Fantômas: Fifteen Years Later
Sean MurphyA writer should always set challenges: it keeps things interesting and guards against formulaic and predictable assessments. Still, as Harry Callahan sagely observed, "A man's gotta know his limitations." I…
Mr. Bungle’s California: Fifteen Years Later
*8/5/14: This dropped a little over five years ago, which is difficult to fathom. This album dropped a little over fifteen years ago, which is exceedingly difficult to fathom. ***…
Wayne Shorter: JuJu at 50
Fifty years ago, today, this masterpiece dropped on an unworthy world. Borrowing Coltrane's band, Wayne Shorter proved he could bring the ruckus like the best of them. This, in fact,…
Via the Spectrum Road with Vernon Reid (Revisited)
Listening to Vernon Reid speak is like listening to Vernon Reid play the guitar: you need both ears and all your mind to keep up. Ideas flow eagerly, thoughts within…
Remembering the USS Indianapolis, Robert Shaw and The Scene
On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis, which had just delivered key components of the Hiroshima atomic bomb to the Pacific island of Tinian, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine.…
Ripe with Rich Attainments: Jethro Tull’s ‘A Passion Play’, Reassessed
For prog-rock aficionados, the hits keep coming, and one man above all deserves our gratitude: Steven Wilson. Whether it’s Yes, King Crimson, or Jethro Tull—all of whom he has worked…
Ars Moriendi or, The Art of Dying (American Style)
This post takes some excerpts from my memoir Please Talk About Me When I’m Gone. While this project is an attempt to commemorate –and celebrate– my mother’s life, it also…
Amy Winehouse: Lack of Love is A Losing Game (Revisited)
Earlier this year I had the opportunity to write about Amy Winehouse via Howard Sounes' book 27. (Full review here.) Here is the crux: For his new book, 27, Howard…
Hell’s Not Gonna Be Hot Enough: Johnny Winter, R.I.P.
Hell is not gonna be hot enough for this cat. R.I.P. Johnny Winter, an American bad-ass of the first rank. An albino playing the blues? Duh. Most young, uninitiated punks…
James Garner, R.I.P.
James Garner has died. So too has a tiny part of my childhood. What an American icon. A real hero, on many levels. I don't have anything to add. If…