It was with an odd feeling of sorrow that I discovered the Black Dahlia murder had finally been solved. I always found an odd comfort in her death’s horrific black-and-white savagery, and in the fact that some things are unsolvable. This doesn’t make me a bad person, does it? Maybe she won’t haunt me so […]
Music
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How sweet it is
From the raunchy wail of his slide guitar to his gutsy, truck full-o’-sugary-gravel voice, George Thorogood is a musical icon, a man who embodies the enduring link between the blues and rock ‘n’ roll. And his new album, Ride ‘Til I Die, is standard-issue Thorogood — simple, straight-ahead, rockin’ blues. “Technically, I learned the […]
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The Bop Shop bop
Recently, a woman strolled into the Bop Shop in search of some jumpblues. Owner Tom Kohn and his staff were on the case with the speed and enthusiasm of a NASCAR pit crew. “We were like, ‘Jump blues? You need Tiny Bradshaw, Louis Jordan. You need Gene Phillips, Todd Rhodes,’” Kohn recalls. The individual […]
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Hypnotized by that golden pulse
The Eastman Gamelan is exactly the kind of endeavor that Rochester should be crowing about. It’s an example of true multiculturalism: people from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds coming together to enjoy the beauty of a little-known culture. It’s cooperative, not about competition or big egos. Though the Eastman Gamelan is affiliated with an […]
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Boob scotch
Went and warmed my bones in Miami right in the middle of The Winter Music Conference — essentially the same gay-disco beat pounding everywhere amidst the pink neon, Cuban sandwiches, and palm trees like a broken record for three days. Attendees were a bunch of bleary-eyed kids jabbering jittery German through clenched teeth. I opted […]
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Slap and twang
Slap and twang. You can say both. You can do both. And if your love lies in American roots music, you dig hearing both. Slap and twang. Two organic tones and approaches essential to rock music’s expressive sound. Where lyrics fall short in painting an accurate mood, the less-specific grunts and wails from an […]
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Fun with music
Paul Hofmann is on a mission. He wants to prove that musical creativity is not reserved for a small group of geniuses. In his Community Education classes at the Eastman School of Music, Hofmann’s students enter with a wide variety of musical backgrounds. But, before long, all of them are sitting at the piano […]
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A conversation with Wammo
The solo Spanker on his new record, rock ‘n’ roll, and how a certain rock star ripped him off. Dig Wammo. He’s one subversive, pot-smoking, beat poet, trouble-makin’ S.O.B. He’s a rocker, a roller. Wammo is a man for our time. From the arguments he starts with strangers in bars, to the poetry he slams, […]
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Blast furnace fever
Blast furnace fever New York City’s The Slackers are my favorite ska band. They rock steady without succumbing to the acne-pocked skate-punk homogenization so many ska bands adopt in feeble attempts to get laid. Their packed Milestones show was energetic, with a positive, palpable energy. It was a night full of music, including openers Amy […]
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Territory Band
Territory Band Atlas Okka Disc Atlas marks the second incarnation of Chicago-based saxophonist Ken Vandermark’s Territory Band. Originally conceived as a group of pairs (Jeb Bishop and Axel Doerner on brass; Dave Rempis and Vandermark on reeds; Kent Kessler and Fred Lonberg-Holm on strings; Paul Lytton and Tim Mulvenna on drums) plus pianist Jim Baker, […]
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Cold weather, warm women
Spring at last, spring at last, thank God almighty, it’s spring at last. I’m gonna kiss spring on the mouth. And, being the subversive romantic that I am, you can tell “W” it’ll be a French kiss, too — with French-fry breath. Flogging Molly flogged Molly and the whole damn sold-out crowd at Water […]
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Way below radar
For decades, America’s premier skin magazine ran a series of ads called “What Kind of Man Reads Playboy?” It was shameless self-congratulation. The guys featured in these ads were rich, good-looking, and had lots of expensive toys, exactly the kind of men who didn’t need to “read” a girlie rag. We hereby begin our […]
