Red Hook Star Revue

2 weeks ago | star-revue.com | Kurt Gottschalk

The rhythm, the rebels. The smart assault of clipping. returned last month with a full-on assault. Dead Channel Sky is the hip-hop crew’s first album in five years (CD, LP, download on Sub Pop Records) and only their fifth full-length since their 2014 debut. It was worth the wait.

2 weeks ago | star-revue.com | Kurt Gottschalk

\Sultry haze of balmy nights. The Egypt-born, Quebec-based singer/composer/producer Nadah El Shazly has built a following in recent years with a blend of club music experimentation and Arabic tradition. She’s been a big part of the rich and exciting music coming out of the Beirut / Cairo / Istanbul triangle (Karkhana, Praed Orchestra!) as well as a variety of Montreal projects spearheaded by Sam Shalabi (Land of Kush in particular).

2 weeks ago | star-revue.com | George Grella

People frequently (that is, once every few years) stop me on the street and ask me, “George” (no one really knows who I am), “should I be listening to jazz?” My first response is always, “absolutely!” Then, when they ask me why, this is what I tell them (again almost never happens, but it’s good to have a handy quasi-script tucked away in the mind): Because you’re American: Jazz is one of the few genuinely native cultural products of America, one of the best, and one of the most important,...

1 month ago | star-revue.com | Kurt Gottschalk

Punk’s not dread. Back in the ’90s, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon had “Girls invented punk rock, not England” emblazoned on a t-shirt. Photos of her sporting the slogan circulate every so often—I’ve been seeing them again lately on social media. I’m not sure what it means, I’m not sure if I agree, but I’m not about to argue the point. Paradoxically, though, if someone wants to say that English girls invented punk rock, I’m ready to sign on.

1 month ago | star-revue.com | George Grella

First, the good news: the Library of Congress last month added new albums to its National Recording Registry, which preserves the most important and salient examples of American audio culture. One of the new entries is Miles Davis’ monumental, complex, darkly thrilling Bitches Brew.