Review

Fuse Album Review: Mark Dresser’s “Nourishments” — Music Tough and Pretty, Smart and Fun

August 6, 2013
Posted in , , ,

Nourishments is an emphatic musical statement from a seasoned bandleader, returning to the front of a traditional quintet.

Read More

Book Review: “The Amazing Bud Powell” — A Disappointing Study of a Jazz Legend

August 5, 2013
Posted in , , ,

Ramsey’s book on Bud Powell is both a provocative read and a disappointing one. Anyone thinking this will be an illuminating portrait of a jazz master is likely to suffer a serious case of buyer’s remorse.

Read More

Film Review: Paul Schrader’s “The Canyons” — Roasting in Hell for Eternity is a Given.

August 4, 2013
Posted in , ,

The bubbling-over sexuality of Paul Schrader’s The Canyons is surely tongue-in-cheek, amusing in its semen-splashed excessiveness.

Read More

Book Review: “The Hanging Garden” — A Posthumous Gift from a Literary Giant

August 4, 2013
Posted in , , ,

This novella is a gift to all of us who love Patrick White’s strangely alive prose and a welcome addition to his oeuvre. And for those who don’t know his work, it is a terrific way to be introduced to one of the 20th century’s finest writers.

Read More

Book Review: “Reading Ḥayy Ibn-Yaqẓān” — Rewriting the History of Ideas

August 3, 2013
Posted in , , , , ,

“Reading Ḥayy Ibn-Yaqẓān” is a mesmerizing study that will enchant anyone interested in interdisciplinary, cross-cultural explorations of the history of science that transform the way we look at the past and the present.

Read More

CD Review: Dream Pop Gets Serious — the Ambitious Reach of Candy Claws

August 1, 2013
Posted in , , , ,

The latest LP from the dream pop band Candy Claws turns out to be its most profound and impressive statement to date.

Read More

Theater Review: Titanic Theatre Company’s Satire “Why Torture Is Wrong” Treads Water

August 1, 2013
Posted in , ,

The Titanic Theatre Company production struggles with Christopher Durang’s superficial satire and manages to squeeze some laughs out of it.

Read More

Theater Review: “How We Got On” — Exhilarating Hip Hop

July 31, 2013
Posted in , ,

I am probably the last person anyone would see as a hip hop fan, but I walked out of the theater with a new appreciation for the music and the satisfaction of experiencing an old-fashioned coming-of-age story told in a refreshing new way.

Read More

Theater Review: CSC’s “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” — A Cuddly Pair of Rats

July 16, 2013
Posted in , ,

The Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s production of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” is spunky and engaging — but the play is spun in one direction, away from its weird edginess.

Read More

Visual Arts Review: Of Cows and the Cosmos — Sharon Yates at the Whistler House Museum of Art

July 1, 2013
Posted in , ,

Painter Sharon Yates’ patience and devotion breathes depth and character into a seemingly banal subject: cow pastures.

Read More

Recent Posts