The Arts Fuse Newsletter, January 24
From The Editor's Desk:
The announcement of Pitchfork’s absorption into GQ has inspired the predictable laments about the perilous state of music criticism by the very media that has been cutting and dumbing down arts journalism over the decades. The double talk is not new -- the demeaning of standards for the sake of chasing eyeballs continues. Let me use the sad occasion to remind those who care about arts and culture to read and support an undeniably scrappy, proudly independent online magazine that over 15 years has been dedicated to posting thoughtful, long form criticism, features, and commentaries.
Yes, serious arts reviewing is an endangered species. But it is well worth fighting for. This week’s line-up proves that the soulless palaver of marketing has not triumphed everywhere —thinking and writing critically about arts and culture isn’t dead yet.
—Bill Marx, Editor-in-Chief
Jazz Album Review: The Complete Massey Hall Recordings — The Legendary Concert Never Sounded So Good
By Michael Ullman
I heartily recommend this Craft Recording, even if (perhaps especially if) you have owned the LP version from (almost) a half century ago.
Dance Review: Momix’s “Alice” — Curiouser and Curiouser
By Debra Cash
Too, too soon, the images in Momix’s Alice alternate between unpleasant and stale.
Theater Review: “Trouble in Mind” — Taking a Stand Backstage
By Bill Marx
Set in New York in the mid-’50s, Trouble in Mind is a backstage dramedy that draws on the genre’s interest in the ambiguities of role-playing to condemn racial bias.
Visual Arts Review: “Burning Down the House” — A Female Chorus of Concern
By Kathleen Stone
These five artists do indeed make their voices heard. They shine as soloists, and their messages are only amplified when they join into a chorus of multipart harmony.
Book Review: “Master Lovers” — An Inventive and Intelligent Fictional Memoir
By Vince Czyz
Master Lovers is written in a lucid, personable style, and the fictional scenes — David Winner’s recreations of history and imagined trysts — are deft, believable, and vividly imagined.
Film Review: “Origin” — A Map of Human Suffering
By Peg Aloi
The breadth and intimacy of Origin‘s vision — the personal becomes the historical — is stunning, a searing portrait of collective trauma and the dark ideas that propel it.
Visual Arts Review: “Deeply Rooted: Faith in Reproductive Justice” — Religion and Rights
By Jacqueline Houton
The overall impression of this valuable exhibit is to remind us that religious conviction is by no means synonymous with conservatism.
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Questions, comments, concerns?
Editor-in-Chief
Bill Marx
wmarx103@gmail.com
