Music
Mos Def and the New Old Magic
By Douglas SingletonMos Def’s True Magic is anything but the throwaway recording it is often accused of being; it is in fact a very serious culmination of this hip-hop artist’s musical progression.
Toupidek Limonade: Le Phoque a bu l’air (In Poly Sons 1106)
By Tony CoulterNot too long ago, the concept of “French rock” was pretty much treated as a joke. This may have changed as ye-ye girls and Gallic electronica gained hipster credibility, but much of the really interesting French rock is still largely unknown.
Concerto for Broken Foot and Two Sedatives: Menomena and the Good, the Bad and the Queen
By Todd SimmonsWhat started as a spring record-release preview has abruptly morphed into a breakdown of what’s been getting me through my post foot-surgery recuperation and inevitable late-winter cabin fever.
Notes on Time: The Recent Music of Tigran Mansurian
By Alan LockwoodBefore ECM began releasing Tigran Mansurian’s music in 2003, the Armenian composer’s finely etched, mid-period chamber music might be found on the U.K.’s Megadisc, with violin and cello concertos dating back to the seventies on the German label Orfeo.
A Year From Monday Revisited
By Erin DurantReading through John Cage’s A Year From Monday, a collection of his essays and lectures from 1963, is a good way to test one’s inhibitions and expectations, and to question one’s own reflexive criticism.
