Experimental
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March’s arrival has got a lot of us thinking back to life before the pandemic. We were in a kind of holding pattern, this time last year. We had a sense something bad was coming, but no real understanding of what it would mean to our little part of the world. I remember thinking back…
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Today is the 10th anniversary of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s resignation, following 18 days of protest that were part of the region’s Arab Spring. We will recognize a host of similarly consequential 10-year anniversaries in the weeks and months ahead: the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Japan that led to the…
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No instrument is as quintessentially rock and roll as the electric guitar. It is more than that of course. Unplugged, it shares a similar relationship with the blues and country music. But paired with an amplifier, its contribution to rock’s many styles is fundamental. Put that same tool into the hands of an artist like…
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Even those of us dedicated to a musical life were surprised by the extent to which it sustained us this year. Long days of restricted travel and companionship demanded that we turn inward. And so what home sounded like had a lot to do with what it felt like. What we felt like. The music…
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Before the rest of us knew what it was to live a rigidly isolated life, Claudio Szynkier created its soundtrack. The São Paulo artist suffers from an autoimmune condition that affects his ear, and requires him to avoid contact with others for periods of time. This new recording was produced during one of those stretches…
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Julia Reidy completes the trilogy she began last year with a pair of new works that combine 12-string guitar with electronics, found sounds and autotune-drenched vocals and harmonica: the result is other worldly. Kevin Press One-sentence music reviews (OSMR) are designed to spread the word about as many new releases as possible during the COVID-19…
The Moderns 