David Krasnow

Computers have taken over an incredible array of human tasks. They fly our planes, give us directions, recommend books, set us up on dates.  But can they tell us a good story?

This weekend, the Brooklyn Academy of Music presented a new work of originality, power, and beauty that left an audience slack-jawed. Brooklyn Babylon is a collaboration between the graphic novelist Danijel Zezelj and composer Darcy James Argue, and it is destined to be considered a classic of the ...

Jesmyn Ward was at the end of her summer break when Hurricane Katrina struck her hometown of Delisle, Mississippi. Bonus Track: Jesmyn Ward reads from Salvage the Bones

“General Orders No. 9” was the document in which Robert E. Lee ordered his troops to surrender to Ulysses S. Grant.  A film of the same name by Robert Persons never refers to this document or to the Civil War itself, which is strange.  There is a lot ...

The first track on Wild Flag’s debut release is called “Romance,” and ends with this: We love the sound, the sound is what found us, sound is the love between me and you. I love how w...

Until the movie District 9 came out two years ago, “South African science fiction” didn’t ring any bells for Americans. But that may change. The winner of this year’s Arthur C. Clar...

There are ex-spouses who communicate through their lawyers; ex-spouses who send each other Christmas cards; ex-spouses who remain cordial out of affection or for the sake of the kid...

At 91 years of age, Kitty Wells is the oldest living member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. And she can still surprise unsuspecting listeners. Despite her demure gingham dresses ...

No stranger to controversy — the cliché fits Tony Kushner, whose groundbreaking play cycle Angels in America (subtitle A Gay Fantasia on National Themes) was one of the major flashpoi...

Mark my words: the beginning of the 21^st century is going to be remembered as a golden age of chamber music. A case in point is the new debut from the Janus Trio, I Am Not.

This is the handsomest set of the essays that made H. L. Mencken famous.

Using a whammy bar and a fuzz box, Hendrix captured the sound of bombs falling overseas and screaming protestors.  “I didn’t think it was unorthodox,” Hendrix said. “I thought it wa...

In 1969, Jimi Hendrix's performance of the national anthem at Woodstock hit like a shock wave; with its distortion and chaos, it sounded like a rupture in something sacred. Two music scholars and two rock guitarists put together the pieces. Produced by David Krasnow.

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Matt Schickele is a tragically underrated songwriter who has put out a handful of solo records of piercing strangeness and beauty. Delicate and jagged, Schickele's harmonies constantly edge toward the dissonant while staying just this side of earworm. On The Badger Game, he sings over perfectly realized small chamber arrangements, but there's nothing trendy about it. Son of the composer and educator Peter Schickele, Matt comes to his classical eclecticism by birthright, and he has composed an opera (in progress), a large number of published bagpipe tunes, and music in many other genres. Fans of Sufjan Stevens and Andrew Bird should all take note: this record bears repeated -- obsessively repeated -- listening.

A volume of collected stories by any writer can be daunting, but Lydia Davis’s are all so small and seemingly light that dipping in and out feels easy. Her tone often seems dry or ironic (as with the wonderfully titled 'Samuel Johnson Is Indignant'). But beware: Davis packs a punch. ...

Guillermo del Toro was an inspired pick to direct the The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  If anybody can keep Bilbo from getting cute – and keep Gollum genuinely creepy -- it’s the director of Pan’s Labyrinth.  When del Toro visited Studio 360 last ...

For more than fifteen years Sam Coomes led the band Quasi along with the drummer Janet Weiss - who has been his ex-wife for most of that time. Coomes tells the story of how he found his calling as a rock musician. It all began ...