May 23, 2011, was a small landmark for pop music. Lady Gaga had announced on New Year's Eve that her new album Born This Way would be released on that date, and the drumbeats heralding it kept building; it sold more than 1.1 million copies in its first week (partly thanks to massive discounting). It wasn't the biggest release date for any album ever, and it's not the last release date that will ever be… more »
It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »
It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »
It used to be easier to pretend that an album was its own perfectly self-contained artifact. The great records certainly feel that way. But albums are more permeable than solid, their motivations, executions and inspirations informed by, and often stolen from, their peers and forbearers. It all sounds awfully formal, but it's not. It's the very nature of music — of art, even. The Six Degrees features examine the relationships between classic records and five… more »
While Virgo is often considered to be the one sign driven by an almost insane desire for perfection and purity, a fair number of the artists that fall under its arc - from August 23rd to September 22nd - can hardly be called Puritanical. A quick check finds Charlie Parker, the archetypal bebop mainliner, shooting junk while deconstructing the songbook of his day in blistering triple-times. Then there's Gene Simmons. While Simmons has eschewed alcohol… more »
Before the trials and the tabloids, Michael Jackson made music more worthy of chatter and awe than all of his scandals put combined. His shocking death at age 50, hardly quieted the controversies surrounding his life. But, in time, those will fade in favor of the one element destined to endure: his art. The music this former child star recorded - starting with his first grown up solo effort, and fourth solo work overall, 1979's "Off… more »
Ran Blake is one mysterioso pianist. His playing smacks of deep, complicated feelings, like melancholy, or nostalgia, where painful longing and sweet remembrance mix. His right hand - could be one finger - might hammer out a melody like a brass bell, choosing notes with a poet's care, while his left hand plumbs the depths, with low dissonant chords made all the more ambiguous via subtle foot pedaling. Other pianists abuse the sustain pedal for… more »
