“Elvis is where pop begins and ends. He’s the great original and even now he’s the image that makes all others seem shoddy, the boss. For once, the fan club spiel is […]
Awopbopaloobop Alopbamboom… rock music according to Nik Cohn
Overthinking: rock music, pop culture, Donald Trump and America’s desperate race to the bottom
Donald Trump isn’t an anomaly. He isn’t an outlier. He isn’t a blip on the radar of history. He’s the very embodiment of the black, ignorant American soul. [Apologies in advance. These […]
Lou Reed is dead: rock music loses another legend
Lou Reed walked on the wild side Lou Reed, legendary rock musician and friend and colleague of Andy Warhol, John Cale, and Delmore Schwartz, is dead at age 71. While his work with […]
Rocky Mountain Bog Monster’s traditional music roundup, part 2
In this installment, a traditional(?) Bedouin, Druze, and Aramean sampler And have I mentioned dance? When possible, I try to find videos that include dance because that adds even more to appreciate.
Rocky Mountain Bog Monster’s traditional music roundup
In this installment: traditional(?) Kurdish music The usual caveats apply. I’m no expert, so it’s possible I might occasionally pick something that’s actually not traditional. I wouldn’t know. I’m trusting in YouTube […]
The year in music (so far): hot damn, 2014 is rocking
Several four and five-star releases already, and a boatload of top artists have releases scheduled for later this year – 2014 might wind up as one of the best years for new […]
Why today’s music sucks #getoffmylawn
An S&R staff conversation on the “Loudness Wars,” low rez, headphones, streaming services and more: it’s all about fidelity. Lex Regardless of whether you think the content of modern music sucks, from […]
World music roundup: traditional Assyrian
Or should I say “traditional” “Assyrian?” I don’t know. I didn’t bother with a clever playlist name for this set of videos. It’s just an identifying label to help me find it […]
Why Jesus don’t want me for a sunbeam – the great Rock ‘n’ Roll ripoff…
As my friend and bandmate Steve and I drove back to his house from the service, we laughed about achieving one of any serious Southern rocker’s bucket list goals – we’d gotten […]
All shook up: a historian examines rock and roll…sorta
The payola scandal destroyed Alan Freed, but Dick Clark put his boyish good looks and vanilla style to good use in saving himself. “Rock and roll might best be summed up as […]
