music
The Communicant’s Summer Jamz!
I had a hankerin’ for Tommy Brew’s unpopular Youth Mass 1970 album. Considered a riposte to Ray Repp (whom Brew considered to be overly sentimental), the songs were never performed in public other than one recital for campers at Camp Ekon on Lake Joseph, Ontario, where it was very well-received. The songs, which include the…
Resonanda in Ecclesia
On Saturday night, we hosted a stunning concert by Resonanda, Brown University’s medieval music ensemble, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Brooklyn. The program, titled “My Beloved Arrives…,” was a selection of love and passion, sacred and profane, from medieval Iberia. This included Hebrew and Arabic love songs, troubadours praising the Virgin, Sir Love’s experiences…
Medieval Music Resounds in Brooklyn
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 7:30 – 9:30 pm St. Joseph’s Catholic Church 856 Pacific Street Brooklyn, New York All are welcome, as are donations On May 22nd, at one of Brooklyn’s most beautiful churches, come hear the passion and desire—both sacred and profane—of medieval Iberian song as it was meant to be heard. Killing the…
Four is the Loneliest Number
You never know what you’re going to find once you put on your miner’s helmet and head into the KtB stacks. Sometimes, you strike gold. As in this bona fide relic from Catholic rock history: Yes! It’s Tommy Brew’s change-of-address card from his so-called “lost years” at the Loyola Retreat House! Tommy Brew, a cult…
The Songs of War
In the first years of the Iraq War, what distinguished Maj. Gen. David Petraeus’s success in the north from his fellow commanders’ difficulty in the south was his correct assessment of the “center of gravity.” The term, coined by Clausewitz, refers to the enemy’s source of strength. Petraeus understood that insurgents depend heavily on civilians—for…
Morrissey Debuts New Song!
Just in on theQuiff.net, the best Morrissey newsoutlet in the web! Adding to his collection of songs with Asian or Islamic themes (Bengali in Platforms, Asian Rut and I Will See You in Far Off Places) Morrissey thrilled the crowd at the recent Fiesta Morrissey! in Alhambra, California with his latest: Wear a Veil if…
God Hates Lady Gaga
According to yesterday’s New York Times, this has been an unusually cold winter due to a mass of high pressure over Greenland that has forced the jet stream down under North America’s collar. According to the Rev. Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, “God is knocking the crap out of this country”…
Experiments in Sincerity
John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats helps bring the Age of Irony to a close.
Journey to the End of the Night
The sounds of the soul stretch from 16th-century Spain to David Lynch’s LA.
Cornel West: Truth
A drive through Manhattan with a jazzman in the world of ideas crammed in the back seat.
Music for the Crossroads
Oscar Bettison’s O Death: A Requiem Masque for Six Players as out-of-body experience.
American Mythology
For a Halloween special, Buddha-killer E.J. Park shared with us this wonderful film of his, the story of a mystic Jew in search of the American dream. (He meets the devil along the way.) Synopsis: A vérité portrait of Ari Lehman and his pursuit of fame. As a 13-year-old, Lehman portrayed the young Jason Voorhees…
Admittedly, My Knowledge of This Comes from Barbara Pym Novels
Anglican rite! Shall we have jumble sales and excellent women and layers of cardigans keeping us warm in the drafty vicarage? Cups of tea and Whitsuntide? Evensong? Compline? A whole Trinity Season? And—just maybe—decent music? @
Bono Can Kill You Just By Clapping His Hands
A friend who is an administrator at a progressive church writes me that U2 is in her town this weekend and that the buzz is making her crabby. I understand. It really is a miracle that the band has somehow maintained its reputation for righteousness even as it carts the biggest, most expensive concert set…
