In the early nineteen-sixties, Ford Motor Company took a run at propping up their cultural cachet through the acquisition of Italian automaker Ferrari, renowned for their sleek sports cars, including the vehicles that famously dominated the yearly twenty-four endurance race … Continue reading Now Playing — Ford v Ferrari
This series of posts is dedicated to the many, many six packs, pony kegs and pints that have sauntered into my life at one point or another. I don’t ever really need a beer, but there are times when I … Continue reading Beers I Have Known — Around the Bend English Mild with Coffee
616. Prefab Sprout, Two Wheels Good (1985) Prefab Sprout found out they had a famous fan. During a discussion aired on BBC Radio, Thomas Dolby praised some of the material on Prefab Sprout’s 1983 debut album, Swoon. Connections were made, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #616 to #613
This Tom Hanks Story Will Help You Feel Less Bad by Taffy Brodesser-Akner Taffy Brodesser-Akner is the ace of The New York Times staff of writers covering celebrity culture, often taking on more prickly subject and giving a telling prominence … Continue reading Outside Reading — Neighborly edition
When a music artist is of an age that a high school locker assignment is still a typical area of concern, it compounds the tendency to assume every song is a confession. Rather than pure invention, they must be using … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Billie Eilish, “Everything I Wanted”
For her sophomore full-length release, FKA twigs strips her music down to a fragile, spindly framework. Five years after the English musician delivered the mind-spinning debut LP1, she offers Magdalene, which retains the sense of relentless innovation and pushes further … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Magdalene
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. In the spring of 1990, Public Enemy released their third studio album, Fear of a Black Planet. … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Young MC for Pepsi Cool Cans
Greta (Neil Jordan, 2019). Neil Jordan’s first feature film in six years is a trashy, inane thriller that’s miles removed from his best work. Except for the requisite appearance by Stephen Rea, it doesn’t even bear much resemblance to the … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Greta; A Warm December; Veronika Voss
Okay, let’s start with Hitler. Taika Waititi’s new film, Jojo Rabbit, is built around a conceit that’s basically a sick joke dramatized. In Germany, as the end of World War II looms, a ten-year-old named Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) is … Continue reading Now Playing — Jojo Rabbit
620. Throwing Muses, House Tornado (1988) Hailing from Boston and famously signed to esoteric U.K. label 4AD, Throwing Muses spent the first chunk of their recording career adhering to a release model more typical of British acts. Over the course … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #620 to #617
Coffee for Two 