“When I think about my two stints at the now-shuttered Village Voice—for which I freelanced regularly from the late seventies to the late eighties, returning as a staff writer from 1994-1999—one unexpected but apt word that keeps popping to mind is ‘fecund.’ My recollection that I worked for two or possibly three different papers all hawked under the same name doesn’t seem remarkable, because the … Continue reading “The Voice and Its Village”
The above appeared in the June 1975 issue of Stereo Review (formerly Hi-Fi Stereo Review), now archived here. The letters are in reference to a Bangs twin review, from March ’75 (one I’ve never seen before) of Harrison’s Dark Horse and Ringo’s Goodnight Vienna (a “metal-flake glow-in-the-dark music box”). More links to HFSR stuff ahead. Continue reading Lester on Ringo & George (Hi-Fi Stereo Review)
Some time over the next little while (hard to be more specific than that), rockcritics.com, in sharp rebuke to the current culture of downsizing and job redundancies, will be expanding its roster to three times its current head count (i.e., me plus two other guys). I’ll let Vic and Andrew introduce themselves through their upcoming posts, but I welcome other contributors as well. If you … Continue reading Come one, come anybody
Music Writer Roy Carr Has Died Roy Carr’s illustrated records from the seventies (Stones, Beatles, and Bowie all grace my collection) were enormously inspiring to me at a young age–a bridge in many ways to the criticism which eventually took over (really) my life for several years. The Stones book in particular: I think I memorized every page of the thing, from the unbelievable photos … Continue reading Roy Carr
Jerry Hopkins, biographer of Jim Morrison, is dead at 82. Mr. Hopkins produced an eclectic range of work that was largely about rock music but that also included books and articles about exotic food, sex, travel and Hawaiian musical instruments (I never did read No One Here Gets Out Alive, but I certainly recall how big a deal both it and the Doors seemed at … Continue reading Jerry Hopkins (1935-2018)
Via Pitchfork . In a more perfect world where I could actually find time to read several books in one year (or, more precisely, to read several books without almost immediately falling asleep on the couch), there are maybe a handful of titles here that compel investigation (Albertine, Astral Weeks, and MIDI, especially). Continue reading 18 New Music Books to Read This Summer
Release date, Oct. 2, and breathlessly awaited by some (i.e., me). Table of contents is here, and is fetching (“Harmony and Discord,” “Innocence and the Second-Best Pop Album Ever,” “Summer’s Gone, the Endless Summer”). The Beach Boys matter to me enormously–more than the Beatles, more than the Velvets, more than Prince, Chuck Berry, Elvis Costello, and many others (well, at least if “mattering” is best … Continue reading Why the Beach Boys Matter (Tom Smucker)
