Magnetic Personality Disorder

There are two people’s voices I can impersonate well: that of Magnetic Fields frontman Stephin Merritt and Project Runway frontman Tim Gunn. It seems Merritt is forever impersonating as well, or perhaps just exploring the many forms of his beloved pop and rock songcraft. (Alas, Mr. Gunn specializes in another kind of craft, one that Read More

Radical Consequences: A Limbo Life, Underground

She was Mary once, then Freya, Caroline now, and soon she will be Louise. She has every reason to believe that the anonymous security agencies of her nation are busy trying to find her and take her away. That would involve removal, a kind of oblivion—but, oddly enough, that’s been her aim in life already Read More

Pet Sounds : It’s Not Rock ‘n’ Roll, But We Like It

What, in this most sophisticated of ages, constitutes the ingredients of rock music? The classification often seems arbitrary, the category omnivorous. Without getting too Thomas Frank on your asses, rock seems to work similar to the concept of the “art” film, or pornography: It’s all in the marketing. The wholesaler will take whatever venues he Read More