Today’s column is named after a Sheldon Harnick song, as performed by The Kingston Trio. It’s a satirical piece about unrest and violence in the world being solved by the modest proposal of unleashing the atomic bomb on the whole of humanity because “What nature doesn’t do to us, will be done by our fellow […]
The Setlist
Our picks for the week’s best live music plus interviews and music news.
Posted inMusic
The Rite of Spring
Hey, check out this quote from the Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus regarding Persephone, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and the reason for the season which we are just now leavin’ — according to the ancients, anyway: “But when Zeus ordered Pluto to send up the Maid, Pluto gave her a seed of a pomegranate to […]
Posted inMusic
If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next
Despite what a few of you might think, I believe the organizing principle of the world is supposed to be love, but somewhere along the way we all fucked it up. Read St. Augustine for more on that, or Milton, Plato, or Dante or Mary Oliver. The mid-20th century psychoanalyst and genius Wilhelm Reich was […]
Posted inMusic
What a World
I have a lot on my mind and no space to get to any of it with the proper clarity due, so I will instead drop a snapshot. First off, the title of this week’s column comes from my favorite Bill Frisell album Ghost Town, which I am listening to as I’m clacking at the […]
Posted inMusic
Mirrors in the Mirror
I’m chopping away at this on the last Monday in February, all the while considering, however far in the back of my head, that I’m about to, God willing, hit another birthday next week, on the first Wednesday of March. All night I’ve been listening to Estonian composer Arvo Pärt’s gorgeous Spiegel im Spiegel, one […]
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Pet Sounds
I’ll keep this brief, because we are celebrating our non-human friends this week, and not my doggerel. Here’s a little edited Walt Whitman: “I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contained… Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things… Not one is […]
Posted inMusic
My Funny Valentine
When I briefly lived in Brooklyn in my very early 20s, there was a bar called Rosemary’s (I think, it’s been a while), where the owner, presumably Rosemary but who really knows, would heavily decorate the place for every holiday. Those decorations remained up until the next holiday, so there would be an unbroken chain […]
Posted inMusic
Un Bel Dì Vedremo
I grew up with a mother who loved opera, and was taken by her in utero in San Francisco to experience Puccini’s Turandot. As a teenager, I volunteered at that same SF Opera, handing out cookies and coffee to the minor extended cast in exchange for the experience of lurking in the back of the […]
Posted inMusic
Lazy Calm
By the time you read this, we might be headed into another week of shifting rains drowning the recent glow of sunshine in clouds and downpours. Fine by me; I’ve always been the type to comment on the weather rather than complain about it. Credit that to spending most of my life in places where […]
Posted inMusic
In Heaven Everything is Fine
Every so often in the course of my time manning the nightlife section in this paper, I find myself in the unenviable position of having to note the passing of an artist, whether local or more famous. It’s never a fun thing, but I consider it an essential aspect of the job, as “all hands […]
Posted inMusic
Fat Cats, Bigga Fish
I’ve been hearing a lot about the idea that our current situation is the fault of the American voters, some even suggesting, in this paper and elsewhere, that the public can’t be trusted with the task of participating in a democracy. Given that this week covers the inauguration and return of a very divisive president, […]
Posted inMusic
Orpheus in the Underworld
Things are picking up somewhat around here but not quite to the levels we can expect to see in the coming weeks. This is the time of the winter lull, when many bands are dormant in response to a limited audience. Marry that to the ongoing series of closing venues, general economic misery and a […]