Samuel Jay Keyser on Leonard Bernstein

Poetry ceased to be metrical, music ceased to be tonal and painting ceased to be mimetic...
Read MoreOld New Music

New music includes sounds we’ve never heard before, regardless of how old the tunes might be...
Read More“Everybody wanted to know what I’d do if I didn’t win”

The footage is remarkable for showing Kanye in a private space that is a world away from the equally intimate – but also highly public – outbursts for which he is now better known...
Read MoreThen Amy Died

Yes, I drank at the Hawley Arms and the Good Mixer in Camden, went to Trash, saw the Strokes at a tiny secret gig...
Read MoreSheepish Drumming

Elton John was singing “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues,” and I was belting it out with him...
Read MoreAs Stacked

I am rearranging my music collection — looking at the album covers, hearing snippets of the songs in my head as I see each one and recall the memories attached to it...
Read MoreCompletely Claqueurs

Many people have claimed that the art of the claque was purely manual: what a paradox! Might as well say that the art of war is only the art of making sword-thrusts...
Read MorePeople Look Like Emails by David Beer

In pandemic times I’m picturing Jason Fearn sat amongst his chaotic equipment, formulating a sinister and foreboding soundtrack...
Read MoreFrancesco Tenaglia on Michael Jackson

Screenshot from “Scream” video, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Epic Records, 1994 by Francesco Tenaglia It only lasts for a moment. Not a glutinous efflorescence, or a spooky appearance fit to star in choreography from the good ol’ days. The sluggish shadow slippers from one...
Read MorePrince’s Beautiful One

On January 29, 2016, Prince summoned me to his home, Paisley Park, to tell me about a book he wanted to write. He was looking for a collaborator. Paisley Park is in Chanhassen
Read MoreLil Peep’s Last Day

It was five hours before showtime and Lil Peep was in the back of his tour bus, getting high with two young fans...
Read MoreJennifer Seaman Cook: Why Did Bowie Leave Us in The Attic?

Three years after David Bowie’s death, one of his last, cryptic videos leaves us wondering what his final message might mean for us...
Read MoreThe tea should be strong. For a pot holding a quart, if you are going to fill it nearly to the brim, six heaped teaspoons would be about right...
Read MoreThe thing about new blooms is that they tend to bleed— / Those petals birthed / hugging close / that come warmer weather are tricked into jumping away...
Read MoreI spent a good part of my childhood at home staring outside my bedroom window, following the trail of planes approaching the nearby Paris airport in the sky from my banlieue. I envied the passengers...
Read MoreThe tea should be strong. For a pot holding a quart, if you are going to fill it nearly to the brim, six heaped teaspoons would be about right...
Read MoreThe thing about new blooms is that they tend to bleed— / Those petals birthed / hugging close / that come warmer weather are tricked into jumping away...
Read MoreI spent a good part of my childhood at home staring outside my bedroom window, following the trail of planes approaching the nearby Paris airport in the sky from my banlieue. I envied the passengers...
Read More