14. Talking Heads, Little Creatures (1985) Movies, it turns out, take a long time to make. David Byrne, the frontman of Talking Heads, learned that as he ground his way towards his feature directorial debut. As the band that provided … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #14
The Most Heartfelt and Goofy of R.E.M., According to Mike Mills by Devon Ivie I consider myself lucky that my tenure as a student in college radio coincided with the time that R.E.M. were still making great records. My longtime … Continue reading Outside Reading — Mills Mulls edition
There has clearly been no diminishment in the capacity for Big Thief to release one sterling song after another, all done with a rapid pace basically unseen the heyday of nineteen-eighties Britpop bands that were under the thumb of a … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Big Thief, “I Was Born for Loving You”
This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves. When a group of us college radio kids participate in the beater car caravan from our modest … Continue reading Radio Days — Too Much Joy at Shank Hall
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. When I wrote about Naked, the final Talking Heads studio album, for the gargantuan countdown project that’s … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Stop Making Sense rerelease trailer
These posts are about the songs that fell just short of crossing the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. The Stylistics had a team that served … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Heavy Fallin’ Out”
The Unforgiven (John Huston, 1960). Adapted from a 1957 novel by Alan Le May, The Unforgiven settles in with the Zachary family, Texas ranchers whose status in their frontier community is set into turmoil when a mysterious stranger (Joseph Wiseman) … Continue reading Then Playing — The Unforgiven; Radio Unnamable; Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
15. The Cure, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987) Robert Smith had the whole history of the Cure in his head when he started writing songs for the band’s seventh studio album, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Of … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #15
The Dungeons & Dragons Players of Death Row by Keri Blakinger Keri Blakinger delivers beautiful, insightful reporting in this story about death row inmates who set some level of escape from their often inhumane circumstances by retreating into the fantastical … Continue reading Outside Reading — The Legend of Arthaxx d’Cannith edition
Some weeks I scour all the new tracks that have been released by an amazing array of artists, agonizing over which song I’ll plop into this weekly feature. Some weeks, the phenomenal Shilpa Ray makes a recommendation on her Instagram, … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Frida Kill, “Last Ditch Effort”
Coffee for Two 