Thoughts and Reviews (AKA Blog) by Barnaby Hazen
July 12, 2017
Welcome to my news, reviews and outbursts.
On Kafka and Sleep
February 25, 2023
(The following essay is based on a premise for which I now see no evidence: a stopping point for Kafka’s book, The Castle, I feel certain I read. Everywhere is a claim of some unfinished line and there is just no trace of what I recall in any of these exhaustive online conversations and descriptions … More On Kafka and Sleep
A Gonzo Review of Slate’s VSX Modeling Headphones
January 18, 2022
1. I’ve been working on an album for almost two years, all from home. I began this venture when words like “quarantine” had just started floating around the pop media field and I hadn’t done any recording in years so I started accumulating a home studio: a refurbished computer and a preamp; quickly the computer … More A Gonzo Review of Slate’s VSX Modeling Headphones
On Abel Ferrara’s, “Siberia”
December 21, 2021
Never have I been at such a loss to begin a film review. The question any reader may reasonably want answered by the end of such a thing as this is whether or not the reviewer is recommending the movie. There are degrees of this—I’ve seen comedies I didn’t necessarily think were brilliant, but funnier … More On Abel Ferrara’s, “Siberia”
Why I Might Be a Chump
November 25, 2021
I got one of those calls, a phishing thing I’d have learned a bit more about had I not toyed with the guy the way I did. He had a Middle Eastern accent, called twice (I think) from a local number. Claiming to be with Amazon. Claiming there was suspicious activity on my account and … More Why I Might Be a Chump
Pop Terms and Phrases to Reconsider
August 20, 2021
I haven’t been doing it. Social media. I do scroll around though. What am I looking for? Either way I get slapped across the face repeatedly with certain turns of phrase; eventually I grow familiar with them–at least in the fact that they are popular, and how they are used. This is a breakdown of … More Pop Terms and Phrases to Reconsider
Review of Jennifer Egan’s, A Visit from the Goon Squad
June 7, 2021
I probably shouldn’t review this book; I’m poorly set up for it in that I’m a musician and it’s supposedly about music. I’ll start by saying that yes, Jennifer Egan is a solid writer. She has a finger on the East Coast, and much of how people with money in New York cope with careers, … More Review of Jennifer Egan’s, A Visit from the Goon Squad
On Mixerman
March 17, 2021
So at the moment I’m reading his book, Zen and the Art of Mixing, and I am finding that it’s redundant and less applicable to me than another of his I’ve read since embarking on recording my own music at home–Musician’s Survival Guide to a Killer Record. Between the two books, the stories overlap or … More On Mixerman
Words and Phrases to Avoid
August 18, 2020
In the spirit of Matt Groening, I present my list of things I never want to hear or read again. Please don’t use the following words or phrases anymore: Fake News. The New Normal. Quarantini. Together Apart. Plotter. Pantser. Ask Me Anything (AMA). Fight Me. Do What You Love and the Money Will Come.
Please Critique My Social Distancing Practice
March 19, 2020
You bastards got me. I was wiping all kinds of shit down last night at the hotel where I work taking it all with a grain of salt and then I realized that in jumping through the hoops of a major scare, I was actually in it; there was nothing ironic about the fifteenth wipey … More Please Critique My Social Distancing Practice
A Boob Tube Review of:
January 8, 2020
Better Things, Season 3 So I’m tempted to compare this to Louie for several reasons, but as I come away from Season 3 of Better Things, I have to say they feel like very different shows. Wait, what’s that? Some kind of news item about Louis CK? You want me to do what? No–this is … More A Boob Tube Review of:
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