206. Kate Bush, Hounds of Love (1985) After releasing four studio albums in the span from 1978 to 1982, Kate Bush was conspicuously absent. Following the release of her 1982 album, The Dreaming, Bush retreated to the countryside, in part, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #206 to #204
Whoops of selfish delight by Robin Givhan Set aside for a moment that the federal mask mandate for airplane and other mass transit was struck down through legal reasoning of questionable merit by an unqualified judge given her position because … Continue reading Outside Reading — Cabin Pressure edition
I come by the selections for this weekly feature in a variety of ways, but I think this is the first time the cut in question first found my earholes because it was lobbed into my social media feeds by … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Linqua Franqa, “Oh Fxck”
Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. A few days ago, … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Mr. Show, “Lie Detector”
The Ex-Mrs. Bradford (Stephen Roberts, 1936). No one played a well-to-do gent dapperly cavorting through a murder mystery like William Powell. In between turns as Nick Charles, he plays Dr. Lawrence Bradford in this spiked trifle, reuniting with his ex-wife … Continue reading Then Playing — The Ex-Mrs. Bradford; Death on the Nile; Moonfall
BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD Ants from Up There (Ninja Tune) — If Ants from Up There must be the valedictory statement from this particular lineup of Black Country, New Road, at least it’s a bold, bristling farewell. Just days before … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Ants From Up There; Pompeii; Lighten Up
Parallel Mothers (Pedro Almodóvar, 2021). Pedro Almodóvar is on solid footing with Parallel Mothers, a film that includes some of his regular preoccupations relating to family, feminism, and the complicated snarl of personal history. He also incorporates considerations of the … Continue reading Then Playing — Parallel Mothers; Drive My Car; The Mitchells vs. the Machines
209. Yes, 90125 (1983) As work commenced on the album 90125, Yes was no more. The venerable prog rock band, already unsettled by lineup changes and other internal complications, decided to call it quits after the tour in support of … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #209 to #207
We have a running joke on my Trivia team, stemming from comic phrasing used in a video made years ago that commemorated our first finish among the top ten teams in the annual staging of the World’s Largest Trivia Contest … Continue reading 8
212. M+M, Mystery Walk (1984) Like John Mellencamp finally completing the long, compromise-laden transition away from the unwanted performing pseudonym that stuck him with Cougar as a moniker for more than a decade, Martha Johnson and Mark Gane were finally … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #212 to #210
Coffee for Two 