Music and Poetry
A comment on the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival
Part One
By Barbara Slaughter, March 22, 2006
Pierre Boulez was once asked about the problems of presenting contemporary music to the public. He said that people have to be educated to understand new music and that it was necessary for musicians ...
Rapper Kanye West on the cover of Time: Will rap music shed its “gangster” disguise?
By Kevin Kearney, September 30, 2005
The image of Kanye West crouching down with one hand on his head—clad in designer clothes and sneakers—and the contrived facial expression of one who wishes to be considered a deep thinker...
“The Massacre” by 50 Cent sells 4 million copies: Why does social backwardness achieve such success?
By Kevin Kearney, September 9, 2005
This is the second article in a two-part series, the first part was published on 8 September 2005.
“The Massacre” by 50 Cent sells 4 million copies: Why does social backwardness achieve such success? Part 1
By Kevin Kearney, September 8, 2005
This is the first article in a two-part series
Eminem’s new release, Encore: delusions, megalomania and social confusion
By Marc Wells, April 21, 2005
Multiple Grammy Award winner Marshall Bruce Mathers III, better known as Eminem (from his initials M&M), is currently one of the top-selling music artists in the world. The rapper’s lyrics have ...
Fredric Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated
At Venice’s Teatro Fondamenta Nuove
By David Adelaide, January 19, 2005
At Venice’s Teatro Fondamenta Nuove on January 13, composer and pianist Fredric Rzewski gave a remarkable performance of his composition, The People United Will Never Be Defeated. Rzewski’...
Outkast: a case study in social misleading
By Marc Wells, July 1, 2004
The phenomenon of hip-hop and its musical incarnation in rap have had considerable success and reached wide audiences across the world. This has come principally on the basis of a combination of sophi...
The rediscovered music of Erwin Schulhoff
By Fred Mazelis, May 11, 2004
On a recent weekend in New York, three concerts were devoted solely to the music of one little-known twentieth-century composer, Erwin Schulhoff. Schulhoff, a German-speaking Czech Jew, was born in Pr...
Britain: Bob Copper, foremost traditional singer dies
By Paul Bond, April 24, 2004
Bob Copper, who has died at age 89, was the most important English traditional folksinger of the twentieth century. He was a hugely accomplished musical performer of the songs that had been passed dow...
An appreciation of Warren Zevon
Grammys give belated recognition to an enigmatic pop musician
By K. Reed, February 7, 2004
The 46th Annual Grammy Awards will take place Sunday, February 8, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The event—like the Academy Awards for motion pictures—is a ceremony of the National ...
British poet rejects Order of the British Empire award
By Paul Bond, December 5, 2003
When the British state offers a citizen an honour, the acceptance or rejection of that honour is intended to be a private matter between the state and the individual. This prevents any embarrassment t...
A reply to “Sylvia Plath is hardly present: a review of Sylvia, directed by Christine Jeffs”
December 4, 2003
To the editor:
