THE BRIDGE Working through the third season of the original (the Swedish) and lordy, what an argument for plot drivers. Both the British version (The Tunnel) and the American swallow that whole first season, and once you get past the dread of the cop losing … [Read more...]
Leg Room For The Unstable
They canceled Lady Dynamite, but Bamford's new Netflix special surfs even more absurdist realities. We saw a lot of this stuff live about a year back, and she's kept shaping it; she hits a new level with this material. NEVER BEEN MELLOW Juliana Hatfield, Juliana Hatfield Sings Olivia … [Read more...]
Inspired Degeneracy, or Bowie From Beyond (Berlin, 1929)
This dance sequence from episode 2 of Babylon Berlin distills the David Bowie Is exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum down to exhilarating essence. More Topics Jeff Daniels chills as preacher-villain in Godless, then gets swamped by hoary dialogue and plot clichés in Looming Tower (THE … [Read more...]
Fearsome Meditations
Serkin, Gould and the Pianist's Ideal Recently available deluxe recordings from Rudolf Serkin and Glenn Gould reveal new secrets about these polar-opposite titans of classical piano: Expansive yet forbidding, imperious yet embracing, pianist Rudolf Serkin mixed charm with guilt to build a … [Read more...]
Weird Not Weird
Reflecting On 2017: The Year In Music (WBUR's Radio Boston, 12/27/17) We review the year in music through 2017, from our favorite classical music releases to the women who dominated country and pop music to the rapper who had everybody talking... Artists: Andris Nelsons, BSO, Brahms cycle; … [Read more...]
2017 LIST
2017 LISTS Bob Dylan, Triplicate (Columbia) Beck, Colors (Capitol/Virgin EMI) Kendrick Lamar, Damn (Top Dawg/Aftermath/Interscope) Various, Afro Beats Hot Hits (Shanachie) Arcade Fire, Everything Now (Columbia) Saint Etienne, Home Counties (Heavenly) Old Crow Medicine Show, 50 … [Read more...]
Hates His Father: Baumbach, Noah
2017 LISTS (first draft) Beck, Colors (Capitol/Virgin EMI) Kendrick Lamar, Damn (Top Dawg/Aftermath/Interscope) Various, Afro Beats Hot Hits (Shanachie) Arcade Fire, Everything Now (Columbia) Jon Langford, Four Lost Souls (Bloodshot) Saint Etienne, Home Counties (Heavenly) Old … [Read more...]
More on Libratone, Harman-Kardon, Archeer Portables
Some say we've already hit peak TV; we might also approach peak bluetooth. Have turned off my receiver and KLH speakers for months to acclimate myself to these unsuspecting compacts, and happy to report more keep landing. When was the last time a speaker actually changed your listening habits? The … [Read more...]
Schumann: The Missing Quartets
How much does your early exposure to a given piece influence your understanding of the music? I grew very fond of a DG recording of the three Schumann, Opus 41, paired with the three Brahms, titles, either from the Melos Quartet. Same with Alban Berg Quartett. Rifling through the spotify database, … [Read more...]
Summer Gadget Blowout
Everybody has their preferences, mine tend toward close daily listening on the commute with over-the-ear bluetooths, Master & Dynamic MW60s holding the top slot just ahead of Sol Republics. Apple Airpods work for in between: for driving say, when you need 360 audio awareness, but still … [Read more...]
Older Too
SGT PEPPER RERUNS New York Times Today column, 4 June “The Beatles posing in front of the celebrities was a way of them saying, in their arrogant yet completely charming manner, ‘We know we’re the most famous people in the world right now, and we also know that we will be joining this parade, … [Read more...]
Momma’s Boy
WHEN VAN CLIBURN, a tall, lanky Texan with a boyish grin, paraded through the confetti from thousands of screaming Manhattan classical converts on a gray spring day in May 1958, he earned the nickname “the American Sputnik.” The floppy-haired 23-year-old had won the first Tchaikovsky Gold Medal by … [Read more...]
Maypole Sliders
BIG LITTLE LIES (HBO) Of course I tuned in to a whodunit starring four big stars, all with amazing heads of hair, and got sucked in by those ominous Monterey waves beating cosmic doom against the shore. And of course I took offense at Witherspoon's condescension towards her character. But what … [Read more...]
April Dandy
The old saw has you balancing hifi against comfort. But with bluetooth wireless going mainstream, even purists concede: few of us can tell much difference in quality (between plugged and un-), especially during commutes. Fewer still buy a second pair just for quiet listening. (In which case, get … [Read more...]
February: Anti-Elitist Wormholes
Just finished first six-episode installment of Roll Over Beethoven: A Rock Critic's Guide to Classical, a podcast detailing classic rock's conversation with the European elites. This first series aired alternate Thursdays on WBCA-FM, Boston Community … [Read more...]