It’s surprising that Sonic Youth, gone now for more than a decade, have yet to go the deluxe/unreleased route. Their Bandcamp page is replete with live sets and rarities, but In/Out/In (out March 18 on vinyl, CD, cassette and download from Three Lobed Recordings) may mark a change in that missing tide. The album collects five tracks recorded between 2000 […]
Arts
A Major League Baseball Lockout Calls for “Major League” Baseball, by Dante A. Ciampaglia
Is it too early to say there won’t be a 2022 Major League Baseball season? Because it sure feels like there won’t be one. If the current lockout, which has already claimed some of Spring Training, begins eating regular season games, which seems likely, who knows where things end — or how the shrinking fan base will react. But maybe […]
Things to Look Forward To: 52 Large and Small Joys for Today and Every Day by Sophie Blackall
By her own admission, Brooklyn-based author and illustrator Sophie Blackall is an optimist, someone who is able to see the silver lining in just about any cloud. Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and even the most glass-half-full among us felt the strain. “When things seemed especially grim, I began posting a list of Things to Look Forward To on Instagram, […]
On Jazz: Just Sing, by George Grella
Here’s a motto to listen by: it’s harder to write a song than a sonata. There’s a general perception both among outside listeners and musicians inside institutional structures that the sonata is one of the supreme formal achievements of classical music. And this is true, proven by how vital and enduring the form has been since composers like Haydn were […]
Quinn on Books: The End of the World as We Know It
Review of Behind the Mask: Living Alone in the Epicenter by Kate Walter Review by Michael Quinn The start of the pandemic was like a game of musical chairs. The music suddenly stopped. We all scrambled for safety. We worried for (or laughed at) the ones without a spot (the pandemic also revealed the mean-spirited among us). But we all […]
Marie’s Craft Corner, by Marie Hueston
Recycle magazines and catalogs into Valentine collages! This year, create one-of-a-kind Valentines for friends, family, and significant others using the art of collage and the printed materials you have on hand. It’s fun, easy, and inexpensive. Here’s how to get started: Collect magazines and catalogs. To find collage materials in our part of Brooklyn, you don’t have to spend any […]
Music Column: Wiggly Air, by Kurt Gottschalk
My favorite pop stars are all pop stores. Rumors continue to circulate about the next Warner Bros. Prince deluxe reissues in online communities. 2021 came and went without a new box (although the first issue of the shelved Welcome 2 America was a happy surprise). Diamonds & Pearls was a prime contender, the 30th anniversary of its release passing last […]
“Fight Club” In the Age of the Great Resignation, by Dante A. Ciampaglia
A strange Vice headline recently crossed my feeds: “Cult Classic ‘Fight Club’ Gets a Very Different Ending in China.” Thanks to Tencent Video, Fight Club, director David Fincher’s searing adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel, finally made it to China! Only took 22 years. Thing is, it also came with a new finale. If it’s been a while, a quick refresher: […]
Quinn on Books: Room Service | Review of The Hotel by Sophie Calle | Review by Michael Quinn
Although the popularity of Airbnb has skyrocketed in recent years, many people still enjoy staying in hotels. One of the reasons is having someone to clean up after you. But what if that person had another reason for being there? For three weeks in 1981, Sophie Calle worked as a chambermaid in a Venetian hotel. While cleaning 12 rooms on […]
Angel of the Resurrection, by George Grella
Last month’s Winter Jazziest 2022, such as it was, was disappointing for all the wrong reasons. This had nothing to do with jazz and everything to do with America writ large, and the destructive nihilism of self-proclaimed conservatives and the political class overall. There are too many people with everything they need in life who can’t even conceive of enduring […]