Author: Dan Seeger

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

This week at Spectrum Culture, I reviewed a new documentary about Phil Ochs, who I honestly first heard about when Billy Bragg released a song about him. Appropriately enough, Bragg is one of the people offerings his opinions on the late folk singer in the film. I also reviewed a new documentary about the way plastic has become an overwhelming presence, and potentially dangerous presence, in modern society. Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: Buffalo Tom, “Taillights Fade”

Dan Seeger

When I was at the college radio station, there were several bands I loved, those that seemed to sing my thoughts with every song. Then there were those bands that I admired. They didn’t necessarily hit me in my gut in the same way, but something about their passion, their intensity, their readily apparent ethic in each and every one of their songs stirred me differently. I didn’t become devoted to them in the same way, but I was always glad–even oddly proud–to play their music on the radio. Buffalo Tom was one of tho It’s hardly an unorthodox choice, … Continue reading One for Friday: Buffalo Tom, “Taillights Fade”

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Audiard, Curtiz, Elliot, Polanski, Vaughn

Dan Seeger

Mary and Max (Adam Elliot, 2009). A beautifully downbeat stop-motion animation feature about unlikely penpals on the opposite side of the Atlantic who correspond over a number of years, developing a moving, warm, fragile and occasionally fractured relationship. Despite the distance–or, arguably, because of it–they drawn strength and even courage from one another, muddling through the unique challenges of their respective lives in part because they’ve got a lifeline out there somewhere in the world, someone who may not understand them, but at least takes the time to try. Max, voiced by Philip Seymour Hoffman, is an especially wonderful creation, … Continue reading Audiard, Curtiz, Elliot, Polanski, Vaughn

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Meanwhile…

Dan Seeger

Though I haven’t linked to them yet, I’ve contributed a few words to Spectrum Culture over the course of the past week. First, there was a consideration of The New Pornographers album Twin Cinema for a “Five Years Later” feature on the best music of 2005. When the “Five Years Later” feature turned its attention to film, I got the chance to take another crack at a movie I’ve written about a couple times previously. Today, I contribute to our inaugural List Inconsequential feature, Great Musicians Who Haven’t Made a Great Album in At Least 10 Years. If my friend … Continue reading Meanwhile…