Category Archives: Music

Aretha Franklin

Posted on August 17, 2018 by

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

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

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

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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XTC interview, March 1999

Posted on February 2, 2018 by

A recent discussion I read online about XTC made me look on the web for an interview I did with Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding in Tokyo in early 1999 after they had just released the first volume of their … Continue reading →

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Lenny Kravitz, Nov. 1998, The Japan Times (as “Merle Pangloss”)

Posted on January 20, 2018 by

I recently realized that almost all of the music reviews I wrote for the Japan Times in the 90s are not available on the Internet, so I will remedy that by slowly, methodically posting them here on my blog. I … Continue reading →

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Best Albums 2017

Posted on January 6, 2018 by

As there was no one record that monopolized my attention this year—nothing I wanted to hear compulsively, like Heartthrob or The Truth About Love in past years—I found myself shuffling through a lot more new music than I usually do, … Continue reading →

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