Nan Macmillan: getting closer & letting go

Record: From Both Eyes (Self-released, 2024) Honestly, I don’t really think I have any choice but to be vulnerable when I write songs! It’s one of the few places I can process what’s going on inside, so if I try to cover things up or hide behind some veil when writing, then there’s a level of authenticity missing. Nan Macmillan Nan Macmillan (artist photo by Alisa Price, used by permission) We…

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Jackie McLean: Destination Out!

Jazz is a happy thing and there are a lot of musicians around waiting to give a little happiness to a world filled with so much unrest. Jackie McLean“Destination Out!” (Blue Note Records, 1964/2022)

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Ribbons

Ribbons I cut the ribbons from my life to mark the pagesof the loves that made me cry, of the sleeplessnights knowing everyone has gone, from fieldsemptied over many years. I bravely look on. I wonder, will you remember my warm hand onyour hand, cooling as you slept away from me,the ribbon that kept us together now in a boxon my desk. The color of my life without you. I learned how to not grow…

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Remembering

Remembering the dead Angels, wandering, alone & with friends, broken & confused & unwanted, wide awake & sleepy & asleep, euphoric, terrified, child, in flight & trapped, shadow, number on numb stone, drowsy lamb, feared wolf, loving & loved & unloved, hollow, full, singing into low darkness, mute, possessed beyond reason, mother & father & the childless, recorded, forgotten, cherished, nameless…

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The current is swift

The current is swift Hands planted new wild flowers on your skin. We’re night.You smell of sweet grass and meadow. Braided. I taste longing.You laugh. I memorize your glowing. I don’t move. But you move.The cold air carries another alpine stream. I hold my breath. An invisible bird sings a new name for dying. So we die.My ending is perfect. Yours is secret. The current here is swift.I add…

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In situ: The Gutter Twins, "Saturnalia"

Record: Saturnalia (Sub Pop Records, 2008) In a more visionary world than we will ever experience, Mark Lanegan’s I Am the Wolf: Lyrics & Writings (Da Capo Press, 2017), with its insider notes from the magic mountain where some of his songs came from, would have by now been greatly expanded to incorporate a more complete record of this colossus recording artist’s output as writer, songwriter,…

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The sky is waiting

The sky is waiting I am a man at peace. These are my eyes.There is a black crow waiting for me.I am surrounded by islands. The sun is red. I am falling through water. These are my memories.You loved me. Fear comes every night.I will live forever until I die. The moon is mine. I am walking away. These are my hands.My book is full of empty pages.I am written on you. The sky is waiting. (From my…

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Beginning again: the music of the world will never die

Editorial Reboot (2024) It’s been a strange time at The Palace. We’ve been quiet for a couple of years. Maybe you noticed, if you follow what we do. What sad years these have been, and in many ways continue to be. Years of coping with a lingering global pandemic recovery; cruel and devastating wars; unhinged racism; surging global extremism; political greed, division, and hate; ongoing…

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The Neverlutionaries: the music comes first

The Neverlutionaries: the music comes first

Record: The Neverlutionaries (Polychromatic Records, 2021) Write what is in your heart and stay true to who you are. I’m not singing from my ego as I once did. Music is very sacred to me and I feel you have to honor it by letting it come from a real place inside of you.Christopher Harold Wells Some recording artists appear, and their arrival is so filled with a sense of a burning heart-felt…

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Bomethius: once there was a world

Bomethius: once there was a world

Record: Seasons of Limbo (Self-Released, 2021) I enjoy throwing complex harmony at pop songs. Said a different way, I enjoy making complex harmony accessible or alluring. It allows for more inventive text painting, and richer tension.Jonathan Hodges For months, recording artists have been releasing their responses to the “pandemic collapse” we’ve all been trapped in for more than a year. With…

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Bare Wire Son: "The deepest kind of sorrow"

Bare Wire Son: “The deepest kind of sorrow”

Record: Off Black (Self-Released, 2021) Quick Overview World War I, “The Great War” (1914-1918), remains many things today, continuously unfolding with new perspectives, narratives, discoveries, and interpretations for its 1,566 days of brutal fighting spanning 30 nations, and costing millions of lives. More than 100 years after its official end (for the United States, official involvement…

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Mount Eerie: forever hanging in the silent air

Mount Eerie: forever hanging in the silent air

Records: A Crow Looked at Me (2017), Now Only (2017-18), (After) (2018), Lost Wisdom pt. 2 (2019) A white rose fell out of my lapeloutside the churchhhouselike a hand with too much sunA horse trampled itThe barefoot rider who wasjust passing throughleaned over backwardsand picked it up with his toesHe said Sorryand I said Much obligedAnd I took it from his dark footand gave it to his fine…

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What happens when you throw your best stuff away?

What happens when you throw your best stuff away?

She must hunt in the forest Not to be known, but to be desired, and flown,tonight she must hunt in the forest, alone,pausing in the space between sound, betweenwords spoken and words known, and feared,the hidden parts of her soul, her body wrappedagainst the cold, she runs, she runs, breathinghard, metal-bold, tonight the forest is home (From my notebook.) photo credits (where not otherwise…

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LAKE: conjured from a hard-candied world

LAKE: conjured from a hard-candied world

Record: Roundelay (OFF TEMPO Records, 2020) Quick Overview Once in a lifetime, each of us feels we have all the time in the world. Some recording artists evoke such a strong feeling for this elasticity of time and opportunity — for limitless possibilities — they defy physics and remain inspired, even as the years grind on, especially if they were lucky enough to be part of a few halcyon music…

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George Grella, Jr.: Bitches Brew

George Grella, Jr.: Bitches Brew

Miles Davisdoesn’t carewhat you think. George Grella, Jr.Bitches Brew (Bloomsbury Academic, 2019)

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Tombstones In Their Eyes: bright stars & moonlight

Tombstones In Their Eyes: bright stars & moonlight

Record: Collection (Somewherecold Records, 2020) Quick Overview “Collection” (Somewherecold Records, 2020), the latest record from the Los Angeles-based neo-psych-rock band, Tombstones In Their Eyes, is a sonic storm of 19 songs gathered from five years of releases, all remastered by engineer Alex DeYoung, and released in one — glorious vinyl — double-LP collection. Whether you’ve been along…

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MF DOOM: your favorite rapper's favorite supervillain

MF DOOM: your favorite rapper’s favorite supervillain

Definition ‘supervillain’: a killer who love childrenOne who is well-skilled in destruction, as well as buildingMF DOOM (from the song “Doomsday,” on “Operation: Doomsday,” Fondle ’Em Records, 1999) by Kevin Keogh MF‌ ‌DOOM‌ ‌was‌ ‌a‌ ‌writer’s‌ ‌writer,‌ ‌a‌ ‌rapper’s‌ ‌rapper,‌ ‌and‌ ‌a‌ ‌producer’s‌ ‌producer.‌ ‌He‌ ‌dwells‌ ‌in‌ ‌an‌ ‌ultra‌-elite‌ ‌group:‌ ‌the‌ ‌rapper/producer,‌…

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