The Moody Blues: Masters of the Mini Epic
Sean MurphyThe Moody Blues have not aged particularly well. And that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. To be sure, more than a handful of their songs are as timeless as any…
Brooklyn Reading #5: Bright Moments
May 29, 2014. It was billed as a throwback to the old Beatnik days, minus the bongos and clove cigarettes. As such, New York City was a mandatory locale; Brooklyn…
Serpico and Turning Black Friday into Good Friday
Look at that dude. Pacino, clean-shaven and short-haired as the movie begins, sports the best 'stache of the decade, then goes goatee, then gets full facial (hair and head), all…
Let Us Give Thanks for the Guitar Solo (Revisited)
Let us give thanks for the guitar solo. This excercise is equal parts pointless and onanistic, which, of course, is the entire point. (Quick: what was your favorite orgasm? Thought…
The Whiteness of the Whale: Remembering The White Album (Revisited)
Therefore, in his other moods, symbolize whatever grand or gracious thing he will by whiteness, no man can deny that in its profoundest idealized significance it calls up a peculiar…
If I Could Wave My Magic Wand… (Revisited)
(Editor's note: Rush's last great album (in my opinion), Presto, was released this week, in 1989. A quarter-century ago. Yikes. Here is a piece I wrote in October, 2009) ***…
Pete La Roca, R.I.P. (Two Years Later)
It will be an ongoing, and very somber, progression, watching so many old-school jazz musicians (many of whom recorded on the epic Blue Note label during the glory years of…
Brooklyn Reading #4: Waiting Room
May 29, 2014. It was billed as a throwback to the old Beatnik days, minus the bongos and clove cigarettes. As such, New York City was a mandatory locale; Brooklyn…
Russell Brand, Revolution and The Audacity of Apathy (Revisited)
FIRST OFF, LET’S dispense with decorum and declare the obvious: Russell Brand is brilliant, and quite possibly a genius. In addition to his comedic and acting abilities, he is a…
The Holy Trinity, Part Two: Jethro Tull (Revisited)
I, like too many prog-rock fanatics to count, was delighted when Rush received their overdue induction into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame. I still hold out hope that…