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Classical CD Reviews: “Whither Must I Wander,” “Death and the Maiden,” and Caroline Shaw’s “Is a Rose” & “The Listeners”

May 23, 2020
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Whither Must I Wander, the debut recording from baritone Will Liverman and pianist Jonathan King, is one of 2020’s finest classical releases; 12 ensemble provides a kinetically-played example of a large-ensemble arrangement of chamber music.

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Book Review: Art Critic Peter Schjeldahl — Connecting Readers to the World in a New Way

May 22, 2020
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Good essays about art help us learn to see. Wonderful essays about the artists in our lives — which means all the artists through history, because, as Peter Schjeldahl so eloquently puts it, “all art is contemporary” —- help us learn how to live.

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Film Commentary: Drive-Ins May Save Our Sanity this Summer

May 22, 2020
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The sensory delights of drive-ins have been pretty well forgotten in an age when watching movies has meant never leaving the comfort of your living room.

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Book Review: “Marking Time” — Documenting the Visual Arts in American Prisons

May 22, 2020
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Marking Time explores how the creation of art in prison can disrupt institutionalized patterns of dehumanization. The book’s larger narrative comes with an overt political aim: “to envision and help create a world without human caging.”

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Book Review: “Cleanness” — Eroticism as a State of Being

May 22, 2020
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The embrace of existential uncertainty in Cleanness enhances the reading experience because it helps us to understand what’s vitally important to the narrator.

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Pop Album Review: Hayley Williams’s “Petals for Armour” — A Compelling Solo Adventure

May 21, 2020
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On her solo debut, the former Paramore lead singer undergoes a startling transformation.

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Jazz Commentary: Sinatra — Myth, Reality, and a Critic Standing in Line at Arby’s

May 21, 2020
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A review of the 60th anniversary reissue of Frank Sinatra’s album Nice ‘n’ Easy. Though not without a few rounds with the Sinatra mythology — not the complicated man, but his music.

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Television Review: “Circus of Books” — The Cultural Importance of Adult Bookstores

May 21, 2020
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Circus of Books is a hilarious film about a gay porn book store and its owners, “heartwarming” even, and it’s all true.

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Jazz CD Review: “The Jerry Granelli Trio Plays Vince Guaraldi and Mose Allison” — Paying Exciting Homage

May 21, 2020
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The interpretations of the covers in this beautifully realized tribute album will bring back memories of the originals in a way that is enlivening rather than nostalgic.

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Theater Commentary: Why Are America’s Stages Afraid of Dealing with the Climate Crisis?

May 20, 2020
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Those who survive the climate crisis will regard American theater’s current indifference with incredulity and disgust.

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