Violent Femmes’ 40-Year-Old Debut Is a Work of Singular Vision
Violent Femmes’ heart, sound, and aesthetics belong to an earlier, acoustic, analog, atomized rather than the Internet-connected world. It’s like a musical Catcher in the Rye.
Kurt Wildermuth
Calexico’s ‘Feast of Wire’: Mestizaje Was on the Menu as They Evolved
Calexico’s 2003 album Feast of Wire hauntingly soundtracks the plight of Central American migrants who arrive at America’s border long before – and well after – the dissolution of Title 42.
Tearing Down the Fence Between Lisa Germano and ‘Happiness’
With 1993’s Happiness, Capitol Records tried to sit Lisa Germano on a fence between Americana and alternative. With 1994’s Happiness, 4AD Records dismantled the fence.
The Rolling Stones in the Twilight Zone: In Praise of the Disco-y “Emotional Rescue”
Even the Rolling Stones fans who could endure “Lady Jane” never recovered from Jagger’s falsetto, among other things, in “Emotional Rescue”, but that’s their loss.
Thrift-Shop Paydirt: When Used Records Become Learning Opportunities
Being a thrift-shopper and connoisseur of used records offers the chance to learn about music history and unearth forgotten, should-have-been classics.
Black Vinyl: Confessions of a Music Collector
When I touched a copy of the Beatles’ Rarities from the odd, older man’s box of records, the hair stood on the back of my neck. These are the tales of a record collector.
‘Release the Stars’: My Rufus Wainwright Story
My mother adored Rufus Wainwright. I met him briefly in Bryant Park, New York City. Turns out Wainwright adored his mother, as made clear in 2007’s ‘Release the Stars’.