Finding Healing in Gospel Music
I wasn’t pressured to be stoic. I was permitted to release. I was permitted to be.
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Music
Swinging Modern Sounds #104: Paradise
For me, performance is a conversation with the sacred and timeless, the sublime.
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The Quiet Poetry of Post-Rock
You just have to sink into the music and let it wash over you.
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Swinging Modern Sounds: Observations on the Occasion of a 100th Column
The clash of opinions about music is music itself.
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The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project: Jeff Tweedy
“The fact is we’re all living part of one long song.”
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Re-Contextualizing Dolly Parton in Her Full Glory: Talking with Sarah Smarsh
Sarah Smarsh discusses her new book, SHE COME BY IT NATURAL.
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Thurston Moore’s 12-String Guitar
Even though I’ve only had my 12-string for two years, this is my favorite guitar.
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Alice Bag’s Queen’s Quilt
My parents told me, “This is a special one for the queen.”
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Swinging Modern Sounds #103: Song Turned Blue
I’m not writing confessionals; I’m trying to write hooks.
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To Pimp a Mockingbird: A Lesson Plan
Literacy, you know firsthand, is a tool, is a motivator, is the beat of education.
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Keeping Time in Los Angeles
Music was noise, and noise was music, and George Antheil was on his way.
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Swinging Modern Sounds #102: Ten Influential Albums
Music columnist Rick Moody writes on ten albums that influenced him through his life.
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Swinging Modern Sounds #101: A Really Big Band
Zappa, on the other hand, was never sentimental.
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“Close to You”: A Family’s Love, Depression, and Grief
In my hands is the record of my youth.
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Voices on Addiction: Jack and the Boss
My sobriety is still a mystery to me. Forty years this December.
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You Never Win, You Never Lose: Talking with Gabriel Birnbaum
Gabriel Birnbaum discusses his new album, NOT ALONE.
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Erin McKeown’s Dress
I still had the dress and decided to wear it.
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Everything Is Happening All of the Time: Talking with Sven Ratzke
Sven Ratzke discusses his new show, WHERE ARE WE NOW.
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Tom May’s Hiking Boots
It’s good to know I’ll always be prepared for what’s out there.
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Swinging Modern Sounds #99: One of These Days It’s Gonna Set You Free
I’m just being an artist. I’m just being creative.
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Donna Dresch’s World of Radio
It was like a nationwide Yellow Pages of radio.
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Sanae Yamada’s Favorite Foods
It’s beyond comfort food. And when I’m out on the road it’s a signifier of home.
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Swinging Modern Sounds #98: Against Jazz
Nate Wooley, the reason for this piece, is a essential force in the contemporary music.
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The Mania of Queer Desire: In Praise of Fever Ray’s Plunge
I remember driving a bird mad once.
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The Lost Art of the Mixtape in Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl
Lawlor uses the act of making a mixtape to show us their character’s mind at work.
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Swinging Modern Sounds #97: It’s a Wonder We Can Even Feed Ourselves
What follows, then, is a sort of first-thought-best-thought discussion of MORE BLOOD, MORE TRACKS.
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Snail Mail’s Beloved Books
Wherever I go out on tour, I always have a book with me, and another for when I’m finished.
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When Michel Legrand Dies
I sing it to feel the darkness of it. I demand access.
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Swinging Modern Sounds #96: Voices of Displacement
Thank God music has wings and it can fly wherever, even countries we can’t reach.
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Palehound’s Special Skateboard
In a lot of ways, I kind of gave up on my body.
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