Review

Rock Review: Jade Hairpins — Cruising Down “Harmony Avenue”

June 13, 2020
Posted in , , ,

In the spirit of its mischievous name, Jade Hairpins never takes itself all that seriously, and that is all to the good. Why dampen eccentricity this joyful with any reservations?

Book Review: “The Turncoat” and “Marrow and Bone” — Two Revealing Looks at World War II

June 12, 2020
Posted in , ,

For each of these major, prize-honored writers — Siegfried Lenz and Walter Kempowski– birth = destiny = art.

Film Review: Three Early Classics of Gay Love and Desire

June 12, 2020
Posted in , ,

It is an apt time to honor these pioneers: to recognize that we are here, and have always been here, making compelling art from under the shadow of oppression.

Book Review: “The Talking Drum” – Gentrification From A to B

June 11, 2020
Posted in , ,

Despite her story’s potential for uncomfortable confrontations and revelations, the author chooses to pack the vicissitudes of her novel’s changing neighborhoods and their inhabitants’ lives into a neat and tidy package.

Television Review: “Laurel Canyon” — Journey Back to a Tiny Fortunate Universe

June 11, 2020
Posted in , ,

From the mid-’60s to around 1972, Laurel Canyon became the epicenter of a magical musical interlude that gave birth to some of the most iconic and timeless music of a generation.

Book Review: “Parakeet” — A Wild Constellation

June 10, 2020
Posted in , ,

Parakeet is a virtuosic, perplexing, challenging trip. If it’s too disturbing a tale for this particular moment (it shouldn’t be), it may be a great work to explore in a year to come.

Rap Album Review: “Run the Jewels 4” — Heart, Wit, and Rage

June 10, 2020
Posted in , , , ,

Too many hip-hop artists stick to defined lanes, but Run the Jewels aspire to run rampant, with a growing sophistication as well as heart, wit, and rage.

Opera CD Review: Spontini’s Wacky Comic Opera, in Which Nothing Is as It Seems

June 9, 2020
Posted in , , , ,

Metamorfosi is a marvelously effective and amusing one-act opera that would suit college opera workshops splendidly.

Jazz CD Review: Cory Smythe’s “Accelerate Every Voice” — Densely Layered; Simultaneously Music and Cryptic Puzzle

June 9, 2020
Posted in , , ,

This is virtuosity-driven chamber music with fluctuating levels of oxygen, shadows, and light.

Book Review: “The Fallen” — Probing Cuban Paralysis

June 9, 2020
Posted in , ,

The Fallen artfully diagnoses the spiritual and material maladies of contemporary Cuban life through the lens of a single family, a household threatened by decay, exterior and interior.

Recent Posts

Popular Posts

Categories

Archives