‘Everybody’s beholden to somebody.’ Ye, Clubhouse Interview, 2022 ‘What I just said is far past anything anybody in my position has ever said publicly. We ridin’ on God … I ain’t got no security, you know exactly where I’m at … Come and get me.’ Ye ‘We got China, heading — if it’s not for … Continue reading ‘I had a vision.’ For God’s sake, everyone: Ye is the opposite of Hitler, and here is why
Category: Music
The greatest musician of all time
Yes. I am the greatest musician of all time
‘Expérgo’ (EP) by NMIXX: Ingenious, exhilarating pop — with signs of something new
I have reviewed NMIXX’s music before. Contrasting with (G)-ILDE’s dark themes and BLACKPINK’s balanced approach to the musical world and its palette of human emotions, NMIXX is unflinchingly positive. The opening song samples the folk tune ‘Frère Jacques’, with both cheek and respect for the original. The whole approach of K-Pop these days feels like … Continue reading ‘Expérgo’ (EP) by NMIXX: Ingenious, exhilarating pop — with signs of something new
Donda: A track-by-track review
See also: my review of Kendrick Lamar’s latest album. I’ve decided to write up a complete review of Donda, the tenth studio album by Ye, the musical artist/producer/rapper formerly known as Kanye West. I’m going to open with my basic claim: this album is enormously influential but also extremely competent and creative on its own … Continue reading Donda: A track-by-track review
‘First Time’ and the albums
You were swift with your blade You lacked hesitation Your eyes were like oceans I fell till I drowned - First Time by Edmund Wilson As you may know, dear reader, my views on history and politics as expressed on this blog converge in a strange location or destination: music. And it is music that … Continue reading ‘First Time’ and the albums
Update: Born
‘The old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters.’ — Antonio Gramsci It is nearly a year since the world premiere of my debut EP, ‘Born’. Since then, I have released across streaming platforms the debut single from that EP, ‘First Time’, and uploaded all … Continue reading Update: Born
A message for 2023: Stop imitating past greats, I want something new
I am getting tired. I hear the same music again and again and again. The charts are driving me crazy. Because I like this kind of music. In the shadow of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and The Fame Monster, the 2010s saw the reinvention of music through R&B (Anti) and alternative pop music (WHEN … Continue reading A message for 2023: Stop imitating past greats, I want something new
Pop Album of 2022: ‘emails i can’t send’ by Sabrina Carpenter
I mean, as they say in Chicago, he had it coming. — Sabrina Carpenter, ‘emails i can’t send’ song outro It’s that time of year. Musical round-up of 2022 … So, the pop album (LP) of the year — drumroll — is: emails i can’t send by Sabrina Carpenter. An astonishing record in many ways, … Continue reading Pop Album of 2022: ‘emails i can’t send’ by Sabrina Carpenter
The art of questioning: A complete set of predictions for 2023
I would like to give a systematic set of predictions — some general and abstract, some more precise and concrete — for the coming year. I make predictions not principally to make a ‘prophecy’ about the future. Rather, I wish to test, in a very loose way, my analysis of the present by extending current … Continue reading The art of questioning: A complete set of predictions for 2023
From technique to artistry: The theory of music in ‘Whiplash’
Tropes of ‘music theory’ are as oft trotted out as are their counterparts in the department of ‘practice makes perfect’. But in the philosophy of Mozart’s time, Immanuel Kant already bridged these polar opposites of musical weather reports: the faculty of judgement, specifically concerned with aesthetic concepts of beauty and the sublime, bridged between abstract … Continue reading From technique to artistry: The theory of music in ‘Whiplash’
Edmund Wilson 