Hot Cold

Hot Cold Heavy Light collects 100 writings—some long, some short—that taken together forma group portrait of many of the world's most significant and interesting artists. From Pablo Picasso to Cindy Sherman, Old Masters to contemporary masters, paintings to comix, and saints to charlatans, Schjeldahl ranges widely through the diverse and confusing art world, an expert guide to a dazzling scene. No other writer enhances the reader's experience of art in precise, jargon-free prose as Schjeldahl does.

By 1968, the jig was up for Peter & Gordon. Their final Top 40 hit had been the previous year, trends had passed them by, and in all it was time for them to split. Their final LP, Hot Cold & Custard, did find them plugging into the fey orchestrated psychedelic-tinged British pop of the Sgt. Pepper's era to some degree, somewhat along the lines of what Chad & Jeremy were doing with more ambition on albums like Of Cabbages and Kings. That's evident from the backwards effects on the very first seconds of the very first track, "I Feel Like Going Out." It's also present on several song with a distinctly period British songwriting take that looks at British social life with a wry amusement, like "The Magic Story of the Park Keeper," "Uncle Hartington," and "The Quest for the Holy Grail." But the songs really aren't anything special, though Peter & Gordon bring their customary uplifting harmonies to the occasion; none of them demand a place on a Peter & Gordon best-of, aside perhaps from the nice bittersweet pop-folk-rock of "Greener Days." A few of the tracks don't fit into the somewhat artier-than-usual approach, instead sounding more like late-'60s pop as usual, and these "She Needs Love," "You've Had Better Times," and the aforementioned "Greener Days" are the better songs.