Charlie Doherty’s Top 40 Releases of 2019

In the music world, 2019 should be remembered for continuing an encouraging trend: the rise and reig | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Charlie Doherty’s Top 40 Releases of 2019

In the music world, 2019 should be remembered for continuing an encouraging trend: the rise and reig | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

‘Tropico 6’ and its First DLC: Destroying Economies is Great Fun

It would be very easy to offer up an “it’s not me, it’s you” sort of review for Tropico 6, the most | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Graphic Novel Review: ‘The Trial of Kitaro’ by Shigeru Mizuki from Drawn+Quarterly

The Trial of Kitaro by Shigeru Mizuki, published by Drawn & Quarterly, continues the collected w | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Music Reviews: Hank Williams – ‘Pictures from Life’s Other Side’ Plus Mick Kolassa and Letitia VanSant

The latest evidence that 1998’s The Complete Hank Williams is erroneously titled is Pictures from Li | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Exclusive Interview: GRAMMY-Nominated Composer Zhou Tian on U.S. Premiere at Lunar New Year Concert

Chinese-American composer Zhou Tian (pronounced | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Exclusive Interview: Pianist Haochen Zhang on NYC Lunar New Year Concert and ‘Rhapsody in Blue’

The New York Philharmonic will present a Lunar New Year concert at Lincoln Center on January 28, 202 | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Visiting the Charles Dickens Museum in London

Last month was my first time to visit London during the Christmas season. I was so excited to see al | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Music Review: Dave Soldier – ‘Zajal’

Dave Soldier's newest release bracingly fuses originality and tradition. Zajal is a | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Film Review: ‘The Eclipse’ Starring Ciarán Hinds

In December, I took a break from London assignments to stop by one of the U.K.'s most prestigious ar | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Card Game Review: ‘Astronomy Fluxx’ from Looney Labs

Astronomy Fluxx from Looney Labs is the latest edition to the Fluxx line of card games that have eve | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Music Reviews: Honeycombs – ‘Have I the Right: The Complete 60s Albums & Singles’, Plus Wild Rabbit Salad, Lil Smokies, Bobby Hatfield

The booklet that accompanies a new anthology from the Honeycombs begins by noting that they are “bes | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

TV Review: ‘Lost in Space’ (Season Two) – Battle of the Bots

The long awaited second season of Netflix’s Lost in Space is now available for viewing and it was wo | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Exclusive Interview: Danish Cellist Jakob Kullberg

Cellist Jakob Kullberg will be performing pieces for cello, clarinet, and piano by Nordic composers, | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Graphic Novel Review: ‘Year of the Rabbit’ by Tian Veasna from Drawn+Quarterly

Year of the Rabbit by Tian Veasna from Drawn+Quarterly presents an especially poignant view of the K | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Music Reviews: Pink Floyd – ‘The Later Years,’ Plus Seamus Egan, Big Mike & the R&B Kings

If you’re looking for an anthology with enough heft to do double duty as a doorstop, look no further | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Film Review: ‘Reality Queen!’ Skewers the Celebutante Genre

Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, and Nicole Ritchie (to name a few) get the satire treatment in Reality | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Theatre Review (London’s West End): ‘Girl from the North Country’ at the Gielgud Theatre

Since its 2017 debut in London, Girl from the North Country has maintained a strong presence in the | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

New Year’s Day – Should We Glance Back or Look Forward?

The past is not dead. It’s not even past.” -      William Faulkner It | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Music Reviews: Leonard Cohen, ‘Thanks for the Dance’ and Bruce Springsteen, ‘1990s Broadcast Collection’

Leonard Cohen’s excellent You Want It Darker—which appeared in October 2016, less than a month befor | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Operetta Review: ‘The Mikado’ from the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players

W.S. Gilbert said that when he conceived The Mikado he wished to illustrate | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Ten Best Books 2019

'Tis the time of year when ten best lists start to appear in publications far and wide. So in the sp | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Book Review: ‘A Keeper’ by Graham Norton

Broadcaster Graham Norton is perhaps best known for his hosting duties for a show on BBC Radio Two a | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

TV Review: ‘The Mandalorian’ – The Ultimate Space Cowboy

*This review contains spoilers regarding Season One. The Mandalorian –the new hit series on Dis | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Concert Review: Intersect Music Festival 2019

According to their website, Intersect was “born out of the massive after party for AWS’s annual re:I | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Interview: Jazz Pianist Dave Meder

At only 29 years old, Dave Meder is already an accomplished pianist, composer, and educator. Before | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Music Reviews: The Band: ‘The Band (Anniv. Ed.)’ Plus Simon & Garfunkel, Paul Kelly

Bob Dylan, who painted the cover picture for the Band’s 1968 debut, Music from Big Pink, also wrote | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Theatre Review (London’s West End): ‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ at the Playhouse Theatre

Until quite recently, hearing anyone mention Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac would invariably re | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Music Review: ‘New Jewish Music Vol. 2’ – Orchestre Classique de Montréal

New Jewish Music, Vol. 2 collects the 2018 winners of Canada's Azrieli Music Prizes. The album's two | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

If Only in My Dreams – A Christmas with My ‘Whole’ Family

This is a joyous time of year for so many people. As I write this, the last Advent candle has been l | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Cabaret/Theater Review: Sven Ratzke, ‘Where Are We Now’ – Songs of David Bowie

Dutch-German cabaret superstar Sven Ratzke knits David Bowie songs together with elaborate monologue | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Movie Review: ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ – Rey of Light

*There are no spoilers in this review. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, directed by J.J. Abrams who | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Music Reviews: Jimi Hendrix – ‘Songs for Groovy Children: The Fillmore East Concerts’ Plus Rebecca Turner, Modern English

Songs for Groovy Children: The Fillmore East Concerts isn’t the first album—or even the second, thir | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Film Review: ‘Free Burma Rangers’ Not Standard Christian Fare

Over the past decade, I have written about 400 reviews and have never reviewed a “Christian film”, u | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Concert Review: Juilliard String Quartet Play Beethoven, Kurtág (NYC, 12 Dec 2019)

Vivified by the recent addition of first violinist Areta Zhulla, the Juilliard String Quartet captur | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Music Review: Rozina Pátkai – ‘Taladim’

Hungarian singer and songwriter Rozina Pátkai has two bossa nova-oriented albums behind her. On her | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Theater Review (Washington, DC): ‘The Woman in Black’ at the Shakespeare Theatre Company

If you haven't seen The Woman in Black at the Shakespeare Theatre Company (STC) in Washington, DC, t | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Theatre Review (London’s West End): ‘Ian McKellen on Stage’

Celebrated actor Sir Ian McKellen turned 80 earlier this year. To mark the occasion, he launched a o | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Music Review: Rod Stewart – The Studio Albums 1975-2001

When it comes time to assemble a retrospective box set, record labels undoubtedly start by evaluatin | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Videogame Review: ‘MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries’

As I settled into the world of MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries I swiftly cycled through many different fe | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Book Review: ‘Along The Trenches’ by Navid Kermani

Some people take pilgrimages to holy shrines, others to art galleries and still others to historical | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Theater Review (NYC): ‘Doctor Faustus’ by Christopher Marlowe at the Secret Theatre

Horror movies with the hoary themes of demon-summoning and deals with the devil proliferate on our s | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Central Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra of Beijing in U.S. Debut Dec. 13 at Carnegie Hall

On December 13 the Central Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra of Beijing (CCOM) will make its | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Theater Review (NYC): ‘Near to the Wild Heart’ Based on the Novel by Clarice Lispector

Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector (1920-1977) seems to be, in the English-speaking world anyway, mo | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Party Game Review: ‘AKA-Also Known As’ from Endless Games

AKA-Also Known As from Endless Games is a brain-tickling, shout-out-loud party game. The core concep | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Opera Review (NYC): Weber’s ‘Der Freischütz’ from Heartbeat Opera

Gunshots and butoh. Drinking songs and a musical saw. Carl Maria von Weber's opera Der Freischütz, i | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Concert Review: Aspect Chamber Music Series – ‘Russian Elegy’ (Music of Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Lyadov)

The Aspect Chamber Music Series capped off its 2019 New York City season with a concert of Russian m | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago

Montreal International Games Summit 2019: Interview with Videogame Artist Loukia Kyriakidou

It was a pleasure to meet freelance games artist Loukia Kyriakidou at MIGS this year. She was able t | Continue reading


@blogcritics.org | 4 years ago