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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Music
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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Bring on Your Wrecking Balls
There is hope, and hopelessness, whenever wrecking balls are sung.
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Something Bigger and of Greater Value: Talking with Bruce Cockburn
Canadian musician Bruce Cockburn discusses his new album, Bone on Bone, songwriting, and the benefits of not selling out.
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: Marissa Paternoster Knows That Animals Aren’t Objects
[T]he one thing I wake up next to, that I couldn’t imagine living without, isn’t an object at all. It’s a dog.
...moreAlbum of the Week: Blood by Rhye
“The past is in your blood, it’s about genetics, it’s about love, your heart.”
...moreAlbum of the Week: Nils Frahm’s All Melody
“ALL MELODY was imagined to be so many things over time and it has been a whole lot, but never exactly what I planned it to be.”
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Wanted/Needed/Loved: John Linnell’s Sentimental Nimslo
Photos carry our memories, and in their own unique way our cameras do, too.
...moreAlbum of the Week: I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life by tUnE-yArDs
“…I am—as so many musicians do—taking those influences and turning them into music that’s under my name.”
...moreThe Kids Are Alright (and Their Music Is, Too)
Guitar music is alive and well in South London.
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Sound & Vision: Michael Hearst
Allyson McCabe talks with Michael Hearst, a founding member of One Ring Zero, about how he got his start in music and writing, and what he’s been working on recently.
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Swinging Modern Sounds #85: The Introduction of the Pitch
It seems like it’s the point of this piece to draw attention to the fact that these instruments are wounded; it shouldn’t be something that tries to hide it.
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