Master of Reality
“Things were bleak, they really were. Yet nobody was singing about that side of life, which is why we thought we should.”
George Case
· 8 min read
Music
A collection of 57 posts
Leonard Bernstein Deserved Better Than ‘Maestro’
Netflix somehow managed to turn the most talented, beloved, and complex American musician in history into a two-dimensional domestic villain.
Daniel Lelchuk
· 9 min read
Rock of Ages
The musical legacy of Robbie Robertson is a monument to the possibilities of American song.
Benjamin Kerstein
· 12 min read
In the Spirit of the Lord
Menacing, exuberant, eccentric, and ambitious—Dylan’s first evangelical record turns two-score and four.
David Cohen
· 16 min read
The Eyes of the Storm
A historic diary in pictures, which just happens to belong to Sir Paul McCartney.
Hannah Gal
· 14 min read
Belafonte Reappraised
Neither hagiographers nor haters of the late musician, actor, and activist have managed to get him right.
Ronald Radosh
· 18 min read
Holy Roller
A tribute to Chris Bailey, the late frontman and co-founder of Australian punk band the Saints, who died a year ago today.
David Cohen
· 11 min read
Paul Was Dead Right
Reappraising one of British journalism’s most notorious pieces of cultural criticism.
George Case
· 6 min read
Nick Cave’s Lessons in Grief
The singer’s new book awakened me to a paradoxical fact: tragedy can sometimes remind us of what makes life worth living.
Neil Gray
· 7 min read
Re-Genesis
Nostalgia cannot rescue rock and roll.
Simon Evans
· 13 min read
Nick Cave: “Conservatism Is an Aspiration”
The lead Bad Seed shares his thoughts on creativity, marriage, and having a conservative temperament.
Claire Lehmann
· 13 min read
The Inner Life of Transcendent Genius
In ‘The Philosophy of Modern Song,’ Dylan contemplates himself and the art form of which he is the acknowledged master.
Benjamin Kerstein
· 13 min read
Paranoid Pop
A look back at the remarkable life and career of one of the 20th Century’s most original artists.
David Cohen
· 20 min read
Remix and Float Downstream
Giles Martin has reinvigorated the Beatles’ masterpiece, a record brimming with ideas, confidence, and insouciant courage.
Christopher J. Snowdon
· 11 min read
Lost Soul Behind Bars
The untold story of Upheaval, a prison band that recorded one of the most sought-after soul singles of the 1970s.
Max Wilson
· 21 min read