‘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 →

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’ →

The music industry to come: What’s next for the greatest show on Earth

Written on 23-24 November 2022. Music is evolving. That much is clear. Netflix’s ‘The Playlist’ depicts the last era of class and generational warfare in the market of music. On the one hand were the young and the poor, fighting for their rights to consume and produce music without losing out to the winners, the … Continue reading The music industry to come: What’s next for the greatest show on Earth →

Drake just released an alright album? Well, um, no …

Drake releases too many albums that are too long. Or maybe he is just an artist seeing what works. I mean, maybe. Let’s see. The album cover to Donda by Ye, a cover which is much preferable to Drake’s recent choice in artwork across his albums in the 2020s. Her Loss opens with Drake declaring, … Continue reading Drake just released an alright album? Well, um, no … →

The Playlist Episode 1 Review: The Spotify Music Network Is Not All It Seems. Is it?

Netflix has been busy. As the Crown is on the cusp of release to investigate the career of Diana Spencer, deceased ex-wife of Charles III, the new Carolingian age is anticipated by another TV series which echoes the brilliance of the 2010s series The Social Network, starring Jesse Eisenberg as the young Mark Zuckerberg, who … Continue reading The Playlist Episode 1 Review: The Spotify Music Network Is Not All It Seems. Is it? →

‘Kitchen Song’ by Tessa Violet: A neat synthesis of musical skill and heartfelt lyrics

Tessa Violet’s musical evolution is remarkable. Beginning with love-drained acoustic ballad ‘Not Over You’, Violet has since gravitated to electropop statements of hunger for power on ‘Breakdown’ and ‘Yes Mom’. The return to the old Tessa Violet on ‘Kitchen Song’ is intriguing, as it poses the question of where in the dialectic of love and … Continue reading ‘Kitchen Song’ by Tessa Violet: A neat synthesis of musical skill and heartfelt lyrics →

Crown by Eric Gales: Blues but for the grace of Bach

‘Is this the beginning or the end of time?’ — Jimi Hendrix. Eric Gales is back with a blues record to compete with contentions to foundation of a new genre of music, along the lines of Bach’s foundation of classical music in the baroque period. The opening track of Gales’ record ‘Death of Me’ echoes … Continue reading Crown by Eric Gales: Blues but for the grace of Bach →