So It Goes: Reflections on Kurt Vonnegut (Revisited)
Sean MurphyApril, 2007. Kurt Vonnegut would say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. Often, he was asked:…
Billy Bang: Goodbye and Rest in Peace
This hurts. Of course jazz enthusiasts are (always have been?) a small if discerning bunch, so it's unlikely the sudden passing of Billy Bang will register as much as it…
Pitom’s Unique, and Uniquely Awesome, Sound
I was unprepared for Pitom. As a result, my initial experience with the band’s debut album in 2008 was one of those exceedingly rare occasions when one’s astonishment is both…
A History of Violence*
I. Fighting doesn’t solve anything. Everyone knows that. But then, the point of fighting is not usually to solve anything, it’s to settle something. There is a significant discrepancy between…
In Memory of Sidney Lumet: Celebrating ‘Serpico’
It's difficult, and pointless, to try and isolate which film was Lumet's best or most enduring. The fact that he made three of the best movies of the '70s (three…
Tucker For President
As the Beltway blowhards get their onanism on while the pitiful children in charge of government have their long-awaited tantrum (will the government shut down or not? To flee or…
The Song Remains The Same or, The Agony of Influence
Two thoughts from T.S. Eliot: April is the cruelest month... Whatever. Good poets borrow; great poets steal. Now we're talking. And here is where it gets interesting: debate rages (well,…
All Hail Me: The Golden Goddesses of Veruca Salt (Revisited)
Not sure if any band quite captures the waiting-to-exhale extended moment of semi-innocence that was the mid-'90s (you know, the post-grunge, post-Reagan/Bush, pre-9/11, pre Bush/Cheney era when casual Fridays were…
Five From Albert Ayler, For M.L.K.
On April 4, 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., 39, was shot to death in Memphis, Tenn. Spirits Rejoice: The Truth Is Marching In (alternate version here): Nobody…
Joy Division and the Genius of Humanity
Transmission 4x. Original: From the excellent movie Control: Playmobil Stop Motion: Caribbean steel-band: What else is there to say? (Here is some of what I said last November): If you…