Category: Music

  • Geffen Hall Commissions New Art That Honors Black and Latino History

    The New York Times – Music:

    Nina Chanel Abney and Jacolby Satterwhite incorporate the story of San Juan Hill, the neighborhood displaced by the performing arts complex.

  • Review: Musicians of Color Reclaim Control in a White Space

    The New York Times – Music:

    In “Everything Rises,” the violinist Jennifer Koh and the bass-baritone Davóne Tines recount their complicated relationships with classical music.

  • Kate Nash Keeps Getting Back Up. This Time, Off Broadway.

    The New York Times – Music:

    After the twists and turns of a pop career, the British singer-songwriter adds a new string to her bow: musical composer.

  • In ‘Tár,’ a Female Maestro Falls Into the Same Old Traps

    The New York Times – Music:

    The film’s thesis is blunt: Put a woman in power, and she’ll be as sexually inappropriate and badly behaved as any man.

  • When the Music Stopped

    The New York Times – Fashion & Style:

    Two stories about the power of music and the search for a deeper connection between a parent and child.

  • A Lifelong Friendship’s Latest Chapter: A Concerto Premiere

    The New York Times – Music:

    At the San Francisco Symphony, Magnus Lindberg’s music is being conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, his fellow Finn and former classmate.

  • Ralph Vaughan Williams Was Complicated, but Not Conservative

    The New York Times – Music:

    The English composer deserves a fresh assessment as the world does (and doesn’t) observe the 150th anniversary of his birth.

  • Anita Kerr, an Architect of the Nashville Sound, Dies at 94

    The New York Times – Music:

    She and her background vocalists were heard “oohing” and “aahing” on thousands of country and pop hits recorded in the 1950s and ’60s.

  • A Dinner With Drama, and a Special Soundtrack for Dessert

    The New York Times – T Magazine:

    Known for his richly imaginative lighting and furniture, the designer Gabriel Hendifar is an equally inventive host.

  • David Geffen Hall Reopens, Hoping Its $550 Million Renovation Worked

    The New York Times – Music:

    The New York Philharmonic’s Lincoln Center home was gutted and rebuilt to try to fix the acoustic woes that have long plagued it. To inaugurate the hall, officials are using a new playbook.

  • Fat Joe And Ja Rule Face Off for Verzuz: See The Top Moments

    By Rivea Ruff ·September 15, 2021 Updated

    Hip hop heavy hitters Fat Joe and Ja Rule took over Madison Square Garden for their highly anticipated Verzuz battle on Tuesday, bringing their own brand of Millenial nostalgia to the stage with a host of guests and collaborators that kept them each blazing up the charts throughout the early 2000’s.

    In true Verzuz fashion, each rapper performed their top 20 chart-toppers, going head to head and

  • “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd

    Reviewed by Ramona Prioleau

    “Blinding Lights,” the second single from The Weeknd’s album “After Hours,” took a world that was trapped inside by storm. Complete with crunchy, 80s-style synths and a melody that features a classic Weeknd vocal style. The music video, released alongside the single, was directed by Sweedish director Anton Tammi.

    The video opens with The Weeknd covered in blood, a crazed look in his eyes. It then goes back in time to show the series of events that led to that moment, events that include (but are certainly not limited to) him driving around recklessly, getting into a fight with two bouncers, and staying high the whole time.

    There’s a narrative to it, but not necessarily a cohesive one. As the Weeknd playfully explores a seemingly abandoned Las Vegas, the video almost turns into a puzzle for the viewer to solve. It’s a frantic, frenetic, and hallucinogenic experience and, like many of the best music videos around, it’s better viewed as a tonal collaboration with the song rather than some explicit explanation of the song’s lyrics.

    Some shots show The Weeknd driving through a neon city, smoking a cigarette and dancing in the street. Other shots have a grainy, VHS-like filter on them. One sequence sees a lounge singer move The Weeknd telekinetically through the air. In another scene, the song and the visuals slow and, like an overstimulated, drug-addled brain, the flashes of images become blurred and hard to follow.

    All these differing styles and narrative points come together in the video’s editing. Janne Vartia and Tim Montana, the editors on the music video, are a big reason why the clip is effective as it is. Quick and ceaseless, one barely has time to even parse out what they’re looking at before the video cuts away to another, unrelated shot. It makes the whole experience feel connected and disconnected all at once, creating a feeling not unlike the one that the song’s lyrics describe. It quite literally is blinding.

    “Blinding Lights” is a follow-up to The Weeknd’s previous music video “Heartless,” which was released a number of months before. Along with other videos made for After Hours (all also directed by Anton Tammi) it creates a cinematic universe of sorts. There’s a cohesive story to be sussed out, but all the videos work wonders on their own as well, “Blinding Lights” especially. The video is a crazy, psychotic experience—the only type of experience that could match the untamed energy of the song. M

    January 2020