John Paul

John is a Michigan-based musician and writer. His work has appeared in PopMatters, Spectrum Culture, Cover Me Songs, Hagerty magazine and more. Follow him at @john_r_paul

Music/PopMatters Picks/Reviews

Flamin’ Groovies: Fantastic Plastic

John Paul / 1 November 2017

Reuniting the classic Groovies front line of Cyril Jordan and Chris Wilson for the first time in nearly 40 years, Fantastic Plastic shows the duo and the band to have lost nary a step in the intervening decades.

Music/PopMatters Picks/Reviews

Yasuaki Shimizu: Music for Commercials

John Paul / 1 November 2017

Japanese composer and saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu’s 1987 collection of striking original compositions for commercials – appropriately entitled Music for Commercials – gets the reissue treatment.

Music/PopMatters Picks/Reviews

Jackie Shane: Any Other Way

John Paul / 23 October 2017

Numero Group gathers assorted singles, live recordings and generous liner notes to provide a more complete picture of revolutionary transsexual soul singer Jackie Shane, in the process producing a minor masterpiece of overlooked soul.

Books/Comics/Featured: Top of Home Page/Reviews

Aquaman, Blooperman, Plastic Man, Bee-Man, Fatman: ‘Hero-A-Go-Go’!

John Paul / 5 October 2017

Books/Comics/Featured: Top of Home Page/Reviews

Life “Between and Betwixt Two Worlds”: Diary of a Reluctant Dreamer

John Paul / 2 October 2017

With both humor and pathos, Alberto Ledesma’s graphic novel/memoir provides an inside look at the life of an undocumented immigrant.

Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Music

The Healing Power of Music: A Conversation with Linda Perhacs

John Paul / 26 September 2017

At 75, Linda Perhacs shows no signs of slowing down creatively, returning for her third album a mere three years after a more than 40-year absence.

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Joe Henderson and Alice Coltrane: The Elements

John Paul / 21 September 2017

The Elements represents Joe Henderson’s sole full immersion into the avant-garde, with help from a few seasoned veterans, including Alice Coltrane, Charlie Haden, and Michael White.

Featured: Top of Home Page/Music/PopMatters Picks/Reviews

F.J. McMahon: Spirit of the Golden Juice

John Paul / 18 September 2017

Available once more, F.J. McMahon’s stark and sobering assessment of the decline of ‘60s idealism and impending introspective ‘70s is the rarest of rarities: a true lost masterpiece.

Featured: Top of Home Page/Features/Interviews/Music

Expect the Unexpected: A Conversation with Sparks

John Paul / 13 September 2017

For nearly half a century (and a new album to boot), the Mael brothers Ron and Russell have been confounding listeners' expectations with their ever-changing, stylistically broad brand of artfully rendered pop.

Featured: Top of Home Page/Music/Reviews

Raymond Scott: Three Willow Park

John Paul / 5 September 2017

This double-disc set collects more than 60 ideas, experiments, and fully-realized works from early electronic music pioneer Raymond Scott.

Books/Featured: Top of Home Page/Reviews

Prohibition: When Chicago’s Seedier Elements Became National Celebrities

John Paul / 31 August 2017

Al Capone’s Beer Wars features an exhaustively researched, incredibly in-depth look at organized crime in Chicago during the years of Prohibition.

Featured: Top of Home Page/Music/Reviews

Gary Bartz NTU Troop: Harlem Bush Music – Uhuru

John Paul / 30 August 2017

Stepping out on his own with the NTU Troop, saxophonist Gary Bartz delivered an empowering declarative opening statement of purpose with 1971’s Harlem Bush Music – Uhuru.

John Paul

Flamin’ Groovies: Fantastic Plastic

Yasuaki Shimizu: Music for Commercials

Jackie Shane: Any Other Way

Aquaman, Blooperman, Plastic Man, Bee-Man, Fatman: ‘Hero-A-Go-Go’!

Life “Between and Betwixt Two Worlds”: Diary of a Reluctant Dreamer

The Healing Power of Music: A Conversation with Linda Perhacs

Joe Henderson and Alice Coltrane: The Elements

F.J. McMahon: Spirit of the Golden Juice

Expect the Unexpected: A Conversation with Sparks

Raymond Scott: Three Willow Park

Prohibition: When Chicago’s Seedier Elements Became National Celebrities

Gary Bartz NTU Troop: Harlem Bush Music – Uhuru

Legendary Musician Dion DiMucci Gives a Braggin’ Interview

Bloc Party Discovered Lightning in a Bottle 20 Years Ago

You’ve Gotta Get Satire to Get Dion DiMucci

The Listening Garden’s Cultivation of Audiophile Culture

10 Brilliant Music Books on the Art & Industry

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