THE BLACK KEYS Dropout Boogie (Nonesuch) — On their eleventh album, Dropout Boogie, the Black Keys are still finding fresh ways to make meaty magic with an endless variety of blues licks, thumping rhythms, and lyrics that howl out about … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Dropout Boogie; Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. I sometimes complain about the last of imagination in movie posters, usually because I see missed opportunities … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Drugstore Cowboy movie poster
These posts are about the songs that fell just short of crossing the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. The comeback wasn’t going well. Jennifer Lopez … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “I’m Into You”
170. Psychedelic Furs, Midnight to Midnight (1987) The fall of 1986 would have been an opportune time for the Psychedelic Furs to release a new album. In the spring, they’d received the biggest boost of their career when the song … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #170 to #168
THE PARTY OF NEGATIVE HOPE by Dan Brooks This essay by Dan Brooks perfectly puts words to an anger I feel towards the political party that I have consistently voted for my entire adult life. I believe I’m more willing … Continue reading Outside Reading — Kind of Blue edition
Pop songs have piled up clever metaphors for dashed romances and heartbreak since the first time Elvis Aron Presley swiveled his hips. Some are better than others, to be sure. To alight on a new metaphor that borders on genius? … Continue reading This Week’s Model — The Beths, “Expert in a Dying Field”
My American Cousin (Sandy Wilson, 1985). This amusing, small-scale coming-of-age drama from Canadian writer-director Sandy Wilson draws on her own childhood to tell the story of a girl on the cusp of her teenaged years (Margaret Langrick) whose drowsy summer … Continue reading Then Playing — My American Cousin; The Trouble with Harry; Zero Motivation
I want to review the new film Thor: Love and Thunder without feeling obligated to contextualize it against the whole Marvel moviemaking machine, but I’m not sure that’s possible. Well, it’s likely possible. Maybe it’s not advisable. It is officially … Continue reading Now Playing — Thor: Love and Thunder
What if getting dropped by a major label is the best thing that could possibly happen? Maybe Muna could have found their way to the current version of their collective creative self under the corporate yoke of RCA Records, but … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Muna
Here we are. Tomorrow morning, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announces their nominees for the seventy-fourth Primetime Emmy Awards. Per usual, I use the occasion to fill my little corner of the digital world with my personal choice … Continue reading Top Ten Television, 2021-2022 season
Coffee for Two 