Author Archives: Mark Donato

About Mark Donato

Mark Donato spent the late 1980s, the '90s and the early '00s a grateful prisoner of New York's Downtown music scene. Then he moved to a rural Upstate community, where he can be found in his garage, playing songs. He drummed, sang and played harmonica for John Linnell of They Might Be Giants; the legendary country orchestra Flat Old World; Rosine; the Oswalds; Amy Allison and the Maudlins and others. Lately he's been playing music and writing all manner of things in the general vicinity of Woodstock, NY. His website is www.markdonato.com.

Cahoots Apologist, Without Apologies

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Mark Donato

Mark Donato knows what he likes, and so do you. But sometimes a know-it-all critic casts aspersions on a beloved work of art, as if he has the last word, “as if there’s nothing more to say about it, leaving no opening for anyone else to walk through.” Mark calls bullshit on that noise, and sticks up for The Band, his 17-year-old self, and anyone whoever loved something an “authority” deemed unworthy. Continue reading →

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Dead Finks and Warm Jets: Evolved Enough for Eno

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Mark Donato

Even if you don’t know Brian Eno’s music, you’ve still heard him, in groundbreaking clients Talking Heads, Bowie, U2, and Coldplay, not to mention the 3.5 second chime that heralds the opening of every Microsoft Windows 95 program. (Written by Eno on a Mac.) How did Eno grab the attention of the iconic before they were icons? Guest Weekling Mark Donato answers that question by taking you back to Eno’s fabulous, way-ahead-of-its-time solo work, songs that now sound like blueprints for so much quality late 20th/early 21st century pop. Because they are. Continue reading →

Posted in Memoir, Monday Rock City, Music, Popped Culture, Popular Culture, The Arts, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Paul is Still Not Dead: My Middle-aged Mania for Late-stage McCartney

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Mark Donato

Rumors of Paul McCartney’s creative drought are greatly exaggerated. Mark Donato brings us up to speed on Macca’s remarkable and largely unremarked-upon (until now) output these last couple of decades. Continue reading →

Posted in Monday Rock City, Music | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments