Songs Of Freedom
Sean MurphyOn the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, I had a few things on my mind. Fortunately, I can take a nap because the ever-reliable and brilliant…
Ali Farka Touré’s Finished Business (Revisited)
Great news from Nonesuch Records (Via FB): Nonesuch Records Congratulations to Toumani Diabate and the late Ali Farka Toure, winners of the Grammy Award for Best Traditional World Music Album…
In Praise of Porn…Music: A Primer on Obscure Italian (and German) Soundtrack Bliss
This story begins, as so many of them do, with porn. Sort of. Back in 2004, my boy Serf came back from a trip to Thailand with a treasure trove…
Staring Over The Shoulders Of Giants: Overture
First off, super-sized kudos to Anthony Tommasini, the classical music critic for The New York Times. To even have the interest, much less the ability, to grapple with an ultimate ranking…
West Coast Seattle Boy: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology
All These Colors: Without Names, Without Sound Jimi Hendrix has been dead for a long time, and the only thing we have to reconcile the senselessness of how young he…
Top 50 Albums of the Decade, Part Five (Revisited)
10. The Fiery Furnaces, Bitter Tea (2006) It's a funny thing: as decidedly out there as this effort obviously is, compared to the album that preceded it, Bitter Tea is…
The Boss, The Big Man and The Best Rock Song of the ’70s*
When the change was made uptown and the Big Man joined the band... The rest was history, wasn't it? I am, of course, quoting from "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out", the second…
Top 50 Albums of the Decade, Part Four (Revisited)
20. Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine (2005) Mad genius? Compulsive artiste? Fragile chanteuse? Misunderstood icon? All of the above? More? Whatever it is (and it could be none of this), there…
Top 50 Albums of the Decade, Part Three (Revisited)
30. Sonic Youth, Murray Street (2002) Some might say Sonic Youth did their best work in the '80s; some may claim it was the '90s; others may insist they reached…
Right Down The Line: R.I.P., Gerry Rafferty
A considerable component of what made the '70s so awesome has, sadly, left the building we call Earth. And so it is on the unfortunate occasion of Gerry Rafferty's premature…