Music
My Ten Favorite Albums of 2010
It’s that time of year, and I’m as susceptible to cornball ideas as the next music lover—and as susceptible to delusions of taste-making value as the next music critic. So, here it is: a list of my ten favorite albums of 2010. I welcome dissent, since I will get it anyway. 1. Jeremy Denk: Jeremy Denk Plays Ives Piano Sonatas no. 1 and 2 (Concord) played with stunning originality, ferocity, and humor. 2. Janelle Monae: The ArchAndroid (Suites II and III) READ MORE >>
The Wee Small Facts
Stories for Boys
The Fool of Chance
John Cage was a laughing man. Photographs of the composer, who pioneered the use of chance and indeterminacy in the composition of art music, show a strong, square jaw, chiseled good looks, and a stern, straight hairline. Laughter softened the severity of his face, and revealed the essence of a man whom Minna Lederman, the long-time editor of the journal Modern Music, called the Holy Fool of Zen. READ MORE >>
Moody's Mood
James Moody, the veteran jazz saxophinist, flutist, and sometime singer, is ill with cancer, and his wife Linda, who has acted as his manager for years, made public this week Moody's decision to have no further treatment. With a new sense of the preciousness of Moody's presence, I've been listening to his music and asking myself why I've always been reluctant to take it more seriously. READ MORE >>
Keith Richards's 'Life'
Sufjan Stevens's "The Age of Adz"
I like Sufjan Stevens more than I want to. The self-conscious contrarian in me tells me to resist him just for his status as an idol of Brooklyn hipsterdom. He's a pretentious white guy who plays the banjo, as well as half a dozen other instruments (including the oboe and the English horn). As such, he is beloved by the Williamsburg smarties, and he's the sort of artist who tends to gratify rock critics eager to validate their own pretentious white guyness. READ MORE >>
