ALBUMS OF OUR LIVES: TO THE EXTREME BY VANILLA ICE
We all had braces. When we smiled or laughed, we flashed steel and colored rubber bands. We shared a language.
Music
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Writing on music at The Rumpus!
Nick Cave Monday #28: “Jack The Ripper”
Jack the Ripper killed women in real life. He is known as Jack the Ripper, and was never caught for his violent crimes. Nick Cave kills people in his music.…
Albums of Our Lives: Songs: Ohia’s Magnolia Electric Co.
The news of Jason Molina’s death came to me in a storm. I was about to teach a class when I saw the first posts announcing that he was gone.
Swinging Modern Sounds #43: Formative Experiences
Often, I find, the musical experiences that have had the most lasting impact on me were not immediately apparent to me at the time.
Sympathy for the Devils: Review of Crossfire Hurricane
The Rolling Stones, who as a band turned fifty in 2012, have survived almost everybody.
“Has the Vinyl Revival Gone Too Far?”
A.V. Club contributor Jason Heller places his bets on the (suspected to be short) future of the vinyl revival in this article about the reissue of Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler.…
Deep Throat #2: On Being and Unbeing A Singer
My face burned with rage, with shame, with humiliation. I was failing openly, blatantly, at the one thing I still somehow, in the back of my mind, expected to be perfectly capable of doing after more than a decade’s silence.
“A Secret of the Heart on the Sleeve:” Jason Molina, 1973 – 2013
Now I’m in that rootless void of grieving the loss of someone I never really knew.
ROCK OUT WITH YOUR BOOK OUT #1: JOLIE HOLLAND
I once read an interview with Jolie Holland in which she mentioned how her songs come through her from some other world.
Nick Cave Monday #27: “Tupelo”
It was a dark and stormy night in April 1936. The city of Tupelo, Mississippi was ravaged by a tornado that killed more than 230 people. It is ranked as…
Nick Cave Monday #26: “Brother, My Cup is Empty”
When the the relationship is over, when your heart is cracked open and leaking blood on your pinstripe suit, when you’re out of cash and you need something to numb…
Diamonds and Rust: Nostalgia, Form, and Noise
There’s always that longing to say everything and nothing at once, that yearning for the moment I forget I am myself.