Ordinary Life: Greil Marcus, Commonplace Songs, and Commonplace Listening
Greil Marcus offers a perspective that's eclectic and that carves out an everyday space where the art of pop music is still possible.
Music
"I don't care much about music. What I like is sounds." — Dizzy Gillespie
John Cage’s Endless Project
John Cage's "Diary: How to Improve the World (You Will Only Make Matters Worse)" remains full of "good" advice.
Lou Reed and the End Times
What can Lou Reed’s life tell us about how to cope with our particular end times?
“The Price of Listening”: James Baldwin, Black Music, and Black Lives
On Ed Pavlić's "Who Can Afford To Improvise: James Baldwin and Black Music, the Lyric and the Listeners"
Pop Music, Not Confession
Weighing in at a hefty 670 pages, "Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink" is an impressively detailed, career-spanning narrative.
The Madness of Gangsta Rap
"Diary of a Madman" tries to simultaneously hold color and depression — life and death — in a single frame.
Carmen Lundy Talks About Mary Lou Williams, Music, and Life
Janice Littlejohn interviews Carmen Lundy about music, life, and the music life.
Shadows of Soul
Mark Ribowksy's new biography of Otis Redding aims to illuminate Redding's previously untraced steps, undissected songs, and unexplained tortured soul.
Et Tu, Too?: Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” and the Revival of Black Postmodernism
Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp a Butterfly" marks the triumphant revival of the black postmodern epic tradition.
Uptown/Downtown
I started the sensationally titled "Words Without Music" with trepidation.
Crying with the Cosmic Cowboy
On Doug Sahm's 'Mendocino'
Taylor & Karlie & Lena: The Romance of Celebrity Female Friendship in the Feminist Selfie Generation
Romantic female friendship has made a comeback in pop culture with the television show Girls.
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