Blind Hunger, Black Bodies, and Radiohead’s In Rainbows
I’ve seen it coming. This is where it passes through.
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Music
Swinging Modern Sounds #89: In Praise of Tom Petty
Because Petty was so prolific and so popular, the intense craftsmanship of his body of work has been hiding in plain sight.
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Swinging Modern Sounds #88: Music for the Masses
The interview, like the project Iso Omena, is both funny and revealing.
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Late Summer Soundtracks
New album releases to enjoy these last few weeks of summer!
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Taylor Mulitz’s Social Media Mentors
I’ve always had a voyeuristic relationship with social media.
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Songs of Our Lives: “Off to War”
This is fault-line music, dangerous in an unassuming way.
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Carlos Arévalo’s Lost & Found Hendrix
It felt like someone had taken my memories from me.
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Picking the Green Path: A Conversation with Ansley Simpson
“The green path takes far more work to even recognize—it takes bushwhacking.”
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The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #143: Saul Austerlitz
“I felt that Meredith Hunter was the invisible figure at the center of the story.”
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Swinging Modern Sounds #87: The Low and Dishonest Years
[T]hese are albums to distract you from the horrors taking place daily in the theater of American political life.
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Viv Albertine’s Emotional Investigation
I’ve worked through the pain, and made something useful and creative out of it.
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Swinging Modern Sounds #86: Transcendentalism!
The point is not to control the medium, the point is to interact with the medium, to find out what’s natural to it and what’s native to it and work with that, respond to that.
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Ira Kaplan’s Favorite Pit Stops
To pull into a rest area and get a bag of KFC or McDonald’s or whatever is kind of soul crushing, or at least it is for us.
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A Truer, More Holistic Understanding of Ourselves
What myths or distortions have you been told about your own family?
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The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #133: Jake Shears
“I wrote this book. I worked really, really hard on it, and I was a little scared by it.”
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The Rumpus Mini-Interview Project #132: Juliana Hatfield
“These songs are not just sweet confections. They’re talking about real things, like pain, and not being able to connect.”
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Sadie Dupuis’s Preloved Farfisa Organ
[I]t’s taken me back to those memories of recording at my dad’s, and the stuff that took him back into his past, and ultimately into my future.
...moreAlbum of the Week: Vessel by Frankie Cosmos
A great step forward in Kline’s approach to songwriting, VESSEL is a true indie pop gem.
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The Intersection of Hope and Despair: Talking with Julien Baker
Julien Baker discusses her latest album, Turn Out the Lights, the ways in which she approaches writing about difficult subjects, and the redemptive power in being open about sadness.
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Sound & Vision Is
Aside from his endless capacity for self-invention, Bowie changed the way we experience our own sense of identity.
...moreAlbum of the Week: Alice Bag’s Blueprint
“The songs often find their inspiration in real-life moments that caused Bag to take stock and assess her own blueprint—to take a stand or fix a problem: personal, political, or both.”
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Victoria Ruiz’s Grandma’s Grocery Board
I’m not a trained musician, but my grandma helped me to become fearless…
...moreAlbum of the Week: Soccer Mommy’s Clean
“I’d always wanted my music to sound this way, I just didn’t have the means before.”
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Songs of Our Lives: Jim Carroll’s “People Who Died”
All around me were strangers. All around me were friends. A dark glittering sea of fists. What a terrible, wonderful thing, to be welcomed into this fellowship at last.
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Making Sense of the World: A Conversation with Dessa
Dessa discusses her recently released album, Chime, where she stands on the intersection of poetry and performance, and self-care for busy artists.
...moreDavid Bowie is Visits New York City!
A retrospective exhibition of Bowie’s life and work makes its final stop in Brooklyn!
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In Defense of Sinead O’Connor
“Remember Sinead?” I asked. My mom nodded her head and shrugged.
...moreAlbum of the Week: Mint Field’s Pasar De Las Luces
“Amezcua’s synths and Sanchez’s vocals craft the perfect soundtrack to get lost in…”
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Sound & Vision: Ray Padgett
Allyson McCabe talks with Ray Padgett about his new book, Cover Me, and the blog that inspired it, giving us a fascinating window into the craft and business of making music.
...moreAlbum of the Week: Loma by Loma
“[T]here was an unspoken feeling of urgency, and a sense that a big change was coming for all of us, and I think we all tried to channel that into the work.”
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