Category: Music

  • Books read 2023

    Books read 2023

    Books! Best to worst. Benjamin Labatut, The MANIAC Brilliant writing forms a coincidental cultural counterpoint to the (excellent) Oppenheimer film. Robert Hillburn, Paul Simon Thorough chronicle of the great American songwriter. Howard Jacobson, Live a Little and J Both humorous. Ling Ma, Bliss Montage Short stories that are quite imaginative in structure and language. Andrea…

  • Music of 2023

    Music of 2023

    It was a year for women. In alphabetical order by artist, music that made an impression… Cat Power Sings Dylan Feist – Multitudes Carly Rae Jepsen – Loneliest / Loveliest Time Rickie Lee Jones – Pieces of Treasure Gretchen Parlato & Lionel Loueke – Lean In Barbra Streisand – Live at the Bon Soir Jessie…

  • Top ten albums of 2022

    Top ten albums of 2022

    In our household albums are always 100% unstreamed, played from start to finish, never shuffled, and usually played from manufactured CDs or from purchased digital files that are burned to CDs. In alphabetical order by artist: Cat Power – Covers Jorge Drexler – Tinta y Tiempo Eliane Elias – Quietude Melody Gardot & Philippe Powell…

  • Top ten albums of 2021

    Top ten albums of 2021

    In our household albums are always 100% unstreamed, played from start to finish, never shuffled, and usually played from manufactured CDs or from purchased digital files that are burned to CDs. In alphabetical order by artist: Elbow – Flying Dream 1 Kurt Elling – SuperBlue Márcio Faraco – L’électricien de la ville lumière Fleet Foxes…

  • Books read in 2017

    Books read in 2017

    Books! Best to worst. Too many music books, as usual, but hey. Sam Lipsyte, The Fun Parts Wack. Haruki Murakami, Absolutely on Music Six extraordinary conversations about music with Seiji Ozawa. Steve Turner, Beatles, ’66: The Revolutionary Year How a boy band became a zeitgeist. Robert Irwin, The Alhambra The story of “The Red” — the only Muslim palace…

  • Books read in 2016

    Books read in 2016

    Books! Best to worst. Paul Beatty, The Sellout Extraordinary, hilarious, brilliant. Racial stereotypes dancing in front of a funhouse mirror of satire, through a knowing lens of American literature and culture (both African- and Anglo-). More great comic one-liners per page than any other fancy hardbound book I’ve ever read. Jon Meachum, Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power…