It’s as if Moshfegh is testing the furthest limits of a “red herring”: what if everything is red and everything is herring?
Allen Michie
Poetry Remembrance: John Keats, “The Eve of St. Agnes” — Forever Young at 200
Keats is comfortable in that ambiguous space between reality and the imagination, and you will find no finer example of Romantic poetry when he fuses them in the language of an erotic dream.
Film Review: “Vinyl Nation” — A Visit to Vinyl Heaven
“Every record can have its own unique sound, depending on who has owned it, who’s touched it, where it’s been. That’s really important to me.” This movie makes you realize that these things should be important to you, too.
Jazz Album Review: Madre Vaca’s “Winterreise”— Varied Jazz Arrangements Bring Schubert in from the Cold
A Mother Cow of jazz iconoclasts takes on German lieder, because why not?
Jazz Album Review: What “Data Lords” Says About the Remarkable Career of Maria Schneider
“The sun and everything in this world is there waiting for us—patiently and loyally. To feel its power, we just need to make the choice to get up, go out, look up and connect to its magnificence.” That is really, truly, there in the music.
Arts Reconsideration: “Pinocchio” at 80
Now that the real live boy is an old man, how’s he holding up in 2020?
Arts Remembrance: Why Jazz Needed Richie Cole
The master alto saxophonist Richie Cole died on May 2 at age 72. The cause of death has not been announced, so it’s unknown for now if it was related to COVID-19.
Arts Remembrance: The Three Funkiest Handclaps in Music History — An Appreciation of Bill Withers
When I think of Bill Withers I think of just three handclaps. It’s my favorite example in his music, or just about anyone else’s, of the power of restraint — not slamming and flailing about to shift a groove into overdrive.
Music and Concert Favorites 2019
Our expert music critics serve up their usual highly eclectic round-up of the year’s most memorable.
Music Commentary: Why You Should Buy 45s
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.