596. Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Paint Your Wagon (1986) By the time they buckled down to record their second full-length album, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry had already gone through enough upheaval to remake half their roster. Guitarists Chris Reed and … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #596 to #593
Why ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Really Pissed Off Fans by Matt Singer As far as I’m concerned, Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi saved Star Wars from itself, or at least from the tepidly sycophantic revival of the classically derived … Continue reading Outside Reading — Lightsabers Out edition
I have spent more time than I should admit dealing with fresh flare-ups of jealousy. Thanks to the punishing wonders of social media, I was privy to the delight a select few of my friends felt when they recently attended … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Wilco and Robyn Hitchcock, “Tomorrow Never Knows”
Since great television comedy always begins with the script, this series of posts considers the individual episodes that have claimed the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series over the years. Frasier was dominant presence at … Continue reading Golden Words — Frasier, “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz”
This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves. There are few trickier times for a college radio station than winter break. The reliance on student … Continue reading Radio Days — A Metal Thunder Christmas
Crawl (Alexandre Aja, 2019). To his credit, director Alexandre Aja clearly understands the lean and lowdown appeal of the premise to Crawl. With little fuss and effecticely shorthand character-building, Aja races headlong into the telling the story of a flooding … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Crawl; Her Smell; The Commuter
Whatever its flaws, the new version of Black Christmas makes a strong argument for the importance of having a motivation beyond exploiting brand recognition when remaking a movie. In truth, there may not be all that many current moviegoers familiar … Continue reading Now Playing — Black Christmas
600. Elvis Costello, Taking Liberties (1980) There were a lot of trips to the record store for anyone who committed to being an Elvis Costello completist in the early years of his career. Following the release of his debut album … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #600 to #597
HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE FOR FOODIES: FROM MURDEROUS-MERMAID SALT TO LAMPS MADE OUT OF CROISSANTS by Helen Rosner Holiday gift guides are usually painfully dull. Writing for The New Yorker, Helen Rosner avoids the usual listing of marginally interesting wares for … Continue reading Outside Reading — Food on the Table edition
Indie rock covers of holiday songs are plentiful enough (those YouTube channels and Bandcamp pages have got to get filled up somehow) that I’m amazed it’s taken this long for a prominent artist to take a pass at “7 O’Clock … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Phoebe Bridgers (featuring Fiona Apple and Matt Berninger), “7 O’Clock News/Silent Night”
