Tag Archives: music

Musicianshift

Posted on January 30, 2020 by JMN

http://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/arts/music/terry-riley.html “For me music is a daily practice that I try to deepen in the sense that I get to understand more about what music really is, and sometimes what I think it really is is the simplest elements — … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Robert Johnson

Posted on December 10, 2019 by JMN

It was in… popular juke joints — segregated stores or private houses that doubled, after hours, as recreational places — that his now legendary music career began… The young musician had trained on a diddley bow — one or more … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Hoodie Apocalypse

Posted on November 26, 2019 by JMN

Tyler, the Creator, 28, started the Camp Flog Gnaw Festival eight years ago in the parking lot of LA’s Nokia Theater. Music is performed, but I found the fashion statements “culturally interesting.” Overall, Camp Flog Gnaw found a way to … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

War and Art

Posted on October 26, 2019 by JMN

In this article about Hilma af Klint two themes draw my attention. First, not having been clobbered by twentieth-century wars is a sad and sobering distinction to apply to a city. While there is not currently any comprehensive display of … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Quotations | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“Life Is a Racket” (Nick Tosches)

Posted on October 22, 2019 by JMN

“The things I wanted to be when I was a kid were an archaeologist, because of dinosaur bones; a garbage man, because they got to ride on the side of the trucks; and a writer,” he told The Times. “If … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Critic Almost Ran Out of Praise

Posted on October 11, 2019 by JMN

Here’s a review of Nick Cave’s album “Ghosteen” that has a left-handed conclusion. On one level, it shouldn’t be surprising that it’s as good as it is: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have been in a career-high purple patch … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

The World We Mustn’t Live In

Posted on August 29, 2019 by JMN

Two thoughts slam me at once. They can’t be correlated, but mustn’t they? The first thought is that we live in a tired, busy world; a world of busy tiredness; a world of tired busyness. Such is our world: tired … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Road Ahead

Posted on August 22, 2019 by JMN

At age 16 Megan, a Texas native, recorded “The Road Ahead,” a CD of twelve sweet country standards. In “Waltz Across Texas” she is joined in a duet by her dad David. The CD was the fruit of their travels … Continue reading →

Posted in Album | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Amazing Apology

Posted on July 8, 2019 by JMN

The man who wrote the words of “Amazing Grace” was a reformed English slave trader. He wrote the following: “I am bound in conscience to take shame to myself by a public confession which, however sincere, comes too late to … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Musico-Logic Circles

Posted on July 1, 2019 by JMN

“Circular argument”: An argument whose conclusion is the same as one of its premises. (Quora) I flail about in music theory, often ending where I started — insufficiently informed and grandly blogging my perplexity. To feed this cause I’ve been … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , | Leave a comment