Stephen Malkmus Series: “Xian Man”

From the perspective of hindsight, March 6, 2020 turned out to be a bad time for Stephen Malkmus to release an album. Within weeks of the record’s release date, Malkmus’s beloved NBA suspended their season, schools in the United States began closing down, and individual states started to shut down bars and restaurants. Travel bansContinue reading “Stephen Malkmus Series: “Xian Man””

Man in the Long Black Coat

The first thing heard on Bob Dylan’s song “Man in the Long Black Coat” is the sound of crickets chirping. The song is the last track on the first side of Dylan’s 1989 album Oh Mercy. The album was produced by Daniel Lanois, which marked the first time Dylan and Lanois worked together after beingContinue reading “Man in the Long Black Coat”

Highway 61 Revisited

After Bob Dylan began utilizing electric instrumentation to accompany his songs with the album Bringing It All Back Home, some in the media created a new genre to describe the music: “folk rock.” That genre name always seemed affected, suited more to The Byrds covering Dylan as opposed to Dylan’s actual music. Because listening toContinue reading “Highway 61 Revisited”