“DD Review: Jodi Picoult – small great things.”

Score: 5/10 . I see it. You have to be “immaculate” to be “good,” in literature today, and you have to be “good” to be “passable,” the way maybe William Dean Howells and Kate Chopin were, once upon a time. Jodi Picoult is vastly preferable to many other authors out there, if only for her … Read more“DD Review: Jodi Picoult – small great things.”

“DD Review: Darrin James Band – Strange Storm.”

Score: 7.5/10 . As the press release for Strange Storm indicates, the album “explores (various) themes,” political themes, to be exact, and as we all know, this can be somewhat of a froggy situation. Music is obviously not discursive, in other words, it’s physical, so when I hear these claims of thematic treatment in it … Read more“DD Review: Darrin James Band – Strange Storm.”

“DD Review: Titled Axes – Music for Mobile Electric Guitars

Score: 6.5/10 . Ah, New York. The land of John Cage, the land of recent film While We’re Young and “facebook experiments.” This is from where we get the reinventions: this is where we get expression which scoffs at the notion of “product,” and has everything to do, typically, with ripe, contemporary human innovation. “Tiled … Read more“DD Review: Titled Axes – Music for Mobile Electric Guitars

“DD Review: Mac Gollehon & The Hispanic Mechanics – Mac Gollehon & The Hispanic Mechanics.”

Score: 7.5/10 . Eventually, I guess trumpet players just get used to playing second mason, and the title of the first song “No More Drama” should give you an idea of Mac Gollehon’s personality, or disposition, at work here. In this age of emcees, when we often get a laundry list of people’s personal problems … Read more“DD Review: Mac Gollehon & The Hispanic Mechanics – Mac Gollehon & The Hispanic Mechanics.”

“DD Review: Chris Wirsig – The 13 Crystal Skulls.”

Score: 8/10 . Sometimes it’s the most hopeless romantics who end up deriving the most valuable wisdom, even should it be false, and the state of being hypnotized is probably often useful in the achievement of BEING hypnotic. Enter Chris Wirsig, who hails from San Francisco — the end of the continent. It’s a city … Read more“DD Review: Chris Wirsig – The 13 Crystal Skulls.”

Teknofonic Essentials Vol. 1: Threads Common and Uncommon”

* Teknofonic is the name of the New York record label which has administered this “best-of” compilation. The label just hatched in 2015, and indeed its Essentials Vol. 1 title does feel absurdly ambitious, sort of like Sub Pop’s plans for “world domination,” but in truth many of these tracks do shine as legitimate house … Read moreTeknofonic Essentials Vol. 1: Threads Common and Uncommon”