Category Archives: Music

I am a passenger…

While I know Iggy Pop’s hit is inspired by drug use, I think there’s something else there too: a general comment on the nature of being in the world.

In some sense, we are all just passengers here, passengers on the ride of life and the various events that happen to us in the world, some of which we can control more than others.

And so often, all we can do is sit back and enjoy the ride.

90s alternative

90s alternative rock was special, I think, for its real and authentic engagement with human melancholy. It didn’t purport to wallow in it or shake it off (or pretend like they were too cool for it): it just embraced and faced the reality of human struggle.

“Defeat,” Some Thoughts

This song is so good, even if 22 mins long: a beautiful, mature reflection on being-in-the-world, success, failure, struggle, loss, pain, love, justice, the sometimes-unbearable weight of existence and of keeping track of what grounds and edifies you, to get you through.

Pitchfork’s “Isn’t it Now?” Review: Pretty Good

A pretty good review from pitchfork on “isn’t it now?”

“The songs have adult concerns: “Defeat” and “Stride Rite” are odes to acceptance and perseverance; “Gem & I” namechecks simple pleasures like seeing the sun and cracking another beer; “Magicians From Baltimore” is about a hometown you love but had to leave. Accordingly, the band has toned down its most antic musical impulses. No screams, no sudden explosions of noise. The crescendos, when they happen, are subtle and patient. The tempos, like the volume level, are easygoing”

Worth a read

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/animal-collective-isnt-it-now/

On Jazz Drumming

Call me an elder snob, but as a drummer, I strongly believe jazz drumming is just so underrated for its technical experimentation, its use of different time signatures, atypical beat structures and unpredictable, flowing fills.