Elvis Costello: “Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane”

Initially, Secret, Profane and Sugarcane was scheduled to be released not as a proper Elvis Costello album, but as a Coward Brothers album– a makeshift duo comprised of Costello and producer T-Bone Burnett. Though the role of each man remains unchanged, the billing doesn’t– now, it’s simply an Elvis Costello album produced by Burnett– but [...]

Film Break: “Up”

Pixar’s tenth film, Up, opens in the same way as its sixth film, The Incredibles: With black-and-white newsreel footage, establishing the context, the prologue, as it were. But this is not The Incredibles. Almost as soon as the newsreel footage begins, the viewer will also notice a distinctly cartoonish visual style, not at all unlike [...]

CT Review: M. Ward

My review of Hold Time– the very fine album released by M. Ward earlier this year– was published in a recent issue of Christianity Today, and is now available onlinel, as well. Of course, I posted a much longer review here in early February.

Tracking “Blood from Stars”

I’ll be honest: I really have no idea what Blood from Stars means. I’m not even sure how it works semantically– how does blood come from stars?– much less how it fits as the title of Joe Henry’s eleventh album. There is a song called “Stars,” but it makes no mention of blood. I’m stumped.
It’s [...]

Ashley Cleveland: “God Don’t Never Change”

My review of Ashley Cleveland’s God Don’t Never Change– a fantastic new collection of black gospel covers, played with bluesy swagger and rock rock– is posted at CT Music.

Jazz Revolution

I’m perfectly willing to accept that, with any given style of music, creative juices ebb and flow; that there are fallow and fertile periods alike. Thus, I’m also willing to accept that there have been periods when jazz music has stalled, briefly, failing to live up to its own spirit of adventure and invention. But [...]

Green Day: “21st Century Breakdown”

I’m going to engage in a bit of speculation here and say this: That I’m pretty sure Green Day knows that they aren’t exactly hip– or at least, that what they’re doing isn’t exactly hip. Who else, in 2009, makes a full-blown rock opera– twice in a row? Who else, in the age of Obama, [...]

Mulatu Astatke & the Heliocentrics: “Inspiration Information”

Strut Records’ Inspiration, Information series was conceived as an exercise in collaboration, though, for its first two installments, it essentially sank into hero-worship– but then, isn’t that usually how these multi-generational collaborations turn out? On paper, the project is meant to bring together one veteran artist with a younger, kindred spirit, and in that regard [...]

Jarvis Cocker: “Further Complications”

At 2009’s SXSW music festival, one of the most high-profile, buzzed-about performers was really not a performer at all, so much as a guest lecturer– Jarvis Cocker, British tabloid sensation and pop star at large. Cocker didn’t perform on a big outdoor stage, but in an auditorium, where he spoke to festival-goers about the art [...]

Film Break: “Summer Hours”

My review of Summer Hours– a beautiful and profound French film starring Juliette Binoche, opening in select markets today– is posted at CT Movies.