24. Tears for Fears, Songs from the Big Chair (1985) Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith were angry at themselves for compromising. Tears for Fears, the band led by the longtime friends from Bath, England, delivered a major hit with their … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #24 and #23
A Royal Soldier Fainted in the Heat. It Holds a Lesson for All of Us. by Jon Mooallem It’s the subhead of Jon Mooallen’s essay that articulates its importance: “Even as climate change upends our lives, we seem set on … Continue reading Outside Reading — Mean Earth edition
“The Way Things Go,” the new track from Beabadoobee, absolutely gleams. It recalls any number of indie pop acts who combined elegant melody, wispy vocals, evocatively emotional lyrics, and impeccable musicianship. It builds and builds, like a swirling funnel of … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Beabadoobee, “The Way Things Go”
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. This week, I am glad that I still have a stash of birthday-gifted … Continue reading Beers I Have Known — Pipeworks Brewing Company Cold Blooded Cryo Blood of the Unicorn
ARLO PARKS My Soft Machine (Transgressive) — How does an artist follow up a debut that achieved the level of acclaim of Collapsed in Sunbeams. The first full-length outing from the British-born Arlo Parks raked in awards like they were … Continue reading Medium Rotation — My Soft Machine; Roach
It’s the exposition scenes that really tip off director Christopher McQuarrie’s commendable embrace of the inherent ridiculousness of this screen franchise that he’s basically made into his life’s work. Any time that latest Mission: Impossible circles around to another explanation … Continue reading Now Playing — Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. As I’ve mentioned before, … Continue reading Laughing Matters — The Ben Stiller Show, “Pan America Insurance Company Salesman of the Year”
26. Midnight Oil, Diesel and Dust (1987) The first seed that would turn into the fertile garden Diesel and Dust was cast in 1984, when members of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil spent a couple days at an Aboriginal … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #26 and #25
This Was a Great Week for American Diplomacy by Fred Kaplan Writing for Slate, Fred Kaplan details the significant achievements of the Biden administration at the recent NATO summit. The real thrust of the article, however, is that the genuinely … Continue reading Outside Reading — Diplomatic Immunity edition
I mean it as a high compliment when I assert that the new song Billie Eilish created for the Barbie movie soundtrack recalls the expert work of Randy Newman. Especially when Newman was the go-to for Pixar during the animation … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Billie Eilish, “What Was I Made For?”
Coffee for Two 