Yours truly is rarely to be found at the multiplex, but I guess it was spiritually impossible for me not to go see the new Reagan film, given that Bob Dylan recorded a special tune for it (Cole Porter s Don t Fence Me In ). It s conceivable I would have gone out to see it anyway, but Continue reading "Reagan (2024 Movie)" The post Reagan (2024 Movie) appeared first on The Cinch Review .
How should you rate the importance of any new album release (to the extent any album has any importance at all in this benighted era)? Will it lead to riots in the streets, protests at the barricades, or a new musical trend that sweeps the world? Will it inspire a popular new haircut or a Continue reading " Swing Fever with Rod Stewart and Jools Holland" The post <em>Swing Fever</em> with Rod…
One of the special treats for dedicated Bob Dylan fans this year was the publication of Ray Padgett s book Pledging My Time: Conversations with Bob Dylan Band Members. It contains 40 interviews with musicians who have played live with Dylan from his earliest days right up to (nearly) the present day. And just a few Continue reading "Bob Dylan s Christmas Revisited" The post Bob Dylan s Christmas…
With all that s going on in the world, it might be argued that not too much notice needs to be taken of the long-anticipated death of a (formerly) alcoholic pop musician at the age of 65. Does it really matter? Well, yes, I think; to the civilized, or what remains of them, everything matters, by Continue reading "Three Great Shane MacGowan Songs" The post Three Great Shane MacGowan Songs appeared…
Does the world seem to you, as it does to me, to be more than just a little off-kilter these days? The air is filled with histrionics, people s heads are bouncing from one extreme to another, there are nagging portents of disaster (every time the latest disaster finishes); there is a sense that the guide Continue reading "We Need To Get Fred Astaire Back" The post We Need To Get Fred Astaire Back…
This writer s gratitude for the life of Tony Bennett is directly related to what was his single-minded mission, artistically speaking, and that was to spread the love of the kind of music he loved to sing, that which we call The Great American Songbook; the songs of Irving Berlin, the Gershwins, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Continue reading "Tony Made It Happen" The post Tony Made It Happen appeared…
It is one of the harshest responses Jesus is ever reported to have delivered to someone seeking his help; indeed, it s arguably the only occasion recorded in the gospels where he responded to a sincere supplicant in a harsh manner. It is when, in initially rejecting her plea, he seems to compare a Gentile woman Continue reading "A Biblical Pet Peeve" The post A Biblical Pet Peeve appeared first on…
Who says there s any such thing as settled science? And it s where science and art meet that we find ourselves, in a collision of controversies where we may ultimately prove that no fact is ever too old to be upended. In other words, I came across, in a local thrift store, a monophonic LP edition Continue reading "Frank Sinatra s Come Swing with Me! : A Revelation in Mono" The post Frank Sinatra s…
I personally made the above image of the crossed-out robot to symbolize AI Free Zone, in order to stick it on my website. It took me days. Shucks, using AI, it probably would have taken mere seconds. But then that would have defeated the purpose. (And try explaining that to a robot.) For years we ve Continue reading "Ai, Yai, Yai: Artificial Intelligence Really Arrives" The post Ai, Yai, Yai:…