Commentary

Music Commentary: Why You Should Buy 45s

November 25, 2019
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Let the unimaginative people diddle around with their baseball cards and stamp collections. This is the kind of irrational, eccentric passion that you will be remembered for.

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Music Commentary: The Black Crowes — Redux?

November 13, 2019
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When have the Robinsons ever done what was expected on them? And when have they ever really cared?

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Arts Commentary: MFA Boston — at 150

November 9, 2019
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There have been times in the MFA’s past when it hasn’t lived up to its educational mission, when it has pandered to the whims of the wealthy — particularly its fat cat benefactors.

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Commentary/Interview: Boston Globe Union Negotiations — Anger and Resistance

November 8, 2019
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Those who value serious journalism (as well as the rights of journalists) should be quite worried about just how lethally Boston Globe management is attempting to undercut the newspaper’s union.

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Literary Appreciation: The Late Harold Bloom — Pursuer of “Difficult Pleasures”

October 17, 2019
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“What is the function of literary criticism in a Disinformation Age? Read, reread, describe, evaluate, appreciate: that is the art of literary criticism for the present time.” — Harold Bloom

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Music Commentary: Songs Ken Burns Overlooked in “Country Music”

October 2, 2019
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Country music is as rich and complex as any other genre, but given the inevitable marketing tie-ins, it might be a good time to offer the names of artists and songs that either weren’t included or were briefly touched on at best.

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Film Reconsideration: The Beats’s “Pull My Daisy” at 60

September 29, 2019
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You can go home again, daddy-o, but you’re not the same person you were the first time around.

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Music Commentary: Ken Burns’ “Country Music” — Superb Cinematic Storytelling

September 22, 2019
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Country Music digs into the rich, deep dirt of a music with a complicated past, a hybrid genre soaked in soulful suffering, twangy glory, and times both high and tough.

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Music Commentary: Modern Marketing and The Hella Mega Tour

September 18, 2019
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If the music industry put as much effort into being fair to their customers as they put into taking their money, everyone could participate in the rocking world.

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Visual Arts Commentary: Public Art — Much More than Murals

September 15, 2019
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Thankfully, public art has become much more than murals for blank wall spaces.

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