Ali Farka Toure has been called the "John Lee Hooker of Africa": if it's often said that the blues are a reworking of African tribal rhythms to fit the African-American experience, then Toure has aligned the blues back to African life. Since he was born into nobility, a musical career was strongly d

Ebullient, Modern pop/dance, Rhythmic, Spiritual, Tranquil

The group known as Tortoise crawled through the caverns of Chicago's rock underground during the early 1990s, collecting people who loved odd, oozy noises. The band's own sound gelled when synth-man John Herndon and bassist Doug McCombs collaborated on an experimental project called Mosquito. Soon, J

Ethereal, Euphoric, Post-rock, Rhythmic, Round, Serene, Tranquil

The essay did not always exist. Nor was the idea of recording one's personal introspections, whether in private diary or public form, always valued. It took centuries of evolution, from Seneca's philosophical epistles to the Christian confessional and beyond, before twentieth-century students would b

Contemplative, Essays, Repetitive, Self-reflection, Tranquil, Witty

Every now and then there comes along a person with "a sensibility higher than our own who can depict an apple to stand for both that particular apple and all apples" -- at least that's how one expert put it. The applemaster referred to was Paul Cezanne, one of the most famous of the French Impres

Distorted, Event, Figurative painting, Geometric, Perceptual, Post-impressionism, Sincere, Tranquil