Not that anyone’s likely to notice without me pointing it out, but I’m going to slightly jumble my usual order in listing off my latest contributions to Spectrum Culture in this weekly slot. For example, I usually position whatever list we’re track through as the last bit, almost as an aside. Instead, I’ll put our latest offering in the ongoing effort to count down the greatest greatest hits albums of all time right up front, if only to immediately note to a good friend of mine that I have now managed to make sure that anyone who chooses to search “New Order” and “serious Italo-disco” together will get an actual result.

And since we’re on the subject of music, I’ll next note my review of the new album from Okkervil River. This is one of those instances where I picked up new music from a band with which I have a decent working knowledge, which, in its own weird way, proved to be more challenging than those albums I come to with entirely fresh ears. I think I assessed the release correctly, but I have a nagging feeling that the review is missing a key paragraph. I don’t know precisely what’s missing, but it feels like it needs a little more.

Finally, I’ll share my take on a new documentary about Muhammad Ali, which puts another entry on the list of personal quasi-obsessions that I’ve gotten the opportunity to write about for Spectrum. Another very big one is coming up this week (and one that I can’t believe I’ve never thought to write about before). Someday I’m will have run through all of these figures, bands, filmmakers and topics that dominate my mind. What on earth will I do then?