Music
Thirty Days at the Stone: Highlights from a Month Curated by J. G. Thirlwell
By Sergei TcherepninSince the venue’s inception in 2005, a constant and ever-changing stream of new music has been flowing from the Stone, an intimate space nestled on the Lower East Side. Conceived by composer/improviser John Zorn, the Stone has a staunchly DIY ethos.
Folktronica, or What Good is a Label?
By Katy HenriksenIn a micro-trended, niche-market-driven world, musical genres and subgenres are becoming more and more finely labeled to convey the multitude of options listeners have when seeking out new music.
Beyond Comparison: Vivian Girls and Crystal Stilts
By Kate SilverThe more things change, goes the old saying, the more they stay the same. Twenty-five years after the Ronettes spoke for lousily lovesick teens everywhere, the Boom Children spiked their Sex Pistol riffs with Phil Spector melodies and proclaimed their post-pubescent angst with distortion pedals.
Kevin Barnes Settles Down—or Does He?
By Kurt GottschalkThere’s a cruel condition often placed on pop stars, that they have to be unhappy to write good songs. They get off drugs, they get married, and they lose their edge—it’s a heavy burden to put on an icon.
Remain in Touch
By Todd SimmonsDavid Byrne has been a busy downtown icon these last several decades, which is how long it’s taken him and producer/“non-musician” Brian Eno to get around to recording the follow-up to 1981’s My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.
Outtakes
By Steve DalachinskyI was recently diagnosed as bipolar, so I couldn’t tell whether it was my mood swings and racing thoughts or those of the Xenakis opera Oresteia that so agitated me.
