By 2000 everyone will be bored to death. Falco (1957-1998) Ask most Americans and other English-speaking people, and they will tell you that Falco is the German one-hit-wonder with that “Amadeus” song. Dance music and rap freaks among them may also remember “Der Kommissar” and Falco’s legacy as one godfather of white rap. But that’s …
December 1 ~ Pandora’s Box (1929) Released on December 1, 1929, Louise Brooks embodies the “flapper” spirit of her Lost Generation in this sexually charged and erotic silent melodrama ahead of its time in its depiction of the divide between men and the feminine psyche. It tragically ends in the winter slums of Soho during …
SALIHA ENZENAUER Mdou Moctar – Victime AfriqueMdou Moctar is the child of a conservative Muslim Tuareg family. As a child he enjoyed listening to the music of guitarists Abdallah ag Oumbadougou and Ali Farka Touré. When he was little, he built himself a guitar from a piece of wood and brake wires from an old …
“I Can’t See You” (Tim Buckley)An energetic folk-rock rhythm drives this first track from Tim Buckley’s first record. His song summons images of hippies wandering the streets in California circa 1966. A mysterious Scorpio girl who looks like Grace Slick, her eyes dark as obsidian or onyx, stares back at you. “Autumn temptress, sundown angelInside …
Grantchester Meadows” (Pink Floyd)Opening with one minute of chirping morning skylarks and buzzing flies, Roger Waters perfectly sets this idyllic scene with his acoustic guitar, pastoral lyrics, quiet singing, and, around the 4-minute mark, the sound effects of a flowing stream and flying geese panning across the stereo. “Misty morning whisperings and gentle stirring soundsBelie …
Like in literature, Russians can allow themselves a fastidious arrogance when their electronic music has to measure up with comparable art from the rest of the world. Take a band like Kraftwerk, the German pioneers of electronic music which have always drawn from Russian art and were never really popular in Russia. The Russian avant-garde …
Pink Floyd ~ “Cirrus Minor” (1969) Opening with one minute of dawn songbirds from the BBC sound effects library, David Gilmour’s slowly strummed acoustic guitar, Richard Wright’s misty organ, and Roger Waters’ poetic lyrics set the scene as David Gilmour sings about a pastoral spring paradise (“in a churchyard by a river, lazing in the …
SHAWN CIAVATTONE “Not listed by rank or importance expect that Rose City Band’s Summerlong is as close to perfect as we deserve.” (Summerlong is our album of the year. Read full review here) Rose City Band – Summerlong Ripley Johnson creating a cosmic country rock masterpiece. Sparse and beautiful songwriting that brings orange sunshine to …
“Footsteps in the Snow” (Claude Debussy)Written by French composer Claude Debussy on December 27, 1909, this piano prelude is perhaps the quintessential piece of classical music concerning winter (alongside Franz Schubert’s Winterreise.) The slow, soft tones move from D minor to E minor to F minor–a melancholy, moody tune. “Heart of the North” (Basil Kirchin)Where …
My last article was about the beast that is the guitar solo, the reason I got into rock’n’roll at all. I wrote a lot about how the solo came about and what it means for rock in general. I was just reading the article, as you do as an egomaniac, narcissistic writer, and just had …
