How do you convey experience?
How do you convey experience?
Our experiences are never objective; that’s what makes them wonderful, idealized, less than credible, more credible than mere facts,…
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Where is the fun in wonder?
Where is the fun in wonder?
I know it’s not the hip thing to say, but I love pop music… at least in the right…
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How does music change when you hear it live?
How does music change when you hear it live?
As the buzz of the crowd overfills an already crowded theater, we wait for the lights to drop and…
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How do you capture the sincerity of hope and loss?
How do you capture the sincerity of hope and loss?
You love Iceland and you might not even know it. And now you love it even more. Remember when…
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How do we stand in uncertainty?
How do we stand in uncertainty?
The album is saturated with lyrical complexity with more instrumentation and catchy melodies than we've seen before. But as…
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What does it mean to create something "new"?
What does it mean to create something "new"?
Remember when we all thought this "electric invasion" of auto-tune and sampling the same old beats was going to…
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Is imagination part of our everyday sight?
Is imagination part of our everyday sight?
One wonders what types of thoughts and ideas would be discovered during a woodland hike through the forest of…
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What’s behind the scenes and the lives we paint for ourselves?
What’s behind the scenes and the lives we paint for ourselves?
I remember first learning about Plato’s Allegory of the Cave in junior year English class. I hadn’t thought much…
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If it doesn't match our "truth" do we still want honesty?
If it doesn't match our "truth" do we still want honesty?
Every track on Sigh No More has a line worth pondering. Songs that at first listen sound like love/relationship…
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Is there tension in hope?
Is there tension in hope?
Who would have thought that Charles Darwin, the bearded Englishmen so universally admired and reviled, would make such a…
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What happens when our narrative falls apart?
What happens when our narrative falls apart?
Bazan question's God's role in "the fall." If God is as powerful as we have been told over and…
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Who or what is to blame for our messed up world?
Who or what is to blame for our messed up world?
Well... he did it. For all of you Pedro-Christians out there, if you were confused where David Bazan stood…
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How does life SOUND when it's being lived anew?
How does life SOUND when it's being lived anew?
I have this small, black, fits-in-your-pocket, piece of technology that I currently refer to as my Gregory Alan Isakov…
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What does religion do to people? To bands? To song writing? To music?
What does religion do to people? To bands? To song writing? To music?
One of the sources of wonder with Engik is his own story. Back in the mid/late-nineties his new found…
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How do we find beauty in a rusting world?
How do we find beauty in a rusting world?
The release of Kingdom of Rust is another fine example of Doves ability to blend rock and the human…
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Can we recall & experience beauty and pain in the same moments?
Can we recall & experience beauty and pain in the same moments?
This may be the perfect time for an Irish singer like Hannigan to make her American debut. We…
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Should art draw conclusions or simply "show"?
Should art draw conclusions or simply "show"?
Here, Bono continues his hymn-like obsession (i.e. "Yahweh") and wraps his anti-war protest song in the melodic roots of…
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Do some emotions (pain, anger, joy, etc.) create better art than others?
Do some emotions (pain, anger, joy, etc.) create better art than others?
What happened to the pissed-off punksters from Dublin who were writing songs with titles like "I Threw a Brick…
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How do we give up control?
How do we give up control?
Bono used to be the subject. "I still haven't found what I'm looking for." But for the track "Moment…
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Do we have to "understand" in order to experience?
Do we have to "understand" in order to experience?
Still Vernon solidifies himself, not as a Springsteen or Dylan-like story teller, but as an experience maker. Blood Bank…
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If it is mortality that gives life its beauty, what about eternal things?
If it is mortality that gives life its beauty, what about eternal things?
I recently heard a discussion about the connection between beauty and death. The example used was seeing a vase…
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How do our "things" create us?
How do our "things" create us?
After watching this video and thinking of how I sleep so comfortably most night, it's hard not to wonder…
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How is it that we sit in a question?
How is it that we sit in a question?
The questions we are asking in America (and in the world for that matter) seem to be large abstract…
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Does seeing the "greater" narrative impact individual ones?
Does seeing the "greater" narrative impact individual ones?
I have been in a few conversations recently around the topic of "shared space". Can we? Should…
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How can experience lead us to understanding?
How can experience lead us to understanding?
Maybe we need more experiences and fewer debates. Maybe that is the role that art has to play in…
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Does it work to NOT see even though we know other things exist?
Does it work to NOT see even though we know other things exist?
I'm moving to the suburbs of Chicago in less than a month. If you've never been there, the suburbs…
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Does art have to last to be valuable... and joyful?
Does art have to last to be valuable... and joyful?
With their new video for "Pork and Beans," Weezer has buried the MTV era and embraced the network that…
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Can uncommon experiences be shared?
Can uncommon experiences be shared?
Attempting to describe the debut album from Bon Iver is not unlike describing the magnolia tree currently blooming in…
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What would it mean to stop being "cool"?
What would it mean to stop being "cool"?
Most parts of our society, not just the hip-hop community, could stand to listen to Lupe's "The Cool" a…
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How does subtlety communicate ambiguity?
How does subtlety communicate ambiguity?
The brilliance of the images that Sam Beam (aka Iron &Wine) creates is found in the subtly. It…
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What is real freedom? And how do we get it?
What is real freedom? And how do we get it?
I was recently asked if there were any early indications of what my "spring break jam" for this…
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What does it mean to "go home"?
What does it mean to "go home"?
The majority of Swinscoe (and company)'s work finds its inspiration in the visual arts... say the "cinema." In fact,…
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Are you the sum of your parts... or are YOU something more?
Are you the sum of your parts... or are YOU something more?
Who are you? Are you the sum of the college degrees you have? Or maybe you are your parents'…
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What is real and who am I REALLY?
What is real and who am I REALLY?
If you've caught Jose Gonzalez's new album, "In Our Nature," you know that Gonzalez is dealing with some large…
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So, what is the Neon Bible?
So, what is the Neon Bible?
Anytime "the" is added before a category such as
"album", it becomes a debatable topic. It is debatable…
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What kind of star are you following?
What kind of star are you following?
If your ideas of what the first Christmas night looked like come mostly from dimly lit plastic nativity…
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Do you find that certain songs belong to specific seasons?
Do you find that certain songs belong to specific seasons?
For instance, the Hold Steady's Stuck Between Stations (as
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What lyrics would you sing?
What lyrics would you sing?
When the name "Bono" is mentioned these days you are more likely to find yourself in a poverty conversation…
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A moment. What is it? How long is it? How deep is it?
A moment. What is it? How long is it? How deep is it?
Paul Auster (writer) and Wayne Wang (director) played with these questions in the 1995 film
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Is something greater occurring?
Is something greater occurring?
Today is Halloween, which means a few obvious things. What is often overlooked is that Halloween is actually (in…
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What is the thread that holds your life together?
What is the thread that holds your life together?
The eighth track on In Rainbows is a warm and dreamy grove that draws you in…
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Why does anyone watch a particular video or film?
Why does anyone watch a particular video or film?
I am guessing that most people at least "initially" gravitate towards a particular piece due to some familiarity with a…
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Can bad news actually be good news?
Can bad news actually be good news?
I am always suprised when I meet a music lover who has not heard of the band TRAVIS. Coldplay…
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What does humanity want more than anything else in the world?
What does humanity want more than anything else in the world?
Questions are a fascinating reality of life. On one hand, questions exist for the purpose of obtaining knowledge at…
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Do they sound like truth or lies?
Do they sound like truth or lies?
A lot of things have been said about music. For example:
"Music is a higher revelation than philosophy."
Ludwig van…
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What does love "do" to us?
What does love "do" to us?
What does love do? Better yet, what does love "do" to us? Recently, the majority of U2's attention does…
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How does a song, based on the idea that we need someone else…
How does a song, based on the idea that we need someone else…
The popularity of Fix You is somewhat surprising considering how independent our culture has become. How does a song,…
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Where does experience take you?
Where does experience take you?
What images come to mind when you hear the name... "Iceland"? I am guessing the folks that make up…
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Can we ever be fully loved?
Can we ever be fully loved?
There are a handful of questions out there that would land in the "Big Questions" category. What's the meaning…
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Do the things you buy, places you go, websites you visit, increase the…
Do the things you buy, places you go, websites you visit, increase the…
Recently I found out that my wife and I had a substantial amount of our retirement savings invested in…
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What do we do with people we don't understand?
What do we do with people we don't understand?
What do we do with people we don't understand?
What does it look like to live a life that cannot…
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