Category Archives: Music

Used books: Illegal?

The New York Times on Monday ran an article comparing Amazon.com’s used book marketplace to Napster. The fact that you can use this service to find used copies of almost any book (or CD, or whatever) worries authors and publishing … Continue reading

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Meaningless Responsible Criticism

The composer, author, and critic Ned Rorem wrote a letter to the New York Times book review, protesting a review of Christopher Ricks’s bookDylan’s Visions of Sin, a portentious 500+ page analysis of Dylan’s lyrics. Rorem wrote, in part, As … Continue reading

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Ray Charles, September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004

I saw Ray Charles only once, from the back row of Brooklyn College’s Gershwin Auditorium. Far from the expected rote review of hits in a (let’s face it) second-level venue, he kicked ass, kicked the piano, and nearly fell off … Continue reading

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Things ain’t like they used to be…

I finally got Peter Tosh’s two best solo albums on CD, and listening to his first one (unfairly remembered nowadays only for its pro-drug title track, “Legalize It,”) I found myself missing him. Released in the early 70s, the album … Continue reading

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The Banjo Is My Enemy…

Here’s an insightful comment on practicing your instrument, which probably applies to lots of other things as well. Pete Wernick, who does banjo instructional materials for the indispensable Homespun Tapes, describes two modes of practicing: The Banjo Is My Enemy: … Continue reading

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The End of the iPod

I suspect that in a few years, people will identify Apple’s rebuff of Real Networks as the beginning of the end for its dominance in online music. It’s sad that Apple still has not learned that closed platforms always lose … Continue reading

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I’m Sick All Right

The Victoria’s Secret commercial featuring Bob Dylan is just silly. Clearly the ad was much less important than the press coverage it generated. The model looks ridiculous in her pasted-on angel wings, Dylan looks like a demented lecher, and for … Continue reading

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RIAA To Invade Iraq

According to today’s New York Times, soldiers in Iraq have “a communal computer where 12.8 gigabites of tunes had been downloaded for sharing on MP3’s. The rule was simple: Take some music, add some music.” This is clearly illegal file-sharing, … Continue reading

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Prince: Musicology Tour Kickoff

I dropped into Prince’s web site yesterday (thanks Bill) to see how to get his new album. It seemed to be only available for (paid) download, only available in Windows Media format, and not actually available at all since the … Continue reading

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