When I first heard songs from Reflektor, the fourth album from Arcade Fire, I was left a little cold. The long run-up to that album, the Montreal band’s follow-up to the surprise Grammy winner The Suburbs, doled out songs one … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf: Everything Now
8. Thomas Dolby, “She Blinded Me with Science” Ray Milton Dolby was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1933. A sound engineer by training and by trade, Dolby spent the early nineteen-sixties working as a technical advisor for the United Nations, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 8
On this Saturday, I am giving myself over to the cultural sensation of our time. so I reach back to the little diversion I once cooked up (or co-opted, anyway) for a weekly bit of relief at the end of … Continue reading From the Archive — Five for Friday, Let’s Put on a Show! edition
One of the gifts of discovering a deep and abiding love of music right around the time a necessary transition to adulthood looms is the sudden access to a dazzling universe of sonic art that can provide a vocabulary of … Continue reading One for Friday: The Weakerthans, “Tournament of Hearts”
When I arrived at college, it took me some time to use the university library for academic purposes. That’s not wholly accurate. I spent an adequate number of hours in that bulky building partaking in endeavors that were associated with … Continue reading My Writers: Lester Bangs
I read a lot of comic books as a kid. This series of posts is about the comics I read, and, occasionally, the comics that I should have read. I’ve read a lot of comics that were written and drawn … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: Batman and Captain America by John Byrne
Today’s political news wore me out. That’s happened a lot in 2017, but today miraculously delivered a whole other set of devastating blows. I’ve been struggling through much of the afternoon and evening to figure out which of the frivolous … Continue reading Chin Up, Always Up
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. Back when I was part of a crew that had an endless capacity for discussing all manner … Continue reading The Art of the Sell: “Fearless” trailer
9. R.E.M., “Driver 8” According to guitarist Peter Buck, no song better epitomizes the early era of R.E.M. than “Driver 8.” Released, in 1985, as the second single from Fables of the Reconstruction, the band’s third album, “Driver 8” was … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 9
I don’t really have much preface for this week’s excavated movie review, except to note that this was written for my former online home within my first six months of jumping back into the film criticism game. There are times … Continue reading From the Archive — The Family Stone
Coffee for Two 