Author: Dan Seeger

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One for Friday: Eleventh Dream Day, “Makin’ Like a Rug”

Dan Seeger

Eleventh Dream Day is the band that taught me about the fiscal realities of being a top college radio act. The Chicago group had a surprise hit on the CMJ charts with their second full-length and major label debut, Beet, in 1989. As it recall, it came out of nowhere, and wound up making it all the way to #2 on the CMJ album charts. To us, it seemed like a big deal. This was obviously a huge new band, rubbing shoulders with the iconic likes of the Cure, the B-52’s and Public Image Ltd. Surely they were now huge, … Continue reading One for Friday: Eleventh Dream Day, “Makin’ Like a Rug”

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Top 40 Smash Taps: “Just Seven Numbers (Can Straighten Out My Life)”

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. The Four Tops were one of the signature acts of Motown. They placed twenty-four singles in the Billboard Top 40, including two that made it all the way to the top spot. Featuring Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Renaldo “Obie” Benson, Lawrence Payton and the incomparable Levi Stubbs. The epitome of dependability, the quartet was comprised of the same four individuals–across multiple labels and countless … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Just Seven Numbers (Can Straighten Out My Life)”

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Cahill, Dardenne and Dardenne, Linklater, Peretz, Rydell

Dan Seeger

Our Idiot Brother (Jesse Peretz, 2011). There’s sure an abundance of promising elements to this comedy, but it illustrates the vast divide between lining up the right pieces and assembling them properly. Paul Rudd plays a layabout organic farmer who gets busted for selling pot to a police officer and then cycles through staying with his various siblings, played by Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer. It’s boilerplate comic uplift with everyone evolving to understand the kind-hearted qualities behind the protagonist’s aggravatingly detached manner. There’s barely a laugh to be had in the film, though, and most of the … Continue reading Cahill, Dardenne and Dardenne, Linklater, Peretz, Rydell

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Twenty Performances, or Hero Riva, Mon Amour

Dan Seeger

With a bit of fortuitous timing (somewhat orchestrated, I will admit), we current sit between charts on the Sunday College Countdown feature, allowing for the accurate use of the above banner for my annual indulgence in Oscar ballot wishcasting. I’ve spent the past few weeks trickling out my choices for the best films of the year, but my compulsion for making lists doesn’t stop there. Instead, it melds with my helpless interest in the Oscars (no matter how much the Academy tries to thwart that with their baffling choice of a host for this year’s ceremony) and I arrive at … Continue reading Twenty Performances, or Hero Riva, Mon Amour

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I had a very busy week at Spectrum Culture, in part because some screenings got goofed up, necessitating schedule shuffling. Specifically, Rubberneck, directed by Alex Karpovsky of Girls, ran on the day the film was released, a bit of a rarity for me. On the flip side of that, I also had a review of new Korean action film go up, after I had been turned down on two or three other titles for the release week in question. I also had a very big review go up on the music side, with an assessment of the new release from … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: The Billy Nayer Show, “Hey Boy”

Dan Seeger

I hope I’m wrong and anxiously await the opportunity to be proved so, but I think we’re heading towards a dreadful Academy Awards ceremony this Sunday. I’ve adamantly disliked the selection of Seth Macfarlane as this year’s host for a variety of reasons (not just because I don’t find him or his creations funny in the slightest, but also because he’s by far the least prominent celebrity to host the program in my memory, diminishing the prestige of the whole endeavor), but it goes beyond that. Nearly every special segment of the show that’s been teased by the producers sounds … Continue reading One for Friday: The Billy Nayer Show, “Hey Boy”

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Top Ten Movies of 2012 — Number One

Dan Seeger

There are some movies that inspire adoration from their very first moments, that simply feel exactly right. That’s what happened when I saw Wes Anderson’s sophomore effort, Rushmore. I truly thought that would be a one-of-a-kind experience from the director, especially as his very particular brand of pinched emotion and tightrope whimsy became a little more strained with every outing. Oh me of little faith. From the very beginning of Moonrise Kingdom, with Bob Balaban calmly, sagely explaining the world of New Penzance, Anderson offers a pitch-perfect delivery of an enchanting tone, spirit and rhythm that is uniquely his own, … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2012 — Number One