My last Stylus essay. It’s been a great three + years. Although I was a published music critic already, Stylus legitimized what had essentially been a side project. All the cool obits and letters I’ve gotten in the last few days were unexpected and gratifying. Thanks Just for old time’s sake, my first Stylus review.
Monthly Archives: October 2007
So this is goodbye
My last Stylus essay. It’s been a great three + years. Although I was a published music critic already, Stylus legitimized what had essentially been a side project. All the cool obits and letters I’ve gotten in the last few days were unexpected and gratifying. Thanks Just for old time’s sake, my first Stylus review.
“A tropical entropy seemed to prevail,” Joan Didion wrote in Miami, “defeating grand schemes even as they were realized.” All the butt-shaking and arm-waving obviated any sense that entropy prevailed at the M.I.A. show at Studio A last night, but it made me re-examine my own M.I.A. problem. I overheard this exchange a few minutesContinue reading
RIP, part two
Simon Reynolds has the best short obit (dovetailing with a run of less than cheerful dispatches on the state of music and music writing, a subject my final essay will also address), specifically addressing Stylus’ relation to Pitchfork: And for purely selfish readerly reasons I’ll miss Stylus’s off-kilter approach, which I’ve often fancied sorta madeContinue reading “RIP, part two”
Stylus RIP
As the world of rockcrit knows by now, Stylus will cease publication this week. I have a lot of thoughts I haven’t sorted yet which I may post as inspiration comes, but my unfinished valediction to be published on Thursday is an attempt.
Stylus RIP
As the world of rockcrit knows by now, Stylus will cease publication this week. I have a lot of thoughts I haven’t sorted yet which I may post as inspiration comes, but my unfinished valediction to be published on Thursday is an attempt.
Milquetoast on hambone
Since I don’t suck on Hollywood hambone too often, I looked forward to watching Mr. Brooks. Not a good idea when the writer/directors wrote Stand By Me and Kevin Costner plays a mild-mannered serial killer, but whatever. William Hurt! Kevin Costner playing a mild-mannered serial killer! Did I say William Hurt? Alas, Mr. Brooks isContinue reading “Milquetoast on hambone”
Let’s hope I never have to write about Madonna again. This is as personal as I get. A reminder that old habits don’t die hard — they rot and occlude serious thought from intelligent people. This morning a colleague sniffed that Madonna was more credible as a marketing force than an artist; she “didn’t writeContinue reading
Good Neil Young albums begin with throwaway openings that are nevertheless lots of fun; you could fill a dandy quarter of a CD-R with Sleeps With Angels‘ “My Heart,” Comes a Time‘s “Goin’ Home,” Time Fades Away’s title track, and a handful of others. Chrome Dreams II’s “Beautiful Bluebird” isn’t one of them — it’sContinue reading
Good Neil Young albums begin with throwaway openings that are nevertheless lots of fun; you could fill a dandy quarter of a CD-R with Sleeps With Angels‘ “My Heart,” Comes a Time‘s “Goin’ Home,” Time Fades Away’s title track, and a handful of others. Chrome Dreams II’s “Beautiful Bluebird” isn’t one of them — it’sContinue reading
Couldn’t have said it better…
I like Kevin John Bozelka a lot. The best bit of (seemingly) tossed-off criticism this week. I always thought “I Want It That Way” was a fine piece of product. But it wasn’t until Joe Gross in the 1999 Pazz issue compared it to Gertrude Stein’s Stanzas in Meditation that I realized it was noContinue reading “Couldn’t have said it better…”
Couldn’t have said it better…
I like Kevin John Bozelka a lot. The best bit of (seemingly) tossed-off criticism this week. I always thought “I Want It That Way” was a fine piece of product. But it wasn’t until Joe Gross in the 1999 Pazz issue compared it to Gertrude Stein’s Stanzas in Meditation that I realized it was noContinue reading “Couldn’t have said it better…”
Humanizing The Vacuum 