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M ike Love bounds up the stairs inside his massive Lake Tahoe home (10 bedrooms in all, 12 bathrooms, two elevators, not to be believed) and into a large walk-in closet stuffed to overflowing with garish, multicolored shirts and a gazillion baseball caps, many of them emblazoned with the name of his band, the Beach Boys . A suitcase rests on the floor. Love nods at it, prods it with his foot. “A lot more shirts are in there,” he says, “because, if you must know, I haven’t unpacked.” And why should he unpack? For the past 54 years, he and various versions of the Beach Boys , which these days include only him as an original member, have toured almost constantly. On his current outing, he has 172 dates lined up, cramming 19 European shows into 22 days this past December, for instance, and shortly thereafter flying back stateside to give the 6,500 citizens of tiny Avon, Colorado, the chance to hear all about California girls. From there, it’s onward, evermore, venues big and small, … [Read more...] about The Ballad of Mike Love

Norwegian director Maria Sodhal made her first feature, Limbo , a decade ago and her second makes the reason for the long time gap dramatically clear: She developed lung cancer, which then metastasized and spread to her brain, a virtual death sentence. But she fought back and lived to make a film about it, the closely observed Hope , which is all she had going for her as she faced almost certain oblivion. It’s grim stuff, to be sure, but the innumerable intimate details and shifting moods keep Norway’s International Feature Oscar shortlist title percolating with the things of life. Stellan Skarsgard ), a prominent theater director some 15 years older, plus six children between them and her dad. Even though she’ll need a high dose of steroids to avoid brain death, hospital specialists are mostly away over the holidays and she prefers to keep the news from her family. But to Tomas she confides, “It feels like I’ve known it for ages,” then shortly adding, “When I’m gone, I … [Read more...] about Int’l Critics Line: Todd McCarthy On Norway’s Oscar-Shortlisted ‘Hope’

Punk music has always been about individuality. Although skinheads and fascists have periodically tried to co-opt and homogenize the genre over its 50-year history, they have always failed, because the true spirit of punk begins with an original thought, a unique life story, and the poetic philosophies that truth is beauty and that the pomp and artifice of pop music are a distraction from expressing something deeper. At its core, punk is the people’s rock & roll. Perhaps that’s one reason why the genre appeals more broadly than some other styles of rock to people from every background, and why there have been strong black voices in the genre almost from the beginning, whether it was drummer D.H. Peligro railing against Reagan with the Dead Kennedys or guitarist Rocky George sending up blind capitalism on Suicidal Tendencies’ “Join the Army.” Anyone can play punk, and everyone is welcome, so why not just do it? Here is a decades-spanning selection of 15 bold songs by vital black … [Read more...] about Music at Home: 15 Great Punk Songs by Black Artists

Poly Styrene, the frontwoman for the classic punk rock band X Ray Spex, has died at the age of 53 . Styrene, whose real name was Marianne Elliot-Said, had been battling both breast and spinal cancer. The Hottest Live Photos of the Week Inspired by an early Sex Pistols gig, Styrene formed the X Ray Spex when she was 18. The band went on to record a string of five singles – including the enduring punk anthem “Oh Bondage Up Yours!” – and one highly influential full-length album, Germ Free Adolescents , before breaking up in 1979. The band briefly reunited in 1995 for an unsuccessful second album titled Conscious Consumer. Photos: Random Notes Outside of X Ray Spex, Styrene released a small handful of solo recordings inspired by her Hare Krishna faith, including her relatively mellow debut Translucence in 1980 and a New Age album titled Flower Aeroplane in 2004. Her final album, the hard rocking Generation Indigo , was released last month. RELATED: Listen: Poly … [Read more...] about Punk Legend Poly Styrene Dead at 53

A few weeks ago, New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced the state would reopen large arenas at 10 percent capacity for sports and music — spiking Google searches for “concerts in 2021” and setting off a flurry of excited chatter about live music ’s long-awaited return. “One thing is clear, we must act,” Cuomo had said at the start of the year. “We cannot wait until summer to turn the lights back on for the arts and provide a living wage for artists.” But this was political posturing — and it illustrates a fundamental misunderstanding about how the live music industry works. The miniature reopening will certainly not provide a “living wage,” as limited-capacity shows will not jump-start major concerts and the multi-state tours that most artists need to profit. For one thing, Cuomo announced his decision a day after Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted full concerts could return in the fall of 2021; other live music experts are looking as far out as 2022 . For another, Cuomo based … [Read more...] about Why Limited-Capacity Concerts Just Don’t Make Sense