It’s been five years since the last Speedy Ortiz album, but the string of singles heralding their return have demonstrated no steps have been lost. Their latest, “Ghostwriter,” romps straight towards that sweet spot of buzzy modern rock that I … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Speedy Ortiz, “Ghostwriter”
BULLY Lucky for You (Sub Pop) — Now four albums deep into this boisterous Bully enterprise, Alicia Bognanno sure knows how to put together a crackling, crunchy rock record. For her second outing as as essentially a one-woman band, Bognanno … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Lucky For You; The Age of Pleasure
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. A characteristically dandy essay in today’s edition of The Reveal reminded me that one of my favorite … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Red Eye trailer
What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael (Rob Garver, 2018).This documentary traces the life and career of one of the most formidable film critics to ever amass column inches. From her perch at The New Yorker, Pauline Kael helped … Continue reading Then Playing — What She Said: The Art of Pauline Kael; 27 Missing Kisses; Dial 1119
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. I wonder if people … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Pee-wee Herman on Late Night
22. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Damn the Torpedoes (1979) The rutted path that was the early part of Tom Petty’s career sprang some especially deep divots on the Florida-born, California-based troubadour in the run-up to Damn the Torpedoes, his … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #22 and #21
Greta Gerwig on the Blockbuster ‘Barbie’ Opening (and How She Got Away With It) by Kyle Buchanan This is a fairly straightforward interview with Greta Gerwig, conducted after her latest feature, Barbie, officially blew past all expectations for its critical … Continue reading Outside Reading — She’s Having the Best Day edition
Misery can have a touch of majesty to it. That’s one of the lessons that Mitski teaches, and it’s reinforced on her quietly staggering new single “Bug Like an Angel.” The music is mostly spare as she intones lyrics as … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Mitski, “Bug Like an Angel”
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. Marcus Bell and Mark Long spent several … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Are You Sure?”
“I could just be me. Do what I love. Be imperfect. Be mad, even. I’m not a pop star. I’m just a troubled soul who needs to scream into mikes now and then.” I don’t want to start with the … Continue reading Sinéad O’Connor, 1966 – 2023
