blog riley

Image via WikipediaAs a critic, I spend a lot of energy resisting both cliches and superlatives. Hyperbole be the enemy of specificity, and so on. In this instance I have no hesitation: I heard George Shearing at the Aspen Music Festival in 1979. He played a long, adventurous set with a bassist, … [Read more...]

Image via Wikipedia"Hercules" (Honky Château, 1972) Elton has fun pretending to be a grits-kicking Southern boogie man, boasting "I like women and I like wine" over roadhouse piano, guitar twang, and a "doo-wop shoo-bop" chorus. It sounds like he's tipping his hat to Lynyrd Skynyrd -- except their … [Read more...]

Image via WikipediaDoes Julian Assange have an agenda? We've heard the question so many times, usually asked by American media, whose agendas we are intimately familiar with. My answer, on reflection, is yes, I think he has one, and he has said what it is. And it's not what the big media people … [Read more...]

Cover via AmazonWith the $13-Plus trillion we are estimated to ultimately spend on the bailouts, we could not only have bought and paid off every single subprime mortgage in the country (that would only have cost $1.4 trillion), we could have paid off every remaining mortgage of any kind … [Read more...]

"The story of Guadalupe Victoria Yoli Raymond, known as La Lupe, is a poignant tale of a performer ruled by instinct and ecstasy. First, she was the right talent at the right place at the right time -- and then, all too soon, she wasn't. Before long, the one-time sensation was cast aside by the … [Read more...]

TwelveSouth, a firm specializing in Mac-oriented periphs and gadgets, has created an ingenious solution for the traveling audiophile: a subwoofer that creates good to very good results out of your tinny MacBook Pro speakers. Powered by a simple USB adaptor, this 5x5-inch box boosts not just bass but … [Read more...]

Image via WikipediaFrom the first verse to Peru's previous national anthem: For a long time the oppressed Peruvian Dragged the ominous chain; Condemned to cruel servitude He moaned for a long time in silence. But as soon as the sacred cry of "Freedom!" was heard on … [Read more...]

Image via WikipediaDavid Thomson's 25 Best Spit Nails in the new edition of his New Biographical Dictionary of Film: Leonardo DiCaprio: "Beginning to look a touch puffy ... that touch of fey magic he once had has slipped from his face." Ben Affleck: "Boring, complacent and criminally lucky to have … [Read more...]

Favorite new cloud tools: pinterest, social bulletin boards, more and more addictiveworkflowy, a place to make quick and dirty lists in outline formpaprika, more involved but very useful sugarsync, icloud, 3 gigs of free auto-storage, auto-syncingpinboard.in, delicious mirror … [Read more...]

Image via WikipediaIt's a Wrap: Muckrack's Review of the ReviewsNew Fav Tools: feedly.com, pinboard.inTop Internet Memes of 2010, and moreUndercovered: Veterans Chained to the White House FenceDiscographies, the New Anonymous: "Like you, I also get asked whether I write … [Read more...]

Funk & Soul Covers, by Joaquim Paulo, Ed. by Julius WiedermannTaschen site has a "leaf-through" feature, better to search google images for obscure desktoppers. Links to funk underworld reviews. Related articlesTake Cover: Dâm-Funk: Adolescent Funk (pitchfork.com)The Big Books … [Read more...]

40: A Doonesbury RetrospectiveFrame completely at odds with content: This elite cinder-block of a book begs the question, "why print?" Where's searchable digital media with thematic tags, index, and instant social accessibility when you most want it? There are so many strips in here you … [Read more...]