On her new single “Cleo,” Shygirl takes the groove seriously. Augmented by strings, the song locks in to a smooth house beat as Shygirl claims the name Cleopatra and coos “You got me feeling like a movie star.” The track … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Shygirl, “Cleo”
Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival is a science fiction film dominated by ideas. His Blade Runner 2049 is a science fiction film dominated by imagery. Dune strikes me as the filmmaker’s attempt to mesh those two divergent approaches together into a singular … Continue reading Now Playing — Dune
Without You I’m Nothing (John Boskovich, 1990). Too much of an iconoclast to have an easy path in the world of entertainment, Sandra Bernhard had to make her own way. In the late nineteen-eighties, she mounted a one-woman stage show … Continue reading Then Playing — Without You I’m Nothing; Love Is Strange; The One and Only Dick Gregory
The Worst Person in the World lays out its structure at the very top. The film consists, viewers are informed, of a prologue, twelve chapters, and an epilogue. The table of contents presented, the film introduces Julie (Renate Reinsve), a … Continue reading Now Playing — The Worst Person in the World
The core conceit of Petite Maman emerges with gentle grace. A young family — mother, father, eight-year-old daughter — returns to a childhood home to clear out the belongings of a recently deceased relative. It is a somber affair, but … Continue reading Now Playing — Petite Maman
284. Dire Straits, Dire Straits (1978) Dire Straits were looking only for advice when they handed their five-song demo tape to Charlie Gillett, an influential BBC radio host. The band had only recently formed, mostly as a creative outlet for … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #284 to #282
As must happen from time to time, I’m going to briefly step away from my self-set obligation to sling new words at my little corner of the digital world on a daily basis. We’ll turn the lights down here until Sunday, when the College Countdown brings us back to grind. Continue reading Programming Note
287. Gene Loves Jezebel, Discover (1986) Welsh twins Jay and Michael Aston, joint frontmen of Gene Loves Jezebel, strode into the peak music video era knowing how to command attention. Lounging scallywags with haybale hairdos, kaleidoscopically colorful outfits, and troweled-on … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #287 to #285
The Shapeshifter by Sam Anderson I played music from a multitude of artists during my long-ago tenure as a student programmer in college radio. Many of those performers were clearly talented, and developed their gifts with commitment and craft. Those … Continue reading Outside Reading — Deep Normalcy Inflected By Sharp Stabs of Strangeness edition
Guitarist Leo Nocentelli helped form New Orleans band the Meters in the middle of the nineteen-sixties. The mostly served as studio backups on recordings made for Allen Toussaint’s Sansu Enterprises record label, a sort of Funk Brothers of the swampy … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Leo Nocentelli, “Give Me Back My Loving”
Coffee for Two 