Commentary
It would be hard to name another successful artist so passionately demeaned by the music press.
We are all part of a community with a deep commitment to this extraordinary but way-too-often unappreciated musical art, and the late critic Francis Davis believed we should work together and share what we know. His poll was one important way to do just that
So what am I saying? That the system is imperfect, corrupted by bad voters like me (there must be a few others who didn’t listen to even close to everything on this list — show of hands?)
I hope this close look makes clear the exquisite craftsmanship that went into “God Only Knows.” But for many of us, the song has a magic that goes beyond the mere exercise of compositional skill, even skill of a very high order.
Film scholars, programmers, and the many filmmakers influenced by Naruse Miko value him as having crafted well-rounded portraits of women and their lives across decades of Japanese cultural changes.
So now, along with hand-made candles, jewelry, and home goods, Etsy customers can sport tees, caps and download stickers with Alligator Alcatraz names and images.
“A play is political if its subject is taboo and its story mirrors, exposes, and critiques the suppression and repression that interferes with the treatment of a cultural disease. A political play is a problem that is ignored, denied, maligned. A political play is, by definition, unpopular.”
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the release of John Coltrane’s magisterial album “A Love Supreme,” which has meant so much to so many.
The question before arts organizations and companies is the same one that looms over the rest of us: will they—can they—act before it’s too late?
Arts Appreciation: Ozzy Osbourne — He Was One of Us
Ozzy also gave us all the inspiration to overcome whatever dipshit, fucked up, and idiotic things we did, because he did just that, and generated plenty of good in the process.
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