Tag: music
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New Reviews & an Essay in Print
I have two reviews out now: I contended with Maggie Nelson’s On Freedom for Heavy Feather Review, which you can read here. I reviewed Donald Antrim’s One Friday in April: A Story of Suicide and Survival, which is close to my heart and taught me quite a bit. You can read it in Colorado Review…
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half life (a 2020 playlist)
“Half of my whole life is gone,” Perfume Genius sings at the outset of his fifth album, Set My Heart On Fire Immediately. 2020 sometimes feels a bit like that, but I hope you’re safe, well, staying home when possible, learning antiracism, and putting it into daily reflection and practice. I wait until the end…
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“Suburban Wars” in The Athenaeum Review
In my latest for the The Athenaeum Review, I looked at two titles in Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series, short books on single albums. I had some fun collapsing the intellectual distance between Nine Inch Nails and Arcade Fire in writing about their albums, Pretty Hate Machine and The Suburbs, respectively. Daphne Carr’s book on Pretty Hate Machine lands in my…
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March Reads
Since limiting my reading time in January, I thought more time at home in March might challenge that boundary, but I stuck with my commitment and only read five books this month. If you missed January and February, they’re still waiting for you. Bookstores could really use your support during the current closure, and indie…
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Soundtrack to My Decade
For the past seven years, I have reflected on the year behind me through the music I loved (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013). I wanted to do the same for the decade, but had no idea how stressful that would quickly become (okay, I had some idea). The list that follows features 35…
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Soundtrack to My Year, 2019 (vol. 7)
As another year draws to an end, I take a moment to reflect in the way that I have since 2013: ranking and writing about my favorite music of the year. Taken together, these albums represent my personal trials and growth this year. I still have a queue of albums to listen to fully, but…
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Soundtrack to My Year, 2018 (vol. 6)
Last year, I started writing for DJBooth, a publication that covers hip hop and which I deeply revere. I wrote three articles in 2017 and set a personal goal to double that in 2018. I’m now ending the year with 14 articles written for DJBooth in 2018, in addition to my first academic article on hip hop…
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Soundtrack to My Year, 2016 (vol. 4)
Every year, I like to reflect on the albums that got me through the year. In 2016, I spent more time trying to listen than talk, and I felt these albums offered the space for me to reflect and understand the nuances of the experience of others. Each title links to where you can purchase…
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Soundtrack to My Year, 2015 (vol. 3)
Music in 2015 was good to me. I like to reflect on the albums that impacted me over the course of a year to understand myself, and others, better. Continuing my yearly tradition, here are my top albums and what they meant to me.
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Soundtrack to My Year, 2013 (vol. 1)
I wanted to take some time to talk about the greatest year of my life so far, but I couldn’t find a way to do it without being sappy. So, since I love music and since this year gave us some phenomenal music, why not write about my year through the soundtrack to it? After writing…
Ben Lewellyn-Taylor 