December is a month of traditions. A myriad religious observances, baked goods, decorations and familial obligations. We all have our conventions, taking time to mark the calendar as it leaves while we look forward to the one incoming. For many years I’ve held onto one tradition that gets me through, something that allows me to […]
Every so often — a few nights a week when things are going smoothly — Chris Gronowski and his staff clear out the entire center of Programme Skate & Sound’s main room. T-shirt stands are moved to the back. Skateboarding accessories are pushed to the side. Cases of vinyl LPs, CDs and cassette tapes are […]
There are few names in the mixed martial arts world quite as revered as José Aldo. The two-time UFC featherweight (145 lb.) champion and current bantamweight (135 lb.) contender is universally considered one of the top 10 MMA fighters of all time thanks to his six-and-a-half-year reign atop his division that saw him clear out […]
Kenny G is frustrated. “I want the sound to be perfect,” the musician says while playing a sweet sax lick from a promotional video on his iPhone. The quality, even over Zoom, is seemingly pristine. Unveiling a longer version of the infomercial-like ad beyond the music portion, the musician born Kenneth Bruce Gorelick, needs me […]
Vinyl sales have gone up 94% this year, according to a report by the RIAA. That helps the massive flux of reissues that dotted the fall. But that’s not the good news. What really makes this column hum remains the variety of choice titles that are released on CD, and sales of that sturdy little […]
The received wisdom over the last five decades was that the last album released by The Beatles was only produced after much internal strife and acrimony. The original documentary film was prime evidence, especially because the film was pulled from circulation shortly thereafter. Word began to spread a couple of years ago that the seemingly […]
When I was growing up, every Thanksgiving there was a local TV channel that played the movie Alice’s Restaurant on a loop. That’s where it stayed until dinnertime and then resumed later that night. To this day, I can’t think of a more worthy Turkey Day tradition than commemorating the 1965 Thanksgiving that Arlo Guthrie […]
On Tuesday morning, the Recording Academy revealed the full slate of nominations for the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. Over the past few tumultuous years, the Recording Academy has overseen changes in leadership and nominating procedures, with one more twist being announced just this morning before the nominations were unveiled: the Big Four general field categories […]
The things we treasure when we’re young are often the most formative. For me, it was a black Sanyo cassette/radio combination with one speaker and an appetite for D batteries. This little radio provided access to the world that would smother my overactive and chaotic mind: all request radio, an hour block of programming on […]
The first word that ever came out of my toddler son’s mouth was “Daddy.” Okay, okay…this might be wishful thinking. His first utterance of the allegedly 30,000 words he will learn in his lifetime was actually “Elmo.” It was one of his earliest attempts at language and most importantly, his first acknowledgment of another soul […]