22. Air, 10,000 Hz Legend If there was any doubt whatsoever about the appeal of the crystalline French duo Air to a certain subset of college radio denizens after their widely adored 1998 debut full-length, Moon Safari, it was surely … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 50 Albums of 2001, 22 and 21
The 4th of July holiday meant a little bit light week at Spectrum Culture, but I still had a few words go up. On the film side, I reviewed the new film from André Téchiné, the acclaimed French director of Wild Reeds and several others. It always feels a little uncomfortable to take shots at a director with a highly valued history, but the movie was plainly lacking. It was a labor to get through. I also wrote about Fiona Apple for the second straight week, offering up a brief assessment of her new outing in our survey of the … Continue reading Spectrum Check
I’m not sure if there’s an official way to discover the songwriting of Stephin Merritt, a route that passes inspection with all the self-appointed keepers of indie cred. If there is, it probably doesn’t start with the 6ths, the side project Merritt developed in the mid-nineteen-nineties after his primary outfit, the Magnetic Fields, was already four or five albums deep into their catalog. Nevertheless, the debut release under this name, Wasps’ Nest, was my first knowing exposure to Merritt’s handicraft, this mixture of sharp and sweet that found Merritt recruiting a small gang of cult favorite singers to intone his … Continue reading One for Friday: The 6ths, “Here in My Heart”
Falling in love can be treacherous business. The flush of excitement when interest clicks over to happy infatuation is undeniably thrilling, but it also foretells all the moments in the future when it won’t quite live up to the earlier … Continue reading In the spiritual kingdom of love, you’re the one that I’m thinkin’ of
Happy 4th of July, all! (Via) Continue reading So dry your tears and baby walk outside
#26 — Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977) In 1990, film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert took a break from flinging their thumbs around in judgment and created a television special called The Future of the … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Twenty-Six
Thanks to the magic of interweb research, I can pinpoint my discovery of Michael Chabon down to the exact date. When I started worked in commercial radio in the mid-nineteen-nineties, one of the little oddities I discovered was the presence … Continue reading My Writers: Michael Chabon
24. Ladytron, 604 “Ladytron” is the second track on the 1972 self-titled debut album from Roxy Music. Written by Bryan Ferry, the song finds the singer in full-on seduction mode, which isn’t surprising considering that’s basically his default position. When … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 50 Albums of 2001, 24 and 23
This week my writerly paw prints were in a few different corners of Spectrum Culture. First, I had a music review of a new reunion album, which I openly acknowledged that I was selecting because I’m one of the older guys on the staff. I usually approach such releases with a hearty dose of skepticism, although I’ve been pleasantly surprised in the past. Not this time around, as my honest assessment was fairly dire, an especially unpleasant scenario given that the band in question has at least one true classic to their credit. On the film side, I reviewed the … Continue reading Spectrum Check
I cannot overemphasize how wondrous it was for me to discover any music that existed outside of the monolithic wall of derivative grunge that dominated alternative radio in the mid-nineties. So if I found my way to a charming bit of understated indie pop, couching somewhat humorous lyrics in a lovely wistfulness–completely different from the anguished bravado that Pearl Jam made the norm–I was certainly going to embrace it. I may not be able to play it on the radio, thanks to our impenetrable playlists, but that’s what my home stereo and all the mix tapes manufactured in its dual … Continue reading One for Friday: Pee Shy, “Little Dudes”
Coffee for Two 