PicoBlog

Ishmael Reed (b. 1938) is one of America’s most significant literary figures, publishing over 30 books of poetry, prose, essays, and plays. His work is known for its satirical, ironic take on race and literary tradition, as well as its innovative, post-modern technique. His novels include the critically acclaimed Mumbo Jumbo (1972), Flight to Canada (1976), Japanese by Spring (1993), Conjugating Hindi (2018), and The Terrible Fours (2021). His books of poetry include Conjure (1972), which shares a title with a 1984 LP featuring music set to his texts.

Drop Nineteens are a Boston, Massachusetts-based rock band that formed in 1990. One of America’s first and formative shoegaze groups, they released their seminal debut album Delaware in 1992, which features classics of the genre like “Kick the Tragedy” and “Winona.” They followed the album with 1993’s National Coma. After members began to depart in 1995, Drop Nineteens ceased further activity for nearly thirty years. The band has recently reunited and come back with a new album titled Hard Light.

Black Eyes are a Washington, D.C.-based punk band who released two albums on Dischord Records: a self-titled record in 2003 and Cough in 2004. Having played in other bands together such as Trooper and the No-Gos, Black Eyes officially started playing together in August 2001. The group has always consisted of five members: Dan Caldas, Mike Kanin, Jacob Long, Daniel Martin-McCormick, and Hugh McElroy. Having felt that guitar-forward music had been thoroughly explored by other groups, Black Eyes found a breakthrough early on by forming a two-bassist, two-drummer, one-guitarist lineup that allowed for flexibility in their songwriting process and live performances.

Astrid Sonne (b. 1994) is a Denmark-born, London-based composer, violist, and songwriter. Her debut album, Human Lines, was released in 2018 on the Danish record label Escho. In the years since, she has consistently and gradually expanded her work to push beyond the electronic compositions of her first LP to include vocals, guitar, and now something resembling pop songs. Great Doubt, which is out today, is her first album since 2021’s outside of your lifetime, and finds Sonne embracing the role of a songwriter, folding lyrics into arrangements that are at once uncanny, intimate, and funny.

Spice 1 (b. 1970) is a legendary Bay Area rapper. Born Robert Lee Greene Jr., Spice 1 first became interested in rapping after watching Ice-T in the 1980s movies Breakin’ and Rappin’. As a teenager, he would be taken under Too $hort’s wing and join the Dangerous Crew. He would sign to Jive Records and release six albums under the label throughout the 1990s, including Spice 1 (1992), 187 He Wrote (1993), AmeriKKKa’s Nightmare (1994), and 1990-Sick (1995).

Michael Rother (b. 1950) is a German musician who was a founding member of legendary krautrock bands NEU! and Harmonia. Born in Hamburg, he would spend much of his childhood moving across cities and countries due to his father’s job. After moving back to Germany from Pakistan in 1963, he became enamored with rock and roll music, citing artists like the Beatles, Little Richard, and Jimi Hendrix as early influences. As with other artists in his country, Rother was deeply invested in creating music that would go beyond the conservativism of post-War artists popular in Germany, and sought a new style that would help him feel at one with his personality and identity.

View most updated version of this post on Substack.Share Tony “T-Bone” Bellamy was the lead guitarist for Redbone from 1969-1977, the all-Native American and Mexican-American rock group best known for their top five U.S. hit “Come And Get Your Love.” Robert Anthony Avila (aka Tony Bellamy) was Yaqui-Mexican American and joined brothers Lolly and Pat Vasquez-Vegas in Redbone in 1969, shortly before they signed to Epic Records. They were inspired by Jimi Hendrix (who was part Cherokee) to form an all-Native American rock group.

Major League Baseball lost plenty during a 1994 work stoppage — a World Series, fan loyalty, TV ratings. A National Pastime became an American Afterthought, and today the same parties again lose games, trust and dollars to a financial tug-of-war. For Padres outfielder Tony Gwynn, the stoppage was uniquely painful. The future Hall of Famer, then 34, missed an opportunity to become the first player to hit .400 in a season since Ted Williams batted .

The English drummer and composer Tony Oxley, who died yesterday, December 26, 2023, was an important jazz drummer who perhaps made his mark most deeply as a part of the global community of improvising musicians. In his long career, he played with Sonny Rollins, collaborated frequently with English compatriots Derek Bailey and Evan Parker, toured with Bill Evans, and had long musical partnerships with Bill Dixon and Cecil Taylor. Here’s a YouTube link of him playing a two-minute drum solo: