Author: Dan Seeger
College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 15
15. The B-52’s, Cosmic Thing My knowledge of the B-52’s was limited enough in the summer of 1989, when their album Cosmic Thing hit the station, that I didn’t realize how difficult it probably was for the band to buckle … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 15
Spectrum Check
This week, I was all over the site, beginning with a movie review of a offbeat new documentary about, at least in part, the collision between man and nature in the American south. It’s a movie built on so much abstraction that it was a challenge to write about. It was also tough to write about the new New York Times documentary, though for different reasons. It’s a fairly straightforward work and picking out what does and doesn’t work with it was correspondingly straightforward. However, I have such an investment in trumpeting the continued valued of traditional mass media, that … Continue reading Spectrum Check
One for Friday: Jackson Browne, “For America”
I know where I was and I know where Jackson Browne was on Independence Day in 1989. This was the first summer I spent as a dedicated employee of the college radio station in Stevens Point, filling airshifts on an almost daily basis. By the timeframe that covered the end of June and the beginning of July, my cohorts and I were starting to get a little anxious and needing some breaks from keeping our slice of the left end of the day operational. Luckily, that stretch of days corresponded nicely with Summerfest, the annual music, comedy and beer drinking … Continue reading One for Friday: Jackson Browne, “For America”
Horses in my dreams, like waves, like the sea
Sometimes I secretly wish Werner Herzog narrated all movies. Hell, I’d go see that new Transformers assault if it had running commentary from Herzog. (“And then the being that began as a motorcar undergoes a metamorphosis. He is now a … Continue reading Horses in my dreams, like waves, like the sea
Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Twenty-Seven
#27 — Ordinary People (Robert Redford, 1980) It’s worth considering Robert Redford’s place in the entertainment firmament when made Ordinary People in 1980. It was his first film as a director, so he was completely untried and untested in that capacity, … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 80s — Number Twenty-Seven
My Misspent Youth: Hawkeye by Mark Gruenwald
I read a lot of comic books as a kid. This series of posts is about the comics I read, and, occasionally, the comics that I should have read. I used to be a sucker for limited series. While this … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: Hawkeye by Mark Gruenwald
Carpenter, Cronenberg, Ford, Truffaut, Wright
Hanna (Joe Wright, 2011). Well, I’ll say this for director Joe Wright: He’s not going to be pinned down. He made his feature debut with a Jane Austen adaptation and followed that with a prestige picture based on a Ian McEwan novel. Then came a fairly drab issues picture largely about the homeless community in Los Angeles. The bank shot away from that reunites him with Atonement Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan for a bizarre action film about a teenage girl who was raised in isolation to be an unstoppable assassin. The film is balanced awkwardly between stylish action and moody … Continue reading Carpenter, Cronenberg, Ford, Truffaut, Wright
College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 16
16. Robyn Hitchcock ‘n’ the Egyptians, Queen Elvis While I already had immense respect and appreciation for him, I wouldn’t have named Robyn Hitchcock as my favorite performer when Queen Elvis was released. When this record hit the station in early 1989, it was simply another strong outing from a college radio stalwart in an unusually bountiful winter and spring. By this time, Hitchcock’s talents were already well-established, first as the main creative force behind the cult hero punk outfit the Soft Boys and then with a fairly prolific solo career throughout the eighties. He made his major label debut … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1989, 16
Spectrum Check
I didn’t have much up on the Spectrum Culture site this week, which seemed weirdly appropriated since I was preoccupied for most of the days. There was no corollary between the two–most things that would have posted this week would have been written before my chores pulled me away from the laptop–but it was sort of nice for the cyber-version of me to be fairly absent in all respects simultaneously. The one full-length effort of mine was a reviews of the new album from White Denim. The pull quote they used what the review was up on the main page … Continue reading Spectrum Check
