Suga Mama, Politicized Suga Mama, Politicized
Beyoncé Knowles's sexed-up club jam B'Day is also an odd, urgent, dissonant and disruptive personal and political statement.
Nov 30, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Daphne A. Brooks
The Day the Music Died The Day the Music Died
It's the end of the world as we know it: Tower Records, the last great CD emporium, is closing, victim of the iPod and MP3 revolution. As Wal-Mart and other big-box stores pick up ...
Nov 27, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Max Fraser
Down by Law Down by Law
Todd Snider has a songwriter's flair for the absurd--and he's morphed from a barroom wiseacre to a keen observer of life at the workaday fringes of Bush's America.
Nov 2, 2006 / Books & the Arts / K. Leander Williams
A Rebel in Defense of Tradition A Rebel in Defense of Tradition
As composer Steve Reich turns 70, he is winning recognition from the classical establishment for the creativity and power ever-present in his music.
Oct 19, 2006 / Books & the Arts / David Schiff
Music of My Mind Music of My Mind
John Gennari's Blowin' Hot and Cool looks at the intimate but fractious relationship between jazz luminaries and their critics.
Sep 14, 2006 / Books & the Arts / David Yaffe
Brilliant Corners Brilliant Corners
To honor Andrew Hill's passing, we are reposting an article about his life's achievements originally posted in July, 2006.
Jun 21, 2006 / Books & the Arts / David Yaffe
P-Funk Politics P-Funk Politics
As hurricane season began in earnest, Ray Nagin, who famously declared New Orleans a "chocolate city," began his second term as mayor. What better time to appreciate the way Georg...
Jun 5, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Ned Sublette
Anthems of Outrage Anthems of Outrage
The crankily contrarian Neil Young has a knack for making music that reflects the times. Living With War, his blistering attack on the Bush presidency, marks the turning of a cultu...
May 12, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Kevin McCarthy
The Composer’s Craft The Composer’s Craft
In Stravinsky, the Second Exile, Stephen Walsh chronicles the composer's late years, disentangling the realities of his life and work from the published assertions of a self-servin...
May 11, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Paul Mitchinson
Yumi, Yumi, Yumi Yumi, Yumi, Yumi
Why is it that We the People are so obsessed with whether singing our national anthem in Spanish is an affront to our union?
May 11, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Patricia J. Williams