Everyone knew last Friday’s one-off collaboration between NYC art-rock outfit Dirty Projectors and Icelandic pop institution Björk would be epic. The real question was, HOW big would it be? Brokered by Stereogum’s Brandon Stosuy, the meeting of the (very weird) minds took place after Projectors’ Dave Longstreth composed a piece — an ode to whales and Mount Wittenberg — […]
Your average critic becomes a little uneasy when asked to ventue into the realm of cultural historian, but The Plastic People of the Universe leave us little choice. Founded in the ’60s and playing increasingly underground well into the ’70s, this once illegal Czech act was more than a band; it was revolution incarnate. Not […]
If there’s a more surprising convergence of cultures, I’d like to see it. Indie elitists (and a fair number of electronic music aficionados as well) have seized Konono No.1, whisking the decades-old act from their home in Congo. Of course, I’m not as surprised as the group’s members must be. For years Konono No.1 have […]
Bob Marley? Bah. Desmond Dekker was cranking out hits when Bob Marley was still wearing boy-shorts. Suffice it to say that Dekker established himself as the reigning king of Jamaican music well before Marley’s dreads attained their legendary, nappy sheen. Of course Dekker, unlike Marley, didn’t die young and so he, like his music, has […]
Indulgence is the most easily misunderstood aspect of avant-garde art. It’s not enough to pile up wildly adventurous ideas—you have to make them work together. That’s not to say disparate forms can’t sync seamlessly, but without some sense of a grand thematic structure, ambitious art becomes muddled beyond repair, leaving the audience to wander. That’s […]
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