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Critical Thinking: February 2010

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Thursday, February 11, 2010. MIA's Paper Planes Revealed. MIA ends her hit “Paper Planes” with two brief but significant statements: “M.I.A. Third World democracy. I got more records than the KGB. So no funny business! 8221; and “Some some some I murder, Some some I let go.” Catchy, right? I’ll fly like paper, get high like planes. If you catch me at the border I got Visas in my name. If you come around here I’ll make ‘em all day. I’ll get one done in a second if you wait. Is it really boasting? Now, lis...

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Critical Thinking: Looking for the Crest of a New Wave

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Saturday, December 19, 2009. Looking for the Crest of a New Wave. Subsequently, I borrowed the Trevor Pinnock collection of Mozart symphonies, and the John Eliot Gardiner collection of Mozart piano concertos, both on Archiv, from the library. Recommended. Which I bought a year or so ago, is now at the top of my personal playlist, despite serious reservations about Mikael Akerfeldt’s occasional crooning (I prefer it when he sounds like the cookie monster). Two things keep bringing me back:. 8217;s New Wave.

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Critical Thinking: December 2009

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Saturday, December 19, 2009. Looking for the Crest of a New Wave. Subsequently, I borrowed the Trevor Pinnock collection of Mozart symphonies, and the John Eliot Gardiner collection of Mozart piano concertos, both on Archiv, from the library. Recommended. Which I bought a year or so ago, is now at the top of my personal playlist, despite serious reservations about Mikael Akerfeldt’s occasional crooning (I prefer it when he sounds like the cookie monster). Two things keep bringing me back:. 8217;s New Wave.

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Critical Thinking: October 2009

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Sunday, October 4, 2009. Where My Veterans At? Pitchfork published their list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s. Last week, and the net has a bunch of opinions about the matter, but none as interesting as this one: the lack of veteran performers. As you can see, this link is to a website dedicated to musicians who have performed for 25 or more years. Pitchfork gives up only 4 out of 200 to veterans, and surprisingly does not include either of Bob Dylan's masterpieces of the decade, Modern Times. Of cour...

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Critical Thinking: August 2009

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Saturday, August 8, 2009. 40 Alternatives to Pitchfork's Top 100 Albums of the 1980s. I love lists. Even lists as strange as Pitchfork’s Top 100 Albums of the 1980s. So I thought I’d be an ass and put together my own alternative Top 40 Albums of the 1980s NOT listed in Pitchfork's list, in which I offer albums that I believe are far more reliable and meaningful choices than many of the ones compiled by Pitchfork. Who doesn’t love Thriller. Sign o’ the Times. So I figure Afro-pop is fair game. I was g...

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Critical Thinking: Doris Lessing tells it like it is

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Tuesday, March 8, 2011. Doris Lessing tells it like it is. This is from the remarks at the beginning of Doris Lessing's collected Canopus in Argos: Archives. I was in the States, giving a talk, and the professor who was acting as chairwoman, and whose only fault was that perhaps she had fed too long on the pieties of academia, interrupted me with: 'If I had you in my class you'd never get away with that! In my life, space fiction equals popular music. Discuss. April 26, 2011 at 6:11 PM.

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Critical Thinking: Follow me on Tumblr

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Saturday, October 1, 2011. Follow me on Tumblr. I recently opened a Tumblr account, and am now regularly blogging there, albeit with briefer posts and commentary. So please follow me. If you wish. I’m also on Facebook. Of course, and I have a Twitter account. Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom). My wife and I live in Los Angeles, California. I study historical musicology at USC. View my complete profile. Follow me on Tumblr. National Arts Journalism Program.

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Critical Thinking: January 2011

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Monday, January 3, 2011. My Afternoon with Robert Christgau. As many of you know, I met music critic Robert Christgau last Wednesday at his home in NYC. I interviewed him for about 3 hours, after which we sat with his wife, spoke more casually, and drank whiskey for another 30-60 minutes. Swoon! 8220;Hello, is this Mr. Christgau? 8220;Yes.”. Pause) (Longer pause.). 8220;No, I don’t think so…” (My world is ending…) “We can’t do it over the phone…” (Okay, may...8221; (Oh, sweet Jesus, thank you! We talked ...

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Critical Thinking: October 2011

http://bradleysroka.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html

Saturday, October 1, 2011. Follow me on Tumblr. I recently opened a Tumblr account, and am now regularly blogging there, albeit with briefer posts and commentary. So please follow me. If you wish. I’m also on Facebook. Of course, and I have a Twitter account. Links to this post. Subscribe to: Posts (Atom). My wife and I live in Los Angeles, California. I study historical musicology at USC. View my complete profile. Follow me on Tumblr. National Arts Journalism Program.