95 North. . . The Newspaper

"This is what it means to be human “in the image of God.” It means being free to make choices instead of doing whatever our instincts would tell us to do. It means knowing that some choices are good, and others are bad, and it is our job to know the difference.” “We totally misunderstand what it means to be alive when we think of our lives as time we can use in search of rewards and pleasure. Frantically and in growing frustration, we search through our days, our years, looking for the reward, for the success that will make our lives worthwhile, like the security guard looking through the trash in the wheelbarrow for something of value and all the while missing the obvious answer. When you have learned how to live, life itself is the reward.” -Rabbi Harold Kushner

I'm no fan of the synthed out 80's sound, and I'm sure many would agree it hasn't aged well. Just ask anyone about Bob Dylan's 1985 album Empire Burlesque . That being said, Bruce Springsteen is the exception. Much of his 80's work used cheesy synths, electronic drums, and other elements of glossy studio veneer. Go listen to "Born in the U.S.A". It should be tacky, but somehow it just isn't. Let the chill run down your spine as Bruce blares that he used to "he had a woman he loved in Saigon/ I gotta picture of him in her arms". Springsteen tears though these song like a lion. His lyrics punch right in the gut, they draw lines, expose ideas, emotions that drive into your soul.  Other Springsteen albums feature the stadium-rock group the E Street Band at his disposal, inviting loud riffs and saxophone solos (see Born to Run ). He's also released spare collections of acoustic songs on albums like Nebraska  and The Ghost of Tom ...

1968 is often rightly categorized as a year of social upheaval in America. King and Bobby went down. Vietnam was a jungle of violent chaos. Charles Manson went wild on helter skelter, the Beatles White Album  was a pastiche of cultural mess (great album regardless), Steppenwolf was "Born to be Wild", the Doors were a dark L.A launchpad of drugged excess, and Eric Clapton's band Cream was spinning in the white room. Yet, somewhere in this culture of chaos was the antidote of order, simplicity, and true-hearted earnestness. Unsurprisingly, some of the musical world reacted to the swirling world of drugs and disorder by goin' country, setting the stage for the simple and reflective 1970's scene of singer-songwriters a-la the acoustic based music James Taylor, the simple yet profound offerings of Joni Mitchell, and the deeply spiritual ethos of Leonard Cohen. First, here's the music that laid that groundwork: Bookends , Simon and Garfunkel Old friends ...

Recently, I've been drawn to the Esbjorn Svensson Trio's jazz 2003 jazz album Seven Days of Falling , thanks to a sample used by Kendrick Lamar in his song "How Much a Dollar Cost". I'd like to highlight two tracks from the album worth noting. First, the quiet, understated opener "Ballad for the Unborn" features a meandering piano that's headed somewhere, painting landscapes that are both musically interesting and emotionally evocative. I found myself wandering down a trail, fascinated by the paths that the piano took. Sometimes it retraced its steps. Sometimes it didn't. Barely noticeable cymbal flushes come through, as the song picks up a degree of crescendo toward's its conclusion. A fuzzy, big bass looms in the background, but the piano remains as the leader of the pack.  "O.D.R.I.P", the albums conclusion, starts on a sharp note. The drums and bass make themselves immediately known, slanting sideways, only to have...

There's too much to say about Kendrick Lamar. I don't know where to begin. Some brief history? The 30-year-old rapper from Compton, CA has recently released an accompanying album to the movie  Black Panther , kicking off what promises to be a big year for our man Kung Fu Kenny. Kendrick packs a lot of punch. In his 2017 album DAMN , his short, jumpy, and bold mini-essays on identity and spiritual quest over tight-knit beats earned him a place in the spotlight. Per Kendrick, the album is designed to be listened to  either forwards or backward . 2015's To Pimp a Butterfly was sprawling, artistic, free-form jazz that found its heart in Harlem, California, Israel, and South Africa in equal parts. Prior to Butterfly , Lamar (he always has been) was big on concept albums- g ood kid, m.A.A.d City  and Section 8.0 were both like novels. While kid  was Kendrick's autobiography, Section 8.0 looks at a generational struggle through the lens of two ...

Lauryn Hill, of Orange County New Jersey, still stands today as one of the greatest female rappers of all time. Her career, which started out with the famed super-group (featuring Wyclef Jean) the Fugees churned out deeply meaningful, soulful hip-hop in songs like  "Killing me Softly ", which explored emotional territory previously unexpressed in mass-selling hip-hop. The Fugees owed much of their success to Hill's talent as a singer, rapper, and musician. She's handy with the guitar, political theory, and theology, a triple-threat of sorts that armed her to compose songs that were confrontational, meditative, and most of all. . . true. Hill built on her success with the Fugees by cutting one of the most critically claimed and essential hip-hop albums of all time, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill , released in 1998 (the golden year of rap? Outkast's Aquemini   was released the same year). Fame did something funny to Lauryn Hill, like it does to so many ot...

It's another "snow day" in Connecticut, thanks to  this storm  that's angrily moving up the east coast. In light of this March lion, here are some of Bobby's songs that mention snow. He was certainly no stranger to the white gold, whether it was the snow in the streetlights at night and the foghorns blowin' off the great lake waters in Minnesota or the snow-globe New York City that he landed at in the early 1960's. hey! It's snowing in the city "Girl From the North Country" If you go in a snowflake storm/ When the rivers freeze/ And summer ends "Meet me in the Morning" Honey we could be in Kansas/ By the time the snow begins to fall "On a Night Like This" The air is so cold outside/ And the snow so deep "Isis" The snow was outrageous "Winterlude" The snow can be so cold. . . where the snowflakes cover the sand

Famed North Carolina evangelist Billy Graham passed away recently. Although I didn't always agree with Graham's theological beliefs, I always admired him for his conviction and heart. A few years ago when I was living in Charlotte, NC, I even went to take a peek at his museum. Something about the guy always fascinated me.  He eschewed big money and television in favor of good ol' preaching. When he made mistakes he owned up to them.  Bob Dylan might've of put it best: "The guy was like rock n' roll personified- volatile, explosive. He had the hair, the tone, the elocution- when he spoke he brought the storm down. Clouds parted. Souls got saved. If you ever went to a Billy Graham rally, you were changed forever".  Below is a video of Graham addressing a bunch of Silicon Valley tech entrepreneurs. What he has to say is interesting:  Here's classic 70's Billy Graham- with the charisma to light up the screen and the funny way o...