Author: Dan Seeger

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From the Archive: Sin City

Dan Seeger

There was talk about a Sin City sequel after from the very moment of its release. Much as I loved the original film, I never thought returning to the stylized world was a good idea. I’m somewhat surprised anyone still maintained there was any wisdom in the idea after Frank Miller delivered a colossal bomb with the de facto sequel found in his official directing debut, the film adaptation of Will Eisner’s The Spirit. This piece was included in my year-end countdown after I’d started writing film reviews again at my original online home. As the first sentence notes, I … Continue reading From the Archive: Sin City

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One for Friday: The Go-Betweens, “Surfing Magazines”

Dan Seeger

I have my prejudices when it comes to music. For one thing, I’ve long resisted any reunions of bands, even those who I once loved. I still stand by my aversion in many cases, especially in those instances when the reunion is basically in name only. I’m not quite sure why anyone musters up overt excitement about what is essentially a new Frank Black solo album just because he’s worked it out to stamp the name “Pixies” on the front. There are plenty of instances where bands have gotten back together for drab efforts after solo projects and spinoff bands … Continue reading One for Friday: The Go-Betweens, “Surfing Magazines”

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Top 40 Smash Taps: “Second Fiddle”

Dan Seeger

These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. This is what Billboard wrote about Kay Starr’s “Second Fiddle” upon its release in May of 1956: “Miss Starr renders a poignant ballad in a warm and fetching style. The tune itself has much of the of ‘Tennessee Waltz’ and ‘Rock and Roll Waltz,’ and figures to be a highly successful follow-up to the latter.” “The Rock and Roll Waltz” (which sounds like … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Second Fiddle”

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College Countdown: Rockpool’s Top 20 College Radio Albums, November 1988, 20

Dan Seeger

20. Joy Division, Substance In the fall of 1987, New Order released a compilation entitled Substance. Designed as a collection of all of the band’s singles up to that point, including the B-sides, the album served as a means for the band to provide greater distribution for some tracks that were fairly hard to get, especially on this side of the Atlantic. It also provided an opportunity for some light revisionism, with the band remixing or even full-on rerecording several of the songs, making the album a different sort of “greatest hits” release. It wasn’t merely an appraisal of who … Continue reading College Countdown: Rockpool’s Top 20 College Radio Albums, November 1988, 20

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From the Archive: Awakenings

Dan Seeger

Rest in peace, Robin. We lead off our home video segment with the release of one of last year’s most emotionally powerful films: the Penny Marshall-directed film AWAKENINGS. AWAKENINGS details the work of a doctor, played to perfection by Robin Williams, who takes on the perplexing case of several people who have been in comas for several years, but still have functioning motor skills. They’re able to catch a falling pen, or play an odd game of catch by propelling a beach ball to one another. Williams formulates a potential cure for these patients that succeeds in drawing them out … Continue reading From the Archive: Awakenings

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One for Friday: Jeff Tweedy with Jay Bennett, “Listen to Her Heart”

Dan Seeger

It’s been a long time since it’s happened, but I’ve seen my fair share of Wilco shows. I have a beloved cadre of friends that has a hearty representation of Uncle Tupelo devotees, and I spent a few evening hours during the mid-nineties watching the bands built from the splinters of that seminal alt country group. At least initially, Son Volt was the group that garnered the most acclaim, and I think they were the band my friends favored too. For me, the choice was always Wilco. To be thorough in this reportage, I wasn’t especially fond of Uncle Tupelo, … Continue reading One for Friday: Jeff Tweedy with Jay Bennett, “Listen to Her Heart”