Brian Baker on John Brown's Body

"When John Brown's Body first formed in the mid-'90s, the Boston-based band's only concern was spreading reggae's gospel. … Then came 2006. … Frontman Kevin Kinsella had already left the previous year, and harmony vocalist Elliot Martin admirably took the reins, but was suddenly confronted with the grim reality of throat surgery. Then came the big blow: Longtime bassist Scott Palmer died just six months after his cancer diagnosis. … They added bassist Nate Edgar, keyboardist Matthew Goodwin and horn players Sam Dechenne, Drew Sayers and Scott Flynn in the wake of 2006's turbulence. … Relentless touring honed JBB into a stellar unit — Martin's lyrics grew to incorporate cultural and political observation, and the band deepened its resolve to hybridize space rock and pure reggae. In 2008, with no label overseeing the process, JBB holed up for a series of no-pressure sessions and assembled their sixth studio album, Amplify. … The extra effort and the relaxation clearly paid off; Amplify debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's reggae charts and earned a spot on iTunes' list of best reggae albums of the year" ("Not Your Father's Reggae," New Haven Advocate, 2/4/10, p. 33).

Joseph Horowitz on Kurt Weill's "Dirge"

"In America, Weill became an American (his wife Lotte Lenya once corrected me when I pronounced her husband's name with the 'v' sound of the German 'w'). An artist at all times attuned to his collaborators and to his audience, he gravitated to Broadway. He shunned the Eurocentric Metropolitan Opera and also his fellow German immigrants. 'Americans seem to be ashamed to appreciate things here,' he told Time in 1945; 'I'm not.' Of Weill's four Walt Whitman songs, three - 'Beat! Beat! Drums!', 'Oh Captain! My Captain!,' and 'Dirge for Two Veterans' - were a 1942 response to the December 7, 1941, attack; he set a fourth Whitman Civil War poem - 'Come Up from the Fields, Father' - in 1947. His early death, in 1950, pre-empted further such Whitman settings. As the Weill scholar Kim Kowalke has long maintained, the four extant songs form a felicitous cycle. They're tuneful, they're touching, and they fascinatingly mediate between Broadway and the concert hall - as if Weill were propounding a distinctive New World art-song genre. The most beautiful of them is the 'Dirge' (Thomas Hampson has recorded it with piano)" ("Pearl Harbor Music," The Unanswered Question, 2/21/10).

"Elvis 75: Good Rockin' Tonight"

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: 4 discs, 100 tracks, including: My happiness — That's all right — Blue moon of Kentucky — Good rockin' tonight — Baby let's play house — Mystery train — I forgot to remember to forget — I got a woman — Heartbreak Hotel — I was the one — Blue suede shoes — My baby left me — One-sided love affair — I'm gonna sit right down and cry — I want you, I need you, I love you — Hound dog — Don't be cruel — Love me tender — Paralyzed — All shook up — Mean woman blues — Teddy bear — Jailhouse rock — Blue Christmas — Don't — Hard headed woman — Trouble — King Creole — Wear my ring around your neck — A big hunk o' love — A fool such as I — Stuck on you — A mess of blues — It's now or never (to name just a few personal favorites).
"The King is dead (isn't he?); long live the King. This four-disc, 100-song collection, marking Presley's 75th birthday, has a big hunk o' gold — with tracks ranging from a 1953 record for his mother to tunes from his years in Hollywood and Vegas. That's all right!" ("The Short List of Things to Do," Time, 1/18/10).

Unknown Rachmaninoff (Denis Matsuev, piano)

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Etudes-tableaux : op. 39. No. 2, in A minor (6:28) ; No. 6, in A minor (2:33) ; No. 9, in D (3:41) — Sonata no. 2, op. 36 (1913-1931) (19:22) — Fugue in D minor (1891) (2:21) — Suite for orchestra in D minor : version for piano (19:31) — Prelude in G minor op. 23, no. 5 (3:33) — Prelude in G sharp minor op. 32, no. 12 (2:45).
"Rachmaninoff devotees are in for a treat: Denis Matsuev returns to Carnegie Hall Sunday, Feb. 21, to perform Rachmaninoff's 'Fuga in D Minor,' transcribed for piano by Rachmaninoff himself in 1891. Matsuev was handpicked by the Rachmaninoff Foundation to record this recently discovered early work. In addition, he will also perform Tchaikovsky's 'Seasons' and Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition.' Since his victory at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Matsuev is regarded as a star on the international concert stage. Recent and upcoming performances include appearances with the New York Philharmonic, the Berliner Philharmoniker and the London Symphony Orchestra" (Fern Siegel, "Stage Door," Huffington Post, 2/18/10).

The Antlers: Hospice

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Prologue — Kettering — Sylvia — Atrophy — Bear — Thirteen — Two — Shiva — Wake — Epilogue. Songs by Peter Silberman. Recorded at Watcher's Woods, Brooklyn, July 2007-Aug. 2008.
Personnel: Peter Silberman, vocals, guitar, accordion, harmonica, harp, keyboards; Darby Cicci, trumpet, bowed banjo; Michael Lerner, drums, percussion; with Justin Stivers, bass; Sharon Van Etten, vocals.
Artist websites: antlersmusic.com, myspace.com/theantlers
"Feels like a recurring but beautiful nightmare that you can't wake up from, with poppy elements and post-rock conventions interspersed throughout. Cancer, hospitals, unwanted pregnancies aside, this record is packed with run-together depressing-yet-beautiful songs that make you forget they're individual tracks on one album" (Alison Geisler, "50 Nifty Records from '09," New Haven Advocate, 12/23/09).

Phil Vassar: Traveling Circus

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Life (written by Phil Vassar) — Lemonade (written by Phil Vassar, Charlie Black, and Tim Ryan Rouillier) — Everywhere I go (written by Phil Vassar and Jeffrey Steele) — John Wayne (written by Phil Vassar and Tom Douglas) — Tequila town (written by Phil Vassar and Kelley Lovelace) — Bobbi with an I (written by Phil Vassar and Craig Wiseman) — She's on her way (written by Phil Vassar, Jim Nichols, and Jeff Outlaw) — A year from now (written by Phil Vassar and Craig Wiseman) — Save tonight for me (written by Phil Vassar, Tim Ryan Rouillier, and Juliana Cole) — I will remember you (written by Phil Vassar and Kenny Chesney) — Where have all the pianos gone (written by Phil Vassar and James T. Slater).
"For his self-produced fifth studio album, Vassar brings a husky, R&B-tinged flavor to his vocals, aided by his enviable prowess with a piano. … 'Bobbi with an I' [is] a tune about a cross-dressing linebacker. … 'Where Have All the Pianos Gone' [is] a tip-of-the-hat to fellow ivory-ticklers Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder" (Randy Vest, "Music," People, 1/18/10, p. 50).

Trey Anastasio: "Seis de Mayo"

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Andre the giant (3:46) — Prologue (2:43) — The inlaw Josie Wales (2:50) — All things reconsidered (3:03) — Coming to (2:57) — Discern (intro) (1:54) — Guyute (orchestral) (11:46).
Artist website: http://www.treyanastasio.com/
According to the website: "Seis de Mayo is an album of all-instrumental compositions written and recorded between 2001 and 2003. The seven tracks are performed by a variety of ensembles — string quartets, brass quintets, small and full orchestras. … Featured artists include Mike Gordon, The Ying Quartet and the SeattleMusic 66-piece orchestra. … Trey released his first orchestral album, 'Seis De Mayo' in April 2004. 'Seis' features some new material as well as re-arranged originals like 'All Things Considered' (performed by a string quartet) and 'Guyute' (performed by the 66-piece orchestra, SeattleMusic). That summer Trey made his second appearance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in an unusual role - conducting the Nashville Chamber Orchestra through a special set featuring orchestral material from 'Seis De Mayo.' "

John Stoehr on Mary Halvorson

"Dragon's Head is guitarist Mary Halvorson's latest from Firehouse 12 Records. It was written with her bandmates in mind, bassist John Hebert and drummer Ches Smith. It's all about trust, and it shows. Dragon's Head is a daring menu of 10 tracks that doesn't see the need to choose between influences, whether Zorn or Zappa, Jaco Pastorius or Sonic Youth. It stitches them together with seams that are only slightly visible. I don't want to make too much of this, but I get a sense of where jazz is going with Dragon's Head. Halvorson … studied with Anthony Braxton. She's written chamber music. Like many composers of her generation, music is music. Genres be damned. Hence, intimations of Charles Ives. At least the father of American contemporary music would approve. Halvorson seems keen on breaking down jazz in the way Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon deconstructed rock. … Make no mistake: This isn't a jazzed-up version of anything. It still feels like jazz. While jazz has always been a pluralistic art form, it has a tendency to be diffuse, shapeless and without a clear identity. … The center of Dragon's Head, however, still holds" ("Jazz Bag," New Haven Advocate, 12/3/09, p. 40).

Camera Obscura: My Maudlin Career

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: French Navy — The sweetest thing — You told a lie — Away with murder — Swans — James — Careless love — My maudlin career — Forests & sands — Other towns & cities — Honey in the sun. All songs written by Tracyanne Campbell.
Personnel: Camera Obscura (Tracyanne Campbell, Kenny McKeeve, vocals, guitar; Carey Lander, piano, organ; Gavin Dunbar, bass; Lee Thomson, drums); with additional musicians.
Sample lyrics: "If you were a season you'd be in bloom/ I wish I had good reason to see you soon/ There's no need to convince me that you're a catch/ I bought my ticket I'm sold at last/ Who was it said that love conquers all?/ He was a fool 'cause it doesn't at all/ Should I believe you told a lie? … Was I a quiet little nothing/ Who never challenged anyone?/ Was I a lazy lazy snake?/ Do you want me to be a gentle diplomat?/ You can beg and you can plead/ Are my eyes the coldest blue?/ You said once this was true/ If it is I don't know what I'll do/ 'Cause I'm stuck with them/ And they're stuck on you " ("You Told a Lie").

Anuhea: Anuhea

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Charismatic SOB (lyrics by Anuhea, music by Anuhea/Drew K.) — Right love, wrong time (lyrics Anuhea, music Anuhea/Drew K.) — Here I go again (lyrics & music by Anuhea/T. Kvasnosky) — Ultimate insult (lyrics Anuhea, music Anuhea/Drew K.) — Big deal (lyrics & music Anuhea/T. Kvasnosky) — No words (lyrics & music Anuhea) — Endlessly (lyrics & music Anuhea) — Barista by day (lyrics & music Anuhea/T. Kvasnosky) — Slow down (lyrics Anuhea, music Anuhea/Drew K.) — Fly (lyrics Anuhea, music Anuhea/Drew K.) — I just want you around (lyrics by Anuhea, music by Vince Esquire) — Rumors (lyrics by Anuhea & DogBoy, music by DogBoy & Drew K.)
Personnel: Anuhea, vocals, guitar; Drew K, drums, keys, guitars, percussion, bass; Ben DeJong, bass on "Right Love, Wrong Time," "Ultimate Insult," "Fly"; Dan Lutz, bass on "Slow Down," "I Just Want You Around"; Tim Kobza, guitar; French, background vocals & bass on "Here I Go Again"; Paper, turntables, harmonica; DogBoy, guest vocals on "Rumors."

Ben Greenman on Charlotte Gainsbourg

"The singer and actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, who most recently starred in Lars von Trier’s 'Antichrist,' is the daughter of the French pop icon Serge Gainsbourg, who died in 1991. Serge masterminded Charlotte’s first album, 'Charlotte for Ever' (also titled 'Lemon Incest'), when she was a teen-ager; the intense, sometimes explicit songs were extremely controversial. On 'IRM' (Elektra), Gainsbourg puts herself in the hands of another man — Beck, who produced the record, wrote or co-wrote all its songs, and furnishes backing vocals. Despite this, the record presents itself as a personal statement; the title, the French term for MRI, recalls the brain hemorrhage that Gainsbourg suffered in 2007 after a waterskiing accident. Most of 'IRM' is quirky pop with electronic accents, sometimes effectively eerie (the opener, 'Master’s Hands,' circles around questions of gender, control, and illness), sometimes effectively comic ('Me and Jane Doe'), and sometimes frustratingly Beck-like (the cool, surreal 'Greenwich Mean Time,' which is, ironically, the only song that Charlotte co-wrote)" ("Pop Notes: Heart and Head," New Yorker, 2/1/10, p. 10).

Mike Ragogna on "New Moon"

"This night flight covers indie moods and attitudes, wisely choosing experiments over formulas, and the nocturnal over the hormonal. Some of the best material comes from under-known acts like Lykke Li whose sensuous 'Possibility' should be the model for the balance of this decade's ballads. Then there's the usually wiseass Anya Marina who tempers her funny bone by merely utilizing an ultra-whispery rendering of her 'Satellite Heart'; Bon Iver and St. Vincent offer sanctuary in their cathedral-housed 'Rosyln,' while Grizzly Bear's 'Slow Life' (featuring Victoria Legrand) is yet another church-echoed confessional; and San Francisco's Black Rebel Motor Cycle Club ditch the grunge for some indie-licious octave-singing on 'Done All Wrong.' Rescuing us from a potential mid-tempo monotony comes Radiohead's Thom Yorke with 'Hearing Damage.' … Even taken out of its movie context, New Moon is a very shiny record and not particularly dark, probably music director Alexandra Patsavas' mission. … But it's nice when a record achieves the sexy without using repetitive, overt bedding songs with 'ooh baby' drum machine strokes to seduce" ("HuffPost Reviews," Huffington Post, 10/19/09).

Joyce DiDonato: Colbran, the Muse

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Armida. D'amore al dolce impero — La donna del lago. Oh mattutini albori!; Tanti affetti in tal momento; Fra il padre, e fra l'amante — Maometto II. Giusto ciel, in tal periglio — Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra. Quant'è grato all'alma mia — Semiramide. Serena i vaghi rai; Bel raggio lusinghier — Otello. Ah! Dagli affanni oppressa; Nessun maggior dolore (with Lawrence Brownlee, tenor); Oh come infino al core; Assisa appiè d'un salice; Deh calma, o ciel, nel sonno — Armida. Se al mio crudel tormento; Dove son io!; È ver—gode quest' anima.
"Opera fans are a contentious lot, furiously sparring over the relative worth of leading singers, but a rare consensus has emerged around Joyce DiDonato. … On her new collection of Rossini arias, inspired by the early nineteenth-century diva Isabella Colbran, DiDonato proceeds effortlessly from the prayerful lyricism of 'Giusto ciel, in tal periglio' to the gleeful coloratura of 'Bel raggio lusinghier' and on to the demonic rage of the 'Armida' finale. … This finely dazzling disc is my pick for the best CD of 2009" (Alex Ross, "2009," Unquiet Thoughts, 12/5/09).

Jack Johnson en Concert

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: "All songs recorded live during the 2008 Sleep through the Static world tour"—Container. Belle/Banana pancakes (Paris, 7/9/08) — If I had eyes (Honolulu, 4/20/08) — Do you remember/Remember (Santa Barbara, 8/27/08) — Sleep through the static (Paris, 7/9/08) — Flake (San Francisco, 8/24/08) — Bubble toes/Express yourself (San Francisco, 8/24/08) — Wasting time (George, WA, 8/22/08) — What you thought you need (Honolulu, 4/20/08) — Country road (with Paula Fuga, Santa Barbara, 8/27/08) — Staple it together (San Diego, 8/30/08) — Sitting, waiting, wishing (Barcelona, 6/28/08) — Constellations (with Eddie Vedder, Manchester, TN, 6/14/08) — The horizon has been defeated/Mother and child reunion (Manchester, TN, 6/14/08) — Good people (Manchester, TN, 6/14/08) — All at once (Barcelona, 6/28/08) — Gone (Morrison, CO, 8/17/08) — Home (Honolulu, 4/20/08) — Times like these (Santa Barbara, 8/27/08) — Angel/Better together (Paris, 7/9/08).
"2008 tour profits were used to create the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation"—Container.

Bob Gilmore on Phill Niblock

From the notes accompanying Touch Strings: "Phill Niblock's music is massive yet nuanced, with dense sonic clouds that envelop the listener in a high volume, ever-changing environment rich in aural fascination. This is music without climax, broad swathes of sound composed of individual events that melt into larger textures suggesting a deep space. Niblock's materials are sustained pitches, sometimes reiterated, most often microtonally displaced by tiny amounts, creating a web of subtle pitch distinctions that appears static but which in fact undergoes constant change. The patterns created in air by the beating and phasing of near-unison tones are like wet paint with one colour streaking into another; tiny striations appear and disappear, like figures in mist. The extreme economy of material in Niblock's music ironically produces a quasi-infinity of sound; the pieces may begin somewhere, but there is never a necessary ending, the music inhabiting a world without boundaries. This music is expansive, metaphorically full of sun, wind and weather. Niblock is concerned as much with the weight and impact of one pitch against another as he is with their harmonic relationship. The tones fill the space, changing density as you listen. …"

Hot Chip: One Life Stand

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Contents: Thieves in the night (with drums by Leo Taylor and steel pans by Fimber Bravo) — Hand me down your love (with drums by Charles Hayward and strings arranged, performed, and recorded by Geese [Vincent Sipprell and Emma Smith] — I feel better (steel pans by Bravo) — One life stand (drums by Hayward, pans by Bravo) — Brothers — Slush (drums and chorus vocals by Hayward, pans by Bravo, mixed by Hot Chip) — Alley cats (mixed by Hot Chip) — We have love — Keep quiet (mixed and engineered by Hot Chip) — Take it in. All songs written, recorded, produced, and performed by Hot Chip; engineered by Tom Hopkins, mixed by Dan Carey and assisted by Alexis Taylor, except as noted.
"As we face limitless war and limited jobs, everyone could use an outlet, and Hot Chip’s fourth album offers plenty of great getaways. The combination of exquisite synth-rock, steel drums, and Alexis Taylor’s falsetto will keep you from losing your mind by encouraging it to wander" ("Playlist," Wired, 2/10, p. 41).

Russell Platt on Phil Kline

"In contemporary America, most religious music—competent, predictable—is produced by the masters of the 'choral market.' But recent recordings from two composers offer wondrous examples of another aesthetic—a deeply personal subjectivity brought to hallowed musical forms. … Phil Kline, a child of devout Pennsylvania Dutch Lutherans who earned his stripes touring in Glenn Branca’s earsplitting guitar ensembles, has brought a fulsome eclecticism to 'John the Revelator' (Cantaloupe), a Mass that mixes the familiar liturgical passages with fragments of the Old Testament and texts by David Shapiro and Samuel Beckett. Eerily harmonized versions of early American hymns frame the work, with the interior movements drinking deeply of the styles of Messiaen, Eastern Orthodox chant, and rugged, rock-inflected minimalism. The performers, the male chorus Lionheart and the string quartet Ethel, are world class, but the effect is peculiarly American—both simple and complex, crude and sublime. Kline worships music at a church of his own making" (Russell Platt, "Classical Notes," New Yorker, 12/7/09).

Rob Fields on black rock

"The Grammys happen in a couple of weeks. Though it may be a fun show to watch, the Urban/Alternative category still leaves me wondering: alternative compared to what? But, let's table that discussion for now and congratulate all of the artists who made it to the nominees' circle. After all, that's no small accomplishment. However, better examples of black artists who offer real musical alternatives can be found in black rock. To get you started, here are some artists who didn't just take a baby step to the left, but who regularly cavort far outside the lines, and to great effect. My best black rock releases of 2009 (in no particular order): Honeychild Coleman, Halo Inside (Come La Luna). Bjork-shaded breathiness, dubby goodness. A headphone masterpiece. … Living Colour, The Chair In The Doorway. If you're thinking this album got a pass just because it's Living Colour, you're wrong. No, this bad boy is bangin' (my personal favorites are 'Burned Bridges', 'DecaDance', 'Bless Those') and leaves no doubt that this band is still vibrant and burning. …" ("Real Alternatives for the Grammys' 'Urban/Alternative' Category," Huffington Post, 1/16/10).

Steve Smith on ECM

"Spend enough time pondering ECM, a revered German classical and jazz label celebrating its 40th anniversary, and you are tempted to ascribe mystical powers of foresight and intuition to its founder, Manfred Eicher. … When Deutsche Grammophon declined to release a seminal recording of Steve Reich’s 'Music for 18 Musicians' that Mr. Eicher had produced, he released it on ECM and followed it with two more LPs of Mr. Reich’s music. In 1981 Mr. Eicher began a lasting collaboration with the singer, composer and choreographer Meredith Monk. A chance encounter provided impetus for the next step. 'On the radio I picked up some music I’d never heard of and left the autobahn to get better reception,' Mr. Eicher said. 'A year later I found out this was Arvo Pärt. I didn’t know what that music was, and it was fascinating. I had to search for it.' Mr. Eicher was so moved by what he heard that he went to meet Mr. Pärt in Austria and came away determined to make a record. … Mr. Eicher named the first entry of his ECM New Series after one of the Pärt compositions it included, 'Tabula Rasa'" ("40 Years Old, a Musical House Without Walls," New York Times, 12/27/09).

Vanessa Grigoriadis on Patti Smith

"As a female rock-and-roll star, she was predated only by the more feminine Grace Slick and blues-oriented Janis Joplin — an anti-feminist feminist icon who dressed androgynously, used dirty slang like William Burroughs, and argued that words like Ms. were 'really bullshit,' as she said in 1976. 'Vowels are the most illuminated letters in the alphabet, and these assholes take the only fucking vowel out of the word miss. It sounds like a sick bumblebee, it sounds frigid.' She’s willing to repent for some of the dicier declarations now. 'If I’ve learned one thing in life,' she says, in a low, slow monotone, a little bit dazed, 'it’s not to be so judgmental of other people.' These days, Smith is interested in the earlier part of her life, the years spent aching for greatness in New York until she became famous with the release of Horses in 1975. She arrived from South Jersey nearly a decade earlier with $32 and a copy of Rimbaud’s Illuminations in her plaid suitcase, sleeping on subways and in parks until she met the artist Robert Mapplethorpe, a Floral Park altar boy and Pratt student who became her first boyfriend" ("Remembrances of the Punk Prose Poetess," New York, 1/18-25/10).

Alex Ross on "Winterreise"

"The musicologist Karol Berger has claimed, boldly but plausibly, that Schubert’s cycle is 'our civilization’s greatest poem of existential estrangement and isolation.' Berger mentions Samuel Beckett in the same breath as Schubert, and he is hardly the only commentator to do so. … Beckett himself recognized the kinship. A music lover and an amateur pianist, he felt closer to Schubert than to any other composer. Beckett’s radio play 'All That Fall' begins with the strains of 'Death and the Maiden.' The teleplay 'Nacht und Träume' employs a fragment of the Schubert song. The writer once reported … that he was spending his days listening alone to 'Winterreise.' … The British director Katie Mitchell, in collaboration with the tenor Mark Padmore, the actor Stephen Dillane, and the pianist Andrew West, had the excellent idea of creating a theatre piece around Beckett’s intense relationship with 'Winterreise,' weaving his poetry and prose into a live performance of the cycle. … Padmore is one of the most distinctive lyric singers on the contemporary scene—he has recorded a starkly lovely 'Winterreise,' with Paul Lewis at the piano, for the Harmonia Mundi label" ("Musical Events," New Yorker, 1/4/10).

Othmar Schoeck: Notturno

Copy at Case Memorial Library
"Though usually pegged as a conservative, the Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck (1886-1957) was, in fact, too original for his own good. In his finest songs, an 'accessible' late-Romantic lyricism exists uneasily alongside an emotional intensity that can be as painfully personal as the confessional poetry of Lowell and Berryman. Heinz Holliger, the eminent oboist, credits Schoeck with creating 'a whole new way of connecting words and music.' It can be a hard journey, but the baritone Christian Gerhaher and the strings of the Rosamunde Quartet may have finally built a sturdy bridge with their radiant new ECM recording of the 'Notturno' (1931-33), an expansive sequence of songs and instrumental interludes. After exploring the turbulent world of the poet Nikolaus Lenau, Schoeck concludes with a setting of a text by Gottfried Keller that glows with childlike innocence—though the music suggests a meeting of late Beethoven, Stravinsky, and American blues. It is one of the most astonishing moments in twentieth-century art" (Russell Platt, "Critic's Notebook," New Yorker, 1/11/10).