410. Romeo Void, Benefactor (1982) It was up to Romeo Void to prove the soundness of a recent business decision by the executives at Columbia Records. That responsibility was only appropriate because the San Francisco band were primary drivers of … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #410 to #408
Every Saturday, this space is given over to extol the writing of others. Since we’re still at a time of yearly retrospection, it seems proper to call attention to some of the best articles of 2020. These are the essays … Continue reading Outside Reading — Six from 2020
Using the common nomenclature of my little corner of the digital world, consider what follows This Year’s Models. Tradition holds that I commemorate the first day of the new year with a look back at the songs from the previous … Continue reading Five Songs from 2020
There’s no way to address the end of 2020 without acknowledging the exhaustion of it all. In a time of refunded concert tickets and closed movie theaters, it’s too facile to state that the still fairly steady stream of recorded … Continue reading Top Ten Albums of 2020
#1 — Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014) If the best film directors can be said to have central preoccupations that run through their entire oeuvre like a central nervous system, then Richard Linklater’s is the stealthy, patient alchemy that manifests when … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number One
Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross, 2020). Depicting the last day of operation for a Las Vegas dive bar, Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets accurately captures the wounded rhythms of a place that serves as a refuge … Continue reading Then Playing — Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets; Tenet; Lovers Rock
When Wonder Woman arrived in movie houses three and a half years ago, there was a lot riding on the amazing Amazon’s shoulders. Although superheroes were solidly established as the dominant building blocks for Hollywood blockbusters, the various films efforts … Continue reading Now Playing — Wonder Woman 1984
413. Gang of Four, Songs of the Free (1982) According to Hugo Burnham, the drummer for Gang of Four, the band was striving for a slicker, more commercial product when they made their third album, Songs of the Free. But … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #413 to #411
Does “Wonder Woman 1984” Hide Its Hero’s True Superpowers? by Jill Lepore To evaluate the new Wonder Woman movie, The New Yorker turns to staff writer Jill Lepore, who wrote an entire book on the amazing Amazon and her creators. … Continue reading Outside Reading — Fantastically Powered Princess edition
If I’m going to listen to a Christmas song on Christmas day, please let it be a tight, raucous punk tune with lyrics from Santa Claus’s perspective that include sentiments such as “Th Grinch/ He freaks me out/ I’m going … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Pom Pom Squad, “Hello Santa”
Coffee for Two 