Insert Foot vs. “Let Them Play.” I involuntarily cringe every time I see something on social media about the “Let Them Play” movement. It seems we’ve become big-picture immune. Perhaps not enough people know someone dead from COVID. Suffering is somehow still an abstract notion that’s someone’s else’s problem.…

Insert Foot Vs. the mob in the U.S. Capitol. Original photo: Supporters of President Donald Trump roam under the Capitol Rotunda after invading the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Saul LOEB / AFP via Getty Images. Anyone else wonder why so many of the…

The road to sedition: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), autocrat Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Twitter’s Jack Dorsey. In my defense, last week when I wrote about having a glimmer of optimism about 2021 I did specifically…

Van Morrison performs in 2018; courtesy. I’ve invented a moment in musical history that I like to envision over and over again: It’s New York, late summer, 1969 in the penthouse of A & R Recording studios. Producer Lewis Merenstein is at the board with a couple of engineers.…

“Trump Inciter in Chief 2021: What the hell do you have to lose?” Illustration courtesy of Chuck Todd; www.chucktodd.net. As you’re all probably aware, on Wednesday a large group of pro-fascist insurgents breached, occupied and ransacked the United States Capitol while both the House and Senate were in session.…

Insert Foot and his new, imaginary “dog” vs. 2021 resolutions. They were totally right: Everything immediately changed in 2021! I woke up New Year’s Day four inches taller, with body fat down to three percent, next to an intelligently hilarious and gorgeous woman/scholar who loved my scent. Two snuggly…

You should be excited about new albums from (clockwise from top left) Kelly Clarkson, Foo Fighters, Lorde, My Bloody Valentine, Lykke Li, Tierra Whack, Modest Mouse, GZA, Ghost and The Cure. Will this be the year Zack de la Rocha releases one of his shelved solo albums? No! But…

Editor Daniel J. Willis’ reaction to just about everything this year. Here’s his 2020 in review. The last couple years I’ve done a column of the Worst of the Year in Music. This is not a normal year. It’s been so bad that the worst of music is, at…

The future of concerts. Rendering: Roman Gokhman and Chloe Catajan/STAFF. Yes, 2020 has lasted about two centuries, but eventually it will be over. Really, we promise. William Shakespeare got vaccinated, so there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. So while you should absolutely continue to stay at…

Clockwise from top left: Mr. Bungle, Charlie Burg, Kurt Baker, Mobley, Teenage Wrist and Secret Machines. If there’s one silver lining in the dark cloud of 2020, it’s that staying at home has left much more time open for listening to new music. We on the Tuesday Tracks crew…