Point: Bob Dylan reinvented folk music Conor Fellin “People sometimes like to congratulate me on reinventing folk music,” Bob Dylan once famously said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “That’s when I like to knock their cup out of their hands, and while they’re distracted run away screaming, ‘YOU DON’T KNOW ME UNLESS I SAY […]Read This
The Faith of an Infidel [4]: It is not good that the man should be alone
Part of an ongoing series on religion and philosophy. Read Part 3 or view all the posts. When I made it to Mariazell I felt … pretty much the same. On the sixth and final day of “Walker goes to Mariazell,” I walked from St. Aegyd am Neuwalde back up into the mountains, past Hubertussee […]Read This
The Rail Gaze Roundtable: Which is the most average album ever?
Conor: Ok, so here’s a question: we are a blog that features at least occasional album reviews—shouldn’t we have a ratings system? I know it’s wrong, but when I see that an album gets a 6.4/10 on Pitchfork, I can’t help but feel a little worse about that album. I’d like to wield that kind […]Read This
Kabuki: A Tourist’s Review
If I was going to be in Tokyo, I had to go see kabuki. I knew this from David Sedaris, who in his essay “The Smoking Room” described a type of theater “enchanting and full of surprises,” with convoluted plot twists, symbolic make-up, stylized action, and even a special style of speech. A real grade-A […]Read This
Rail Gaze Review: II
“I wish that I could swim and sleep like a shark does. I’d fall to the bottom and I’d hide till the end of time.” ~ “Swim And Sleep (Like A Shark)”, Unknown Mortal Orchestra This album records the faint echoes of psychedelia transmuted through layers of ocean. It’s lo-fi in the way that phone […]Read This
The Faith of an Infidel [3]: On the Way
Part of an ongoing series about religion and philosophy. Read Part 2 or view all the posts. As I write I can look out my hotel window on the mountains to the south of Rohr im Gebirge, a tiny hamlet of 500 people, one hotel, and seemingly no restaurants, nestled in the alpine foothills of […]Read This
Solipsists Anonymous [1]
Welcome to Solipsists Anonymous. Let’s go around the room and introduce myself.
The Faith of an Infidel [2]: God has a sense of humor and other hypotheses
Part of an ongoing series about religion and philosophy. Read Part 1 or view all the posts. My first appointment on my arrival in Vienna was breakfast with a Catholic mother (whom I will call “Jess”) and her two-and-a-half-year-old son. Jess was born in Croatia when it was a part of the Socialist Federal Republic […]Read This
Rail Gaze Review: Surprisingly Awesome
When I first heard that Gimlet Media was releasing a podcast named Surprisingly Awesome that would attempt to make ostensibly boring topics seem awesome, I rolled my eyes. The idea of teasing out the kernel of an engaging narrative from the sea of science, politics and culture surrounding us has been implicit in the structure […]Read This
Organic Tinder
Will: I can’t bring myself to use Tinder. All the people I’ve had romantic attachments with, I met organically.
Kyle: Tinder can be organic. You just have to meet at vegan restaurants.