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. I briefly battled stomach problems when I was in college–undoubtedly somewhat stress-related–and was … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: Highland Thunderstruck Coffee Porter
A recent Onion A.V. Club article posited that 1992 was the year that college rock died. It’s clear that the author, Noel Murray, is talking primarily about a very specific sound, the rootsy, chiming music that was largely inspired by … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, An Introduction
I only had one new piece go up at Spectrum Culture this week: a review of the new Ruby Suns album, which is mediocre. I have nothing to add about it. I was barely able to squeeze out the words needed for the review. However, I also forgot to share something last week, so I have a way to fill out this space a little more. We reached a conclusion of our mammoth undertaking to sort through the best cinematic comedic performances of each year, designating one as the pinnacle. The feature covered every year from 1930 to 2012, and … Continue reading Spectrum Check
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”
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)”
#45 — They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (Sydney Pollack, 1969) Sydney Pollack knew how to put together a movie. He was a favorite director of mine, despite the not insignificant detail that he didn’t make all that many great movies. … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 60s — Number Forty-Five
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
I was predisposed to dislike this year’s Oscars telecast. I can admit it. Even since the Academy’s baffling announcement that Seth MacFarlane would be the host of their 85th awards ceremony, I’ve been on a downward trajectory of enthusiasm for … Continue reading Oscar Blight
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
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
