If like me, you find most summer reading lists too beachy and lacking in inspiration, Rajesh Parameswaran's I Am an Executioner: Love Stories is the perfect antidote. (After all, our brains don't go on holiday just because we do). Over the past week, I've been savoring the imaginative, moving stories [...]
One of my favorite discoveries this winter was the German singer Sibylle Baier. The story of how her wonderful record, Colour Green, came to be is as interesting as the music itself. She grew up in Germany in the 50s and 60s. During a particularly low period in her early life, [...]
Here at Gwarlingo I've been neglecting the musicians in recent weeks. I've been consumed with Irene, the secret gardens of Rockefeller Center, Jane Hirshfield's new book, poetry bombing, Barry Underwood's incredible landscape photographs, and these Japanese manhole covers, which have suddenly gone viral after being posted on Andrew Sullivan's The Dish [...]
On my recent visit to the UK I talked to several music lovers about the British music scene. One classical pianist I met in London recommended the choral work of British composer Jonathan Harvey and urged me to investigate the excellent website Sound and Music, which covers the contemporary [...]
For all of you Bon Iver fans who have been patiently waiting for new music, your wait is about to come to an end. Bon Iver's new self-titled album will be released on June 21st. In the March issue of Rolling Stone, Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon offers a [...]