Celebrating Community
Review of “Days Without Number, New York City,” photographs by Giovanna Silva, with a text by Sasha Frere-Jones Review by Michael Quinn You hardly know anyone, and there’s no place you need to be, so you walk around to get your bearings. You snap pictures of whatever catches your eye. You’re trying to capture a feeling—not just the place but […]
Ghosts in the guitar. The wonderfully inventive Jules Reidy has been going through a period of transition of late. Affairs of the heart, a change in gender identity and a renewed interest in mysticism have all, it seems, led to Ghost/Spirit (CD, LP, download out Feb. 21 from Thrill Jockey). While they’re often heard in more experimental and freeform settings, […]
Spend time on social media, especially text-based sites like Bluesky (that’s what I use—and enjoy—now after deleting my account at the neo-Nazi’s site) and you eventually find people decrying a lack of media literacy. What they mean by that is the ability to see the difference between assertion and fact, to know what’s reporting and what’s stenography, to tell when […]
Hello my lovelies and welcome to February’s “Tits Up Brooklyn”. February brings us valentines, candy, flowers, lovers and oh, so much more. Do you know what this muse-y gal craves to satisfy her needs? My goal for February is to pursue a celebration of “New love for new music!” For me that’s the best way to celebrate the month of […]
The British funk band Cymande’s fame was momentary 50 years ago or so. They released three notable albums [their self-titled 1972 debut, followed by Second Time Round (1973) and Promised Heights (1974)] with less essential efforts in 1981 and 2015, toured with Al Green and Patti Labelle and headlined at the Apollo before calling it quits. Their grooves were later mined by the likes of De […]
Review of “Portraits in Life and Death,” by Peter Hujar The end of the year always feels like the end of the world to me. I feel a giddy sense of abandon: to do more, eat more, see more—and inevitably spend more. (Wheee!) January is always a shock. (Whoa.) Somehow, the beginning of the year starts in a place far […]
As a critic, I’m wary of addressing issues of taste. Taste is personal, it’s what we like and what we don’t—I love how in Italian you say you like something with “mi piace,” which means “it pleases me”—and there’s very little taste-wise that is truly bad. Bad taste, done with affection, is kitsch, which is a good thing. Criticism is […]
Happy New Year and welcome to the very first 2025 “Tits Up Brooklyn” of the year! I hope you’re as excited to be here as I am! 2024 ended with a bang and 2025 is proving to be just as good, if not better, muse-ically speaking. So let’s wrap up December 2024 together, like you would a gift, with twinkling […]
Review of “New York Nico’s Guide to NYC,” by Nicolas Heller, with Jason Diamond; photography by Jeremy Cohen Review by Michael Quinn For nearly a decade, I managed a Brooklyn mannequin factory. Everything was made by hand. The work was messy, and the tools were loud. The process demanded precision and speed. My job was to oversee production and act […]
Ah, December is upon us and with it, colder winds, warm fireplace cuddles, and lots of festive gatherings. Starting off this season of joy was Smudgefest 2024 on November 23rd at Sunset Stoop, put on by a brand spanking new collaborative – The BK MUSES! So, before we delve deep into Smudgefest, let’s talk about these magical muses. BK Muses […]