By: Tom Nealon

Coyote wearing a giant clock, Loki with a fried chicken franchise.

By: Brian Berger

His albums demonstrated traditional music’s avant-garde potential.

By: Tom Nealon

Not criminal, but criminal-minded; chronicling, yet not committing.

By: Patrick Cates

“The thing about me is, all I’m interested in is just having a bit of a sing and a play.”

By: Brian Berger

Why wasn’t “Boll Weevil” #1?

By: Alix Lambert

He exhibited a controlled frenzy that shaped the hardcore punk movement.

By: Brian Berger

Nobody in American music did more with less.

By: Brian Berger

The tenor saxophonist’s tone was a marvel of fluid sincerity.

By: Lynn Peril

Pianos plink and glide, strings zigzag into space!

By: Franklin Bruno

His bulk and blokeishness made him the perfect frontman for Madness.

By: Brian Berger

He fused old-timey vernacular, post-Dylan poetics, and orchestral pop.

By: David Smay

Rock undreamt of in your petty philosophies.

By: David Smay

Beyond the jargon of authenticity, dissonance and dark places.

By: Patrick Cates

His sludgy, funky bass lines launched a metal revolution.

By: Mimi Lipson

His music and his life disguised joy as menace — and vice versa.