A dear and lifelong friend of mine died unexpectedly last week and, without any premeditation, he put me in the middle of a beautiful Eastern Orthodox funeral service that I saw from the church to its end at the grave, where I served as an ad hoc pallbearer. I will absolutely write more about him […]
The Setlist
Our picks for the week’s best live music plus interviews and music news.
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Animal Instincts
I am writing this in my living room on my couch with a large Italian mastiff snoring like a Sardinian sow pig behind me. She doesn’t mean any offense and, in fact, Grinza is a sweet dog, stinkiness notwithstanding. She’s better company than most people, if I am being honest. I mention her because she […]
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A Little Music, a Little Kindness
I am going to ignore the holiday altogether, as far as my music beat goes, because virtually no one books shows on that day. I will instead make a couple of suggestions for those of you who celebrate or discard this gluttonous holiday. Firstly, be nice to other people whether they are your family or […]
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Back in Town
I have written here before about my antagonistic relationship with nostalgia and the withering contempt it generates in me. As Spider Jerusalem from Warren Ellis’ excellent comic book Transmetropolitan observes, “The future is an inherently good thing.” However, with all of the familiar faces and returning musicians in this week’s column, I find myself flexing […]
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November Soundtrack
We are definitely into November, the 11th month of the year, helpfully named after the ninth month of the old Roman Calendar. Of course, it has had many other names throughout history. One of my favorites is Brumaire, the so-called “month of fog” in the argot of the French Revolution. On Nov. 9, 1799, came […]
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Get to the Show and the Voting Booth
This has been an ugly and busy week. White terrorism has been in the news and in our own community someone was stabbed to death in Arcata in what I am sure was a tragically pointless dispute. Two lives are now ruined: the victim’s and the alleged attacker’s. This isn’t a crime to put on […]
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Halloween Haunts
It’s the last week of October and you know what that means, fellow Halloweenies. So I am going to keep this intro brief and instead stuff the page with a week of goodies for your social calendar. Get out, have fun and be evil within reason — reason being a rare thing in the spooky […]
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Anniversaries, Dreams and Hauntings
I am not a nostalgic fella and I tend to have a private needle that clicks between “ignorant indifference” and “seething distrust” when it comes to all of the hallmarks and anniversaries that we are collectively reminded to celebrate. However, in deference to my readers, of whom I am genuinely fond, and for the sake […]
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Band Together
I have been struggling to translate my horror at current political events through a popular culture lens because that’s what, for better or worse, Americans do. The best I’ve landed on is, oddly enough, John Carpenter’s 2001 underrated flop Ghosts of Mars, a film in which mining colonists unleash a well of ancient and violent […]
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Do or DIY
There’s a ton of music this week with the exception of Monday night, which I have cut out entirely for space because it’s dead out. Here’s a thought: Consider spending that night rooting for my erstwhile home team the New Orleans Saints to beat the racist institution known as the Washington R*dskins within the purview […]
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No Pardon
Friends sometimes ask me what I actually listen to, as I seem to carry an annoying aloofness in this column when it comes to music. And it grates, I am told. Well, tonight there is a big ol’ harvest moon outside so I am listening to … anything but Neil Young. I hate to be […]
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The Fruits of Autumn
I spent last night sleeping under a fig tree on the grounds of a farm my friends just purchased. Not one of those farms, by the way, although that doesn’t matter in my opinion, but a bona fide organic food producer. After a great dinner I slept under that tree with my girlfriend and dreamed […]