A Paler Shade of White by Sasha Frere-Jones in the New Yorker The first and most obvious point is: here's an essay that's long overdue, of the stripe the New Yorker should have been running for at least the past twenty-thirty years, ever since Ellen Willis left. The color line is still the most dramatic, obvious, blatant, screaming-in-silence issue facing pop music today, as it ever was. Second, Frere-Jones's point about indie rock forsaking African rhythms is quite well-supported, on through to his points about Eminem ("the exception that … [Read more...]

"The only thing that I got's been botherin' me my whole life..." Is there a Springsteen line more suited to Win Butler? (via Zoilus) Setlist via Backstreets More at the Riley Rock Index.com page on YouTube … [Read more...]

Sign of the Times: Scott Peley's 60 Minutes interview with Bruce Springsteen approaches his anti-war stance so gingerly: "You know some people are going to say Bruce Springsteen is no patriot..." How different is that from O'Reilly saying "Why do you hate America?" It may be a tad more polite, but it's basically the same lame-ass question. As if poll after poll hasn't revealed that anti-war sentiment is at an all-time high, that the public rates Congress even lower than the President for refusing to put a stop to it. As though this anti-war … [Read more...]

Notes on opening night of Bruce Springsteen's MAGIC TOUR with the E Street Band Hartford Civic Center, Connecticut October 2, 2007 (Listen today, Thursday 10/4, for the WBUR story, podcast archived this afternoon.) LEAD: Bruce Springsteen, a spry 58 years young, proved once again that rock'n'roll is not just for kids Tuesday night in launching his latest world tour at the Hartford Civic Center. His new album is called MAGIC, and there was plenty of that as a crowd of 10,000 roared BROOOOCE and sang along with every song, including some … [Read more...]

Last season was marked by two high-profile flameouts, one network, the other cable. Aaron Sorkin dumped West Wing, which although self-important (especially that 9/11 episode) and pompous and winded and haughty sported cracking dialogue, snappy performances, plot out the wazoo and a President on the couch about his abusive father. Sorkin's follow-up? Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip, which wallowed in self-pity and dramedy cliches, even as Amanda Peet transcended its hoariest damsel-in-distress cliches. This was a show about comedy that asked its … [Read more...]