It occurred to me recently that in my survey of philosophical music I had too long overlooked perhaps the premiere philosopher of transcendent pop music, Mr. Stevland Wonder (an artist I had the exquisite pleasure[…]
Continue reading …
Category: Reviews
Alt Classical: The Jazz Connection
Repost from 2014 A month or so ago, I explored the “cover songs” side of alt classical music, a genre that combines the pleasures of classical music with the vitality of more modern forms. This[…]
Continue reading …
If You’re Feeling Like a Pimp, Luke… : The Unexpectedly Fresh “Last Jedi”
I think the critical consensus is that all of us –steeled for disappointment after the travesty of the prequel trilogy –were perhaps just a little overly celebratory of The Force Awakens, a film that exceeded[…]
Continue reading …
Does Jay-Z’s 4:44 Live Up to Beyonce’s Lemonade?
Following the artistic leap forward represented by his wife’s album, Lemonade, it was a necessity for Sean “Jay-Z” Carter, AKA “Mr. Beyonce,” to respond with something that could reasonably be placed next to it on[…]
Continue reading …
Allegiance
Allegiance is returning to theaters for a one day only engagement, on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor! See it if you can! You may not have heard of the recent Broadway musical Allegiance. You might[…]
Continue reading …
Context is Everything: This is Us
In honor of Season Two’s recent premiere, please enjoy this repost: One of the least understood impacts of technology on modernity is the way it alters context, and the way that, in turn, shapes how[…]
Continue reading …
Sister Mine
As I mentioned in my review of “The Justice Trilogy,” when you are a minority author writing a genre book, you’re risking ending up with a fractal audience, occupying a niche inside a niche. The[…]
Continue reading …
The Family Gene
The Family Gene is not an easy book for me to write about –it’s difficult to say anything about a deadly disease that doesn’t sound trite, glib, or callous. Nor was it an easy book[…]
Continue reading …
Reconstructivist Art: Smooth Criminal
In honor of Michael Jackson’s birthday this week, please enjoy this essay about his song, Smooth Criminal, considered as an exemplar of Reconstructivist Art. Michael Jackson’s hit single Smooth Criminal is an object lesson in[…]
Continue reading …
Quietly Subversive: Malcolm in the Middle
Bryan Cranston became a superstar playing a kindly suburban teacher turned deadly drug kingpin on the hit AMC show Breaking Bad, but before that he was best known as Hal, the emotional center to Fox[…]
Continue reading …