Archived Musings: Reviews & Notes 
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
Robinlike, or the Anxiety of Influence
After years of hemming and hawing, I’ve finally, though reluctantly, decided to share one of the gems that I’ve recorded. Read on to find out what it is, why I’ve been loathe to let it circulate, and why I'm setting it free…
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Tuesday, 12 August 2008
High Contrast: The Challenges and Pleasures of Portishead's Third
At long last, I’ve gotten around to posting my thoughts on Portishead’s latest release, Third. In some ways, the disc is a deliberate attempt by the band to defy expectations. It’s also a satisfying reminder of why their fans have those expectations. Click through for the full story…
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Wednesday, 25 June 2008
Coldplay, My Morning Jacket and the Perils of Success...
This is a tale of two bands: one trying to recapture success (Coldplay) and the other seemingly poised for it (My Morning Jacket) with their new releases. In this post, after sifting through a thicket of press coverage and listening to the albums, I write about why their new releases have me doubting that success is a good thing…
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Dreamy (and Tense?): Mark Kozelek at the Highline Ballroom, NYC
This post is a review of a rewardingly beautiful and somewhat strange performance by Mark Kozelek at the Highline Ballroom in New York City, 13 June 2008. While the music was beautiful, conflicts with fans and seeming conflicts with band members threatened to derail the evening. Read on for the full story…
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Friday, 8 February 2008
The Albums That Almost Made the Cut…
After a lengthy work-induced delay, I am finally posting the 2007 almost best-of list. The process of making decisions was more difficult than it has ever been. Click through to find out what the list contains, and start submitting your bets for what made the best-of list…
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Wednesday, 6 February 2008
Wit, Passion and Precision: Joe Henry at the Old Town School of Folk Music
After years of waiting, I finally got the opportunity to see Joe Henry perform live—in this case at the Old Town School of Folk Music here in Chicago. The show, featuring a stripped-down ensemble, went far beyond my already high expectations. Read on to find out why and how…
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Sunday, 11 November 2007
Control Is Shaky, at Best
This seems to be the year of the bad music biopic. In an earlier post, I discussed what was wrong with El Cantante. A few days ago, I saw Control, Anton Corbijn’s new film about Ian Curtis of Joy Division, and—as was the case last summer—left feeling more disappointed than inspired. Click through to find out why…
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Tuesday, 9 October 2007
Interpol, or Releasing the Weight of Expectations
With Interpol’s latest show in Chicago a mere two days away (and Radiohead’s album release mere hours distant), I contemplate here the crushing weight of expectations and how they prevented me, initially, from loving Interpol’s latest, Our Love to Admire. Read on to find out why I’m changing my mind…
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Saturday, 6 October 2007
Still Waiting for El Cantante to Sing
Several weeks ago, accompanied by my new friend Nicole (not to be confused with the Nicole who saw Cassandra Wilson and Olu Dara with me in June), I went with trepidation to see the biopic El Cantante. While I started writing this post immediately after returning home, the first draft proved too vitriolic to post. Click through for the more sober reviewæ
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Thursday, 4 October 2007
Niecy Illustrates the Bittersweetness of Freedom
Following a tangled, near unrecoverable chain of associations, I found myself listening to Deniece Williams’s This Is Niecy earlier. What I heard for the first time in ages prompted me to write about the music and about love. Perhaps curiosity will prompt you to read...
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Tuesday, 2 October 2007
In Radiohead v. the Recording Industry, Radiohead Leads (For Now)
A few days ago Radiohead shocked and pleased its fans by announcing the almost immediate availability of its new album, In Rainbows. In the media, however, more attention has been focused on how they're releasing the album. Read on for a brief discussion of why the hype about their strategy is equally justified and overblown…
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Friday, 14 September 2007
Joe Henry and the Complex, Varied Worlds of Civilians
After a four-year hiatus, in which he devoted his time to work as a producer, Joe Henry has released a new album, Civilians. Though the wait was long, the album is both different from Henry’s previous work and worth the wait. Click through to find out more about him and read a capsule review…
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Tuesday, 28 August 2007
Bowie? Sylvian? Jobriath? Mackenzie? A Mystery Solved
Early in 2005, in the midst of late-night web-crawling, I came across a song that called “Jobriath” that was a mystery. It couldn’t have been produced by the artist listed in the file name. After over two years, I have finally solved the mystery. Click through to hear the song and the tale of my discovering the truth about it…
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Friday, 6 July 2007
Second Thoughts: Rufus Wainwright, Feist and Wilco
There’s nothing better for me having a few days away to catch up on my listening. On a lazy afternoon in San Francisco, I discovered how much I really dig the latest releases by Rufus Wainwright, Feist and Wilco. Read on to find out what two of them good, and one potentially great…
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Saturday, 16 June 2007
A Porch in the Park: Cassandra Wilson & Olu Dara
Recently, Cassandra Wilson and Olu Dara, two Mississippi-born artists with backgrounds in jazz put on a difficult-to-categorize show at Central Park's SummerStage. It was a breathtaking show that capped a lovely day. And it was all about being in the moment. Click through to get the rest of the story.
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Monday, 11 June 2007
Has Panda Bear Produced the Best Release of 2007?
Hype can be a dangerous thing. For me, it almost always arouses suspicion, raises expectations and promises disappointment. The new release by Panda Bear (of Animal Collective), however, is one CD that deserves all of the accolades it has received. Read on to find out why…
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Saturday, 9 June 2007
A Cold and Broken Hallelujah
If you’ve read many of the posts here, you know that I rarely say good things about music critics—even though some of them are among my best friends. Here’s a post wherein I temporarily back away from criticizing critics to sing the praises of one. It helps that he’s discussing one of my favorite songs.
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Monday, 16 April 2007
SNL, Gil Scott-Heron and the Persistence of Memory
You know how it is. You walk into a store with limited time and solid ideas about what you will and will not purchase. And, then, as you stand at the counter handing over your money, something catches your eye, something that you must have. For me, it was boxed set containing the first season of Saturday Night Live. Read on to find out how it led me (back) to Gil Scott-Heron’s underappreciated pieces…
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Friday, 23 March 2007
What’s Public About Public Radio?
For more than a decade now, public radio stations have been abandoning music programming in favor a steady diet of news and talk programs. In some ways, it’s a strategy that will keep listeners tuned in and donating. Read on to find out why I think their logic is misguided.
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Sunday, 11 March 2007
Win Butler, Paul Banks and Lazy Comparisons
The Arcade Fire now seem poised for a commercial breakthrough with their new album Neon Bible, but the critics heralding them all keep repeating the same, lazy bit of insight. If I didn’t regularly shave my head, the coverage would have me pulling out my hair. Read on to find out why.
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Saturday, 13 January 2007
Terence Trent D’Arby and Black Eclecticism
Why is it that the work of black musicians is so often understood and criticized only in terms of genre categories, and a limited set at that? This post attempts to answer that question though looking at yet another underappreciated recording, this one by Terence Trent D’Arby.
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Tuesday, 2 January 2007
The Almost Best of 2006
As a prelude to the mailing of my lovingly compiled 2006 best-of compiliation, this post presents the list of items that almost made the cut. Included as well are explanations for the curious about the time-intensive process that I employ to select the items for the compilation
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Tuesday, 18 April 2006
Cat Power Channels Dusty Springfield: The Greatest
It sounded crazy to me when I learned that Cat Power was recording in Memphis with a number of musicians who worked on Al Green’s recordings in the 1970s. But that I’m finally listening to the resultant release, The Greatest, the choice makes perfect, beautiful sense
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Sunday, 2 April 2006
The Sound of Vidro Azul
Along with many of my friends, I find myself increasingly disappointed by the fare on my local radio stations. And like many of them, I’ve recently turned to the Internet to find terrestrial shows and podcasts to fill the gap. Recently, my friend Pedro started telling everyone about a great show from Portugal called Vidro Azul. If you’re looking for a great radio show, you could do yourself a favor by checking it out. As always, read on for the details…
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Thursday, 29 December 2005
Reports of Its Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated/2005’s Also-Rans
It currently seems to be common sense that declining album sales in the U.S. are a result of consumers choosing download rather than purchase material. Here I argue that common sense is more received wisdom and link to some articles that provide background. And, finally, I publish the list of albums that almost made the 2005 best-of list.
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Tuesday, 28 June 2005
Earticklers, Me’shell Ndegéocello and Morning Becomes Eclectic
This post is a hodgepodge—as the title above might indicate. In it, you’ll find a list of the discs currently in heavy rotation in my home CD player, especially by Me’shell Ndegéocello. Also on offer are some notes on Nic Harcourt, spurred by a feature on him in a recent issue of the New York Times Magazine.
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Sunday, 27 March 2005
Apostle of Hustle’s Modern-Day Folkloric Feel
Since I was first turned on to Toronto’s Broken Social Scene last year, I have found myself loving everything recorded on their label, Arts and Crafts. Apostle of Hustle is a spin-off from BSS, and its debut album Folkloric Feel is an absolute gem. Details in the full post…
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Wednesday, 9 March 2005
Catching Up with Eric Matthews
After years of silence, multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter, Eric Matthews has re-emerged with a mini-album, Six Kinds of Passion Looking for an Exit, and promises of a full-length release. Read on to find out why both bits of news are good things, and what Matthews has done in the time since we last heard from him…
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Thursday, 3 March 2005
Night Music and Allen Toussaint’s Sublimely Beautiful Southern Nights
In this post, I sound a lament for Night Music, one of the most eclectic late-night music shows ever broadcast on U.S. network television. I also heap praise on singer, pianist and composer Allen Toussaint, one of the artists I (re)discovered through watching the show.
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Monday, 21 February 2005
Music for a Darkened Room: (Leslie) Feist’s Let It Die
(Leslie) Feist’s Let It Die has to be one of the most beautiful and brilliant albums ever released. The sound of her voice, the inventiveness of the arrangements, and the wide range of styles she explores all make the album worth experiencing. Read on to get the full story…
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Monday, 6 September 2004
Jeff Buckley’s Grace ... Ten Years Later
It’s been almost a decade since Jeff Buckley…s Grace was first released, and to celebrate, Sony/Columbia has released a tenth-anniversary deluxe edition of the album, with the obligatory bonus tracks. Read on to learn more about what’s inside the package as well as to hear the sad tale of the profiteering of Buckley’s mother.
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Wednesday, 4 August 2004
Concept Albums, Marvin Gaye and What’s Going On
I’ve been thinking a lot about concept albums lately, partly because they will be the subject of my fall seminar. Planning the seminar is turning out to be more difficult than I thought, since I'm trying to narrow down a large list to ten items. One of them is clear, though: Marvin Gaye’'s What’s Going On. Read the rest of the post to find out what the other recordings are, and why I think the Gaye album is musically brilliant.
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Tuesday, 3 August 2004
The Durutti Column and the Art of Simplicity
This is another semi-nostalgic post about a song I heard only once in the mid-1980s. The song is “Tomorrow”, and the group is the Durutti Column. Despite my brief encounter, the track made such an impression that nearly 20 years on I had to track down the disc from which it was taken. Click through to find out why the rest of the album is just as good…
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Wednesday, 28 July 2004
Want One? The Latest from Rufus Wainwright, That Is
Rufus Wainwright is one of those artists I have long overlooked, and I'm not sure why. After hearing his two earliest albums during a road trip, I went searching for them in the Berkeley Amoeba. Neither of them were in stock, but his latest release Want One was on sale. So I snapped it up and had my ears blown. Read on to get full story…
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Saturday, 29 May 2004
(George Michael’s) Patience Has Its Own Rewards
Is the title a reference to what fans had to display as they waited years to hear new material from George Michael? Even if it isn’t, this release rewards all those who were clamoring for something, anything that could match Michael’s last great album, 2006$#8217;s Older. Find out why by reading the rest…
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Tuesday, 25 May 2004
Teena Marie’s “Portuguese Love”
Rather than wax exegetical on a single album or a group of albums, I decided this out to write about only one song. “Portuguese Love” is another unsung gems from the late 1970s. You might not even hear this one on a dusties show, but you should. As always, read on to find out why…
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Monday, 24 May 2004
Lloyd Cole’s Literate Cynicism
Lloyd Cole has fascinated me since I first heard tracks from his debut album Rattlesnakes back in 1984. This post is a series of reflections on the subtleties of Cole’s music and the witty, world-weariness of his lyrics since the mid-1980s…
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Monday, 17 May 2004
The Comfortable Elegance of Roxy Music’s Avalon
After discussing the merits and careers of Paul Weller and Bryan Ferry with some friends recently, I realized it was time to give Roxy Music’s final studio album, Avalon, another spin. Along with a flood of memories, here’s what came out of the experience…
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Thursday, 29 April 2004
This Tattooed Bride is Beautifully Complicated
Today was Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington’s birthday and a reissue of Masterpieces by Ellington got me thinking about what a wonderful, sadly overlooked piece this is. In it one hears pre-echoes of things that Charles Mingus, among others, would adapt in his arranging years later. Read the rest of the story using the link below.
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Thursday, 8 April 2004
Digging Goldfrapp, Lamb and Ron Sexsmith
I recently acquired some remarkable, mostly new releases, spurred in one case by listening online to a radio show in Detroit. Read on to find out more about how I “discovered” Goldfrapp and got reacquainted with Lamb and Ron Sexsmith.
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Tuesday, 30 March 2004
A Fine Hour with the Sundays
A long drive to Ann Arbor helped me to rediscover how amazing the Sundays’ debut album, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic is. It was an obsession during my last year of college, and hearing it with fresh ears has me putting it back into heavy rotation. Click through to the post for the full story…
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Thursday, 18 March 2004
Returning to Battle with the Art of Noise
The recent reissue of the Art of Noise’s debut EP gets me talking technology and influence as well as singing the praises of producer Trevor Horn.
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Saturday, 6 March 2004
Why I Love Christopher Tracy’s Parade
This has to be one of the most consistently inventive albums that Prince ever produced. (Too bad the movie it accompanied was a dud). In this post, I explain why I love “Christopher Tracy’s Parade” as well as everything else on this recording.
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Friday, 20 February 2004
Outkast, Pedro, Peace Orchestra, Mice Parade and Múm
This inaugural post features observations on some of the recordings I’ve been digging, many recommended by my friend Pedro. Included among them are releases by the artists listed in the title, all of whom have produced some challenging and eartickling music…
