There were plenty of my upstart opinions flung around digitally this week at Spectrum Culture. Among the film reviews, there was my take on a new indie thriller, the sort of neo-noir that had a momentary spell of prominence in the mid-nineties. That’s not to imply that this new effort was outdated. Instead, it’s major sin was its unrelenting dullness.

I’ve been sitting on a fair number of albums from late 2012 while still picking up new releases to review, and that stockpiling led to a pair of pieces this past week. I reviewed the second full-length from the Joy Formidable, a very fine Welsh band. Then there was my consideration of the new album from Big Dipper, a small-scale success that had an absolutely great album in release when I first arrived at my campus radio station nearly twenty-five years ago. Improbably, they’ve been given a chance at a reunion effort. As one of the older guys on the staff, I felt somewhat obligated to take it on. If nothing else, it afforded me the opportunity to drag out a bunch of obscure references that were far more timely–but still quite obscure–a couple decades ago.