Rock
I put Joni Mitchell on a short list of the most remarkable pop music artists of the ’60s and early ’70s. Longevity of excellence isn’t the point here, just peak incandescence.
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Damn straight, English singer/songwriter Beth Orton was back in the room – after a six-year absence.
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The point of Bob Dylan’s project is emotional rather than definitive: to probe the power of song to influence us, make us feel, and ultimately transform us.
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The Pixies could be anthemic, snarky, jaunty, or forlorn as they chose, which meant they were never boring.
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It is pretty clear that this Canadian band was not in the right place at the right time, despite the ferocious energy and speed of its music and sublime performances.
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Channeling equal parts Lucinda Williams and Levon Helm, the album features Robin Lane’s rich, earthy voice supported by sparse instrumentation.
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Sultry, smart, and sweet, From a Window To A Screen will be a perfect accompaniment to romantic winter nights.
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Unlike the slow, spacy stonerism of the 1973-77 era, early Pink Floyd is a much more rocking experience, and those foundational tunes of English psychedelia take on the excitement of punk to modern ears when heard live.
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At House of Blues, Fontaines D.C.’s brooding, bristling music was offset by shifting swatches of amber and purple lighting amid the shadows, casting the musicians in mysterious terms.
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Book Review: “Folk Music — A Bob Dylan Biography in Seven Songs”
At points Greil Marcus’ digressive style can seem like nervy brilliance, at others, idle whimsy. What ennobles the book is the critic’s love for his underlying subject: the soulful search for a truer America.
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