Europe – “The Final Countdown” (Sony, 1986) What better way to start the countdown than with “The Final Countdown”? Originally envisioned as the opening music for Europe’s concerts, it opens our very own list rundown. A song, a career, and a… Read More
From the circus sideshow to the examination room at the London Hospital to the society page’s headlines, Joseph Merrick—known popularly as the Elephant Man—lived his entire life in front of the wide eyes and gaping mouths of other people. Born… Read More
Yo La Tengo are full of surprises, aren’t they? Hot on the heels of summer’s We Have Amnesia Sometimes EP, which consisted of five ambient instrumental pieces, recorded on one microphone while adhering to New Jersey’s social distancing regulations, we… Read More
At least one central idea of the new jazz of the 21st century is the flat-out rejection of the neo-traditional jazz purism represented by Wynton Marsalis during his first decade or so. That purism was laced with a rejection of… Read More
If you’ve ever had the experience where an artist’s statement ends up being more tantalizing than the work it describes, Tristan Perich’s Drift Multiply flips the script on that experience. In this case, the music on Drift Multiply outshines the… Read More
In the first part of our series spotlighting music videos in the 1980s, we took a look at some of the more unsung clips from the era. The dawning of this artistic platform was an exciting time for all involved:… Read More
Excerpted from Automation and the Future of Work by Aaron Benanav (footnotes omitted). Copyright 2020 Verso Books. Used with permission of the Verso Books. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the… Read More
When it comes to the rather expansive catalog of Tom Waits, there tend to be two flagship albums in the running for the title of the idiosyncratic songwriter’s best work. There’s Rain Dogs from 1985, a record close to the… Read More
In 1969, the Stooges were a truth serum, forcing hippiedom to belch up the reality that flowers and hope had become just another guise for hucksters and snake-oil salesmen to take advantage of the naïve. By 1973, however, the Stooges… Read More
Very little is known about SAULT. The group may be a trio, and they are much more about “show” than “tell”. The band revealed the bare minimum to the public when they appeared on the scene, seemingly out of nowhere,… Read More