Posts by author

Stephen Akey

Stephen Akey is the author of the memoirs College and Library. His essays have appeared in The Millions, Open Letters Monthly, and The New Republic.

Music, Rumpus Original

Stephen Akey

Dec 22, 2016

Sound Takes: A Charlie Brown Christmas

But what distinguishes Guaraldi from his superiors is his respect for the tried and true. If “O Tannenbaum” has worked for a few hundred years, maybe it’s worth kicking around the block a time or two.
Music, Rumpus Original

Stephen Akey

Aug 18, 2016

Sound Takes: Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

At once soothing and horrifying, it became for me the soundtrack of grief and hope for my wounded city and country.
Music, Rumpus Original

Stephen Akey

Sep 24, 2015

Sound Takes: Let’s Knife

Analysis fails before this mysterious amalgam of silliness and sublimity. Or maybe I’m just a sucker for songs with cat whiskers in them.
Music, Rumpus Original

Stephen Akey

May 28, 2015

Albums of Our Lives: Talking Heads’s Talking Heads: 77

There isn’t a weak song on Talking Heads: 77. It’s funny, it’s lyrical, it rocks, and the songs stick in your head.