Author: paulsbrizzi

In Italy there’s a term, “tormentone estivo,” which basically means the pop song that hammers you all summer wherever you go. Remember “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk? Pretty good song actually, but my point is that it’s getting to be that time when every man and woman must decide what the song of the summer…… Continue reading July ’24

Arab-world dance music really gets me going; something about the hypnotic/seductive thrust of it… the visions of hookahs and curling smoke… the drive to elegant pleasure pushing against jewel-encrusted oppression. Omar Souleyman is the latest one to get me thrusting my hands in the air and tracing curlicues. Apparently he started out playing “Dabke” folk…… Continue reading May ’24

[So um, after two and a half years of blogging I finally got the clever idea of adding a “subscribe” button — it’s down at the bottom. Thanks Mauro! ] Here at the slowgraffitti tower in mid-town Manhattan the weather is blustery, and the biggest, warmest April shower is being rained down by Belgium’s Bolis…… Continue reading April ’24

I’ve been getting so much mail from people going, you know, good to know about the latest in Indonesian Dubstep Dangdut, but what about proper rock bands from the USA? Well you’re welcome, and actually PACKS are the latest glittering expression in that storied lineage, unfurling Madeline Link’s rich and slightly raspy vocals and banana…… Continue reading March ’24

A year that rhymes with More.

You know, I used to do a lot of sharing about my personal life in these pages but lately I’ve been all business — here to win, not to make friends. Perhaps I’ll try and be a little softer and more human in 2024, please let my assistant know what you think. So I went…… Continue reading January – February ’24

I did a lot of baking in 2023, and here are some of this year’s most special muffins and tarts. 25. The Tubs – Dead MeatThese Welsh Londoners crafted something sublime out of codependent self-hatred. Do we need another guitar bass drums rock band? Yes please if they deliver heavenly pained harmonies and titles like…… Continue reading Best Albums of 2023

On her latest one Acts of Light, Hilary Woods sculpts sound in great swaths of minor chord texture, building seductively doom-laden worlds with titles like “Burial Rites,” “Vigil,” and title of the year contender “Wife Mother Lover Crow.” She sometimes veers toward the melodic, i.e. the unreasonably lovely undead Enya evocation of “Where the Bough…… Continue reading December ’23

“It’s Crazy It’s Party” is a dizzying pinnacle of human achievement by Finnish Eurovision almost-winner Käärijä and Estonian weirdo genius rapper, dancer and cultural Trojan horse Tommy Cash — a satire of Euro-bro culture that also makes me want to be one. The lyrics, partly in Finnish, translate to “Party yesterday, party today and party…… Continue reading November ’23