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One of the side projects I’ve taken on has been helping working on the podcasts for the Los Angeles Review of Books, both in terms of recording and engineering.
I’m very proud to direct people to this podcast between two good friends, Andy Zax and Simon Reynolds, talking about Simon’s Retromania, which has gotten praise for being one of the best music/culture books of the past year. I didn’t conduct the interview but I did all the post-production editing (and believe me, this one was a challenge) but all in all, I’m pretty happy with how [...]
Continue reading LA REVIEW OF BOOKS PODCAST WITH SIMON REYNOLDS AND ANDY ZAX
ALBUMS. Major caveat: over the last few years, I’ve really relinquished any claim to being a “pop critic” in the broad sense of the term. I don’t make a living nor pursue a hobby in staying on top of pop music trends (and truly, even at the height of my freelance career, I was always writing about specific genres, never “pop” at large). That’s not to say I’ve abandoned pop at all; I love pop music but I feel no compunction to be in the mix with every major release. As a result, this list below is [...]
Continue reading 2010 REVIEW (NEW)
It took me about a week but I finally finished all ~700 pages of Dan Charnas’ The Big Payback. Some (extensive) thoughts…
First up, I’m not exaggerating when I say I think this isn’t just the most important book on hip-hop that’s come out in years; it’s one of the most important books on pop music, period. After all, hip-hop has been the most powerful musical force – in the world – of the late 30 years and The Big Payback enriches our understanding of the music and its global impact through the vastness [...]
Continue reading THE BIG PAYBACK: REVISITED
Dan Charnas: The Big Payback
Just from word of mouth, I knew this book, at the very least, was going to be pretty good. Charnas has been making the book tour rounds, including a great interview on Fresh Air the other week and listening to him run down a few stories I knew about but didn’t have all the details for made me run out to a local bookstore and buy it. That’s right, I wasn’t even patient enough to order it online and save 33% (and I’m usually cheap!)
And so I started reading it [...]
Continue reading THE BIG PAYBACK: JUST IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAYS
A few weeks ago I posted about Numero 25 being a book and 2LP set. Well, plans have changed as there has been a reshuffling of catalog numbers, and the results are even better than you can imagine.
The book and 2LP release has now been given a new catalog number as Numero 33. You can view a promo of it here with Ricky Allen’s “No Better Time Than Now” as a musical backdrop. The coffee table book features a photo collection as shot by Michael Abramson of Chicago nightlife in the mid-70s. The exciting thing is [...]
Continue reading NUMERO IS COOKING UP THE GOODS AGAIN
Bennet, Roger, and Josh Kun. And You Shall Know Us By the Trail of Our Vinyl (Crown, 2008)
I should have blogged about this prior to last night, when there was an event and book signing in Santa Monica around the above book but hey, you still have a few days to Hanukkah/Xmas/Kwanzaa to cop this tome.
I should first include the following disclaimer: Josh Kun, one of the co-authors, is one of my mentors and a good friend and I also appear in the book, having contribute a short essay on David Axelrod’s [...]
Continue reading FOLLOW THE TRAIL
I’ve taken an inordinate amount of time, getting around to writing this post, but don’t confuse my lateness with disinterest. The tale of Mingering Mike is one of the most incredible stories about art, music, records and obsession that I’ve ever heard about and I’m proud to have been witness to part of it.
CONTINUE READING…
Flashback to late 2003 when two Washington D.C. record collectors found a stash of records at a flea market. These were albums they had never seen before and the reason they had never seen them before is [...]
Continue reading Mingering Mike: A Legend From His Own Mind
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