What Woody said...
Culture
Song For An Emptied Planet
Do you like scary stories? Well, you're not prepared for the terrors of this one. An emptied planet, Earth without human beings, has been on my mind for a while. If you 'enjoyed' the NY Mag article, and would like to think about the future in a parallel, and visceral way, I would like to … Continue reading Song For An Emptied Planet
My America
The perpetually new-found land http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGaznqY5ewNl_1fi0s6C2OQJxGJvF-2No
Thread(ing) the Words, the World
As a reader interested in the state of contemporary music, you've likely already seen that Henry Threadgill won this year's Pulitzer Prize in music, specifically for his 2015 album on Pi, In For a Penny, In for a Pound. Personally, I'm overjoyed. I've been following Threadgill since I first heard one of his records with … Continue reading Thread(ing) the Words, the World
Deaths in Winter
Deaths come disproportionally in winter (in the northern hemisphere). There's no sure explanation, but it seems to me the combination of cold and diminished sunlight direct the body towards a natural cessation of activity, and for one already approaching the end of life, it may be perhaps one subtle step to slip away. Some important, … Continue reading Deaths in Winter
Best Classical Recordings 2015
Another year in which classical music didn’t die, was not dying, was not suffering, etc, just like every other year. I attended easily over 100 classical music performances, spanning music from the Renaissance to something like last Thursday, and listened to over 200 recordings that were issued just this year—and one important caveat is that … Continue reading Best Classical Recordings 2015
Brooklyn Rail Summer Podcast
The Man Machine
In the fall of 2009, Capitol/EMI issued a lavish and long-awaited box set, collecting the catalogue of recordings of one of the world's most beloved, and most important, pop music groups. The music this group made was not only great in its own right but revolutionary and hugely influential. Whole genres of popular music of the last forty years are impossible to imagine, and would have been impossible to create, without the legacy of this band, arguably the greatest of all that came out of the rise of pop culture and mass media. That band is, of course, Kraftwerk.
