernethy Says 'Normal Isn't Normal Anymore'
As the hoary saying goes, old folkies never die, they just keep on playing the same song over and over again. At 67 years old, Continue Reading
'Relic' Director Natalie Erika James on Our Relatable Anxieties
In Relic (2020), Kay (Emily Mortimer) accompanied by her daughter Sam (Bella Heathcote), rushes to the family’s decaying country home after her mother, Edna (Robyn Continue Reading
12 Compositions to Introduce You to Classical Music Post-1950
1. Alfred Schnittke – “Collected Songs Where Every Verse Is Filled with Grief” arr. the Kronos Quartet (1997) Alfred Schnittke’s most famous piece is probably Continue Reading
The Guilty Pleasure of Summers' Monstrous 'A Certain Hunger'
“People tend to think,” narrates Dorothy Daniels, who we learn early on is in prison for murder and more, “that the most natural stories begin Continue Reading
Here Comes Brooklyn Returns With “(I Want Your) Lovin’ Baby”
It’s been time since Here Comes Brooklyn (Alex Tepper) has released something but the Brooklyn-based artist returns with (I Want Your) Lovin’ Baby. Recorded, mixed, Continue Reading
Judy Irving's Nuclear Weapons Documentary 'Dark Circle' Remains Timeless
“If you are working with a radioactive substance, don’t let it escape…it may come back to you.” — National Educational Television video on plutonium (1963) Continue Reading
The 10 Best John Coltrane Solos
10. “My Favorite Things” from My Favorite Things Coltrane popularized the use of the soprano saxophone in jazz, and this track had a lot to do with Continue Reading
J Dilla's 'Welcome 2 Detroit' Pointed the Way to 21st Century Hop-Hop
It’s been 15 years since J Dilla released Donuts, an album whose deft manipulation of sampling makes it perhaps the most influential instrumental hip-hop record Continue Reading
'Some Kind of Heaven' and the Ageless Pursuit of Fulfillment
An exception to the US Fair Housing Act of 1968 — which prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of housing based on race, Continue Reading
Weezer Pull Themselves Out of a Rut with Help From an Orchestra
Of all the orchestra/rock band combinations you could imagine, the pairing of Weezer with a full complement of classical players would have to rank as Continue Reading
Sundance 2021: Sion Sono's Gonzo 'Prisoners of the Ghostland'
All that certain film fans will need to hear about Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono’s post-apocalyptic samurai-western Prisoners of the Ghostland is that it’s directed by Continue Reading
Between the Buried and Me's Breakthrough 'Colors' Still Thrills 13 Years Later
As 2020 drew to a close, Craft Recordings’ yearlong Between the Buried and Me remaster and vinyl reissue project arrived at 2007’s Colors, their fourth Continue Reading
Between the Grooves: lowercase – 'Kill the Lights'
1. “She Takes Me” “Folding corners into perfect shapes / Went forlorn in a vapor of Elysian escapes” That’s how these lines to “She Takes Me” Continue Reading