#46 — Nothing But a Man (Michael Roemer, 1964) It’s not as if precarious social topics weren’t tackled in American cinema prior to the nineteen-sixties, but such efforts clearly benefited from both the new, bracing levels of frankness creeping into … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 60s — Number Forty-Six
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. Monday nights we went to The Cabin. We went other nights too, but Monday was when The Cabin featured Imports Night, cutting the prices of their imported beer and offering a chance to check them off on a little card until enough had been purchased and consumed to claim the trophy of a little glass mug. In Stevens Point, Wisconsin, in the early nineteen-nineties, this is what passed for high, erudite living, at … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: Foster’s
1. “Just Like Heaven” by the Cure The third single from the Cure’s 1987 double album release, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, was a clear breakthrough for the band, at least in the United States. It was their first song to cross into the Billboard Top 40, although just barely. What’s more, the band that MTV had been toying with for a couple of years found themselves with a very secure place on the trend-setting cable network. Maybe that was in part because the smitten exuberance of the song helped the band shake off some of gothy cobwebs that … Continue reading College Countdown: KROQ-FM’s Top 40 Songs of 1987, 1
For the most part, we writers are allowed to pick the films we review for Spectrum Culture. There are limitations, of course, especially for those of us who live in more remote areas that don’t offer advance screenings of major releases for critics. Still, every week afford us the opportunity to peruse the vast array of new movies coming out, picking the title we’d like to cover. I was a little uncertain when looking at my choices for this week, finally narrowing it down to two different options. I finally asked my partner in all things to help me settle … Continue reading Spectrum Check
As I’ve recounted, there were many discoveries I made after I arrived at the campus radio in the late-eighties. Among them were a series of records with a distinctive cover design, just the name of an artist atop a big black box with a dizzying array of other bands and performers listed within it. In small print at the very top of the jacket sat three simple words: “The Peel Sessions.” To the best of my knowledge, I hadn’t heard of John Peel, the British radio personality and indefatigable music fan who was the namesake for the records. We didn’t … Continue reading One for Friday: Billy Bragg, “Valentine’s Day Is Over” (Peel Session)
This isn’t usually the digital corner where I share my thoughts on new releases (that’s done elsewhere), but I got a special request from a good friend so here we are. Maybe this will be a one-off, maybe the first of many. Here’s my true confession about My Bloody Valentine: I didn’t grasp the significance of the band the first time around. I didn’t even get just how good they were. Part of that was because their true masterwork, 1991’s Loveless, initially struck me as part of a trend instead of a buzzy revolution all on its own. It was … Continue reading Love? Less.
There’s no getting around it: I’m a sucker for the films of Rian Johnson. I loved his debut feature and his sophomore effort, sometimes feeling like an isolated supporter of the latter. There’s a crispness to his writing and an … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2012 — Number Three
Much has been made of Steven Soderbergh’s announced intention to retire from film directing–at least for the big screen–now that he’s completed and released Side Effects. There’s a certain wistfulness to all the discussion surrounding the film, and assessments have … Continue reading Well, you burnt my house down, then got mad at my reaction
Pure audacity at twenty-four frames per second (or whatever the digital projection equivalent might be), French director Leos Carax’s fifth feature film, and first since 1999’s Pola X, is a meta examination of the art of creativity, both in the … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2012 — Number Four
2. “Girlfriend in a Coma” by the Smiths “Girlfriend in a Coma” was the first single from Strangeways, Here We Come, the final studio album from the Smiths. Indeed, by most accounts the band was in the midst of splintering apart as the track was slipping up the U.K. charts. The B-side even houses the last song the Smiths ever recorded, “I Keep Mine Hidden.” The A-side is, of course, pretty notable all on its own, inspiring countless covers and even the title to a novel by an author who never tires of clinging at references that will make him … Continue reading College Countdown: KROQ-FM’s Top 40 Songs of 1987, 2
Coffee for Two 