Category Archives: Music

Review: Playground

Posted on March 6, 2025 by philipbrasor

Stories about bullying normally address the power dynamics that develop among children in a closed environment, with adults being out-of-the-loop because victimized children, by nature, resist exposing themselves as being seen as either weak or duplicitous toward their peers. In … Continue reading →

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Best Albums 2024

Posted on December 30, 2024 by philipbrasor

After way too much consideration, I finally pared my shortlist of good albums down to a manageable top 10 and then some, a development that would seem to suggest there was a surfeit of great music this year. I’m not … Continue reading →

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Fuji Rock Festival 1998

Posted on August 4, 2024 by philipbrasor

I wrote an overview for the Japan Times of the history of the Fuji Rock Festival to commemorate its 25th anniversary at the Naeba ski resort. In it I mentioned the second edition of the festival, which was held in … Continue reading →

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Fuji Rock ’24: July 27, second half

Posted on July 28, 2024 by philipbrasor

Another crucial time is between 3 and 5 in the afternoon, since that’s when the audience starts flagging. The general energy level drops precipitously, and you tend to see a lot of people nodding out on the ground in weird … Continue reading →

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Fuji Rock ’24: July 27, first half

Posted on July 27, 2024 by philipbrasor

Saturday morning is an important time for the festival. A good portion of the people who attend arrive either late Friday night or early Saturday morning, so it’s vital they get into the swing of things as soon as possible. … Continue reading →

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Fuji Rock ’24: July 26, second half

Posted on July 27, 2024 by philipbrasor

People started arriving in significantly larger numbers as the afternoon wore on, but not enough to provide Omar Apollo with the kind of crowd he deserved at the Green Stage. Wearing powder blue pajamas and lady shoes, he was in … Continue reading →

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Fuji Rock Festival ’24: Prefest

Posted on July 25, 2024 by philipbrasor

This is my first time back at Fuji since 2019. It’s also the first time I’ve taken the train up to Naeba. I’d been to every edition that’s been held here since it started at Naeba in 1999, except for … Continue reading →

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Review: Louder Than You Think: A Lo-Fi History of Gary Young & Pavement

Posted on June 15, 2024 by philipbrasor

Here’s a documentary that develops its thesis on several levels of lowered expectations, as if the director, Jed I. Rosenberg, felt he had to hedge his bets owing to the central focus of attention, Gary Young, the first drummer for … Continue reading →

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Best Albums 2023

Posted on December 31, 2023 by philipbrasor

Though I no longer earn income writing music criticism (I still earn a bit covering the biz), I find that the annual task of compiling this list has become more and more time consuming, so, in a way, it’s good … Continue reading →

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Review: Moonage Daydream

Posted on March 22, 2023 by philipbrasor

The curious thing about Brett Morgen’s massive documentary about David Bowie is the way he juxtaposes the self-regarding artistic magnificence of the Bowie brand with the effect it had on his audience. By no means a biography of the definitive … Continue reading →

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