ROKIA KONÉ AND JACKNIFE LEE, Bamanan (Real World) — You don’t have to understand the language Rokia Koné sings in on Bamanan to feel the power of her words. A gifted performer from Mali, Koné expresses herself with resonant intensity, the … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Bamanan; Angel in Real Time; Squeeze
The Northman begins in the ninth century, and it looks it. Drawing on Scandinavian legend so distant that it’s thought to have served as inspiration for William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the film follows Amleth (Alexander Skarsgård, and briefly, as a boy, … Continue reading Now Playing — The Northman
I read a lot of comic books as a kid. This series of posts is about the comics I read, and, occasionally, the comics that I should have read. There it was, taking the caboose position in the credits on … Continue reading My Misspent Youth — X-Men by Roy Thomas and Neal Adams
203. JoBoxers, Like Gangbusters (1983) Subway Sect was a band that spun like a revolving door. Their first single, released in 1978, featured them playing with fervor and fury. By the early nineteen-eighties, their sound shifts entirely to lounge-tinged pop … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #203 to #201
Why U.S. Consumers Are Vulnerable to Spiking Oil Prices by Hiroko Tabuchi and Maggie Astor In today’s edition of The New York Times, reporters Hiroko Tabuchi and Maggie Astor offer a straightforward accounting of the ways in which the U.S. … Continue reading Outside Reading — Crude edition
Yeah, that’s the stuff. We, the new album from Arcade Fire, is scheduled for release in May. Continue reading This Week’s Model — Arcade Fire, “Unconditional I (Lookout Kid)”
SPOON Lucifer on the Sofa (Matador) — Ten albums deep, there’s only so much boat rocking Spoon is likely to do at this point. They can change recording locales and approaches, layer on different sonic techniques, and try to tap … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Lucifer on the Sofa; Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You; Life on Earth
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. Spike Jonze directs the hell out of this ad, and Margaret Qualley similarly gives it her. I … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Kenzo World
High Anxiety (Mel Brooks, 1977). Following hits spoofing Westerns, classic horror, and silent movies, Mel Brooks turned his attention to the oeuvre of Alfred Hitchcock, even consulting with the master himself on the screenplay. In its first half or so, … Continue reading Then Playing — High Anxiety; To Sleep with Anger; The Professionals
I have rarely encountered a film more aptly titled than Everything Everywhere All at Once. The second feature film written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (cheekily billed as “The Daniels”) earns that accuracy through its densely complicated … Continue reading Now Playing — Everything Everywhere All at Once
Coffee for Two 