Category Archives: Music

Best albums 2020

Posted on December 30, 2020 by philipbrasor

For what it’s worth, the pandemic improved my capacity for listening to new music for reasons that are all too apparent, especially to people like me who tend to be rather compulsive about hearing everything that comes out. During past … Continue reading →

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Eric Clapton, Budokan, Oct. 1997

Posted on July 25, 2020 by philipbrasor

Almost all of the music reviews I wrote for the Japan Times in the 90s and the movie reviews I wrote for the Asahi Shimbun during the same decade are not available on the Internet, so I will remedy that … Continue reading →

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Adam Schlesinger

Posted on April 2, 2020 by philipbrasor

I was stunned this morning when I read that the Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger had died due to complications from COVID-19. I have written about the group and Schlesinger’s music a number of times over the past two decades. … Continue reading →

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Daniel Johnston 1961-2019

Posted on September 12, 2019 by philipbrasor

I did a telephone interview with Daniel Johnston for the Japan Times in 2003 to publicize his first-ever Japan concerts. The interview is still online and you can read it here.

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The Cramps 1998

Posted on February 5, 2019 by philipbrasor

In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the death of Lux Interior, here is a review I wrote for the Japan Times of a Cramps concert that took place some time in 1998 at Club Citta in Kawasaki, Japan.  The … Continue reading →

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Best Albums 2018

Posted on December 31, 2018 by philipbrasor

The album as a delivery device for music has been dying for more than a decade now, or, at least, that’s what the pundits say. What struck me more than anything about the way new music was presented this past … Continue reading →

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Aretha Franklin

Posted on August 17, 2018 by philipbrasor

I first heard Aretha Franklin when I was 11 years old, listening clandestinely to my small transistor radio tuned to WABC (or was it WMCA?), which was tucked under my pillow as I was supposed to be sleeping. Like my … Continue reading →

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Lauryn Hill, Budokan, Jan. 21, 1999

Posted on July 23, 2018 by philipbrasor

I just watched Lauryn Hill’s performance at the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago online and marveled at how little her live show had changed in 20 years. Here’s my take on her first tour, which was published in the Japan Times … Continue reading →

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Albums April 2018

Posted on April 12, 2018 by philipbrasor

Here are the album reviews I wrote for the April issue of EL Magazine, which was distributed in Tokyo on March 25. Both Sides of the Sky -Jimi Hendrix (Legacy/Sony) Stone Cold Soul: The Complete Capitol Recordings -Jackie DeShannon (MSI) … Continue reading →

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February 2018 albums

Posted on February 16, 2018 by philipbrasor

Here are the album reviews I wrote for the February issue of EL Magazine, which was distributed in Tokyo last month. Beach House 3 -Ty Dolla $ign (Atlantic/Warner) Ctrl -SZA (Epic/Sony) Though he’s been a fixture on the West Coast … Continue reading →

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