107. Big Audio Dynamite, Tighten Up Vol. 88 (1988) Mick Jones believed Tighten Up Vol. 88 was an album made to vault Big Audio Dynamite to next level of commercial popularity. The band’s first two albums, This Is Big Audio … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #107 to #105
The White Lotus’s Portia Is TV’s Best-Dressed Character by Rachel Tashjian Writing for Harper’s Bazaar, Rachel Tashian heaps praise on Alex Bovaird, the costumer designer for the HBO series The White Lotus. In particular, Tashian goes deep on how the … Continue reading Outside Reading — Do You Have Some Cute Things? edition
Whatever else can be said about Phoebe Bridgers, she’s pretty damned impressive as a collaborator. In the shooting-star ascendancy of her past few years, it seems Bridgers has eagerly responded in the affirmative to just about every cool opportunity that … Continue reading This Week’s Model — SZA, “Ghost in the Machine (ft. Phoebe Bridgers)”
The Sheepman (George Marshall, 1958). This Western stars Glenn Ford as Jason Sweet, a deceptively genial schemer who shows up in a ranching town with a herd of sheep he plans to graze on public land, much to the consternation … Continue reading Then Playing — The Sheepman; Hangmen Also Die!; Don’t Worry Darling
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. Sydney Pollack didn’t want to act in Tootsie. He started in the showbiz as an actor, but … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Tootsie teaser trailer
Stop-Loss (Kimberly Peirce, 2008). There was nearly a ten-year gap between Kimberly Peirce’s sensational feature debut, Boys Don’t Cry, and her follow-up, Stop-Loss, which is presumably indicative of the ridiculously difficult time female filmmakers have bringing projects to fruition. Stop-Loss … Continue reading Then Playing — Stop-Loss; Gilda Live; Winter Meeting
PLAINS I Walked With You a Ways (Anti-) — I Walked With You a Ways is the sound of kinship. Katie Crutchfield, the heart, soul, and everything else of Waxahatchee, and Jess Williamson bonded over the soulful country music that … Continue reading Medium Rotation — I Walked With You a Ways; Shufflemania!
110. The Alarm, Declaration (1984) “Everything has happened so quickly, and we have hardly had time to think about it,” said Eddie Macdonald, bassist and guitarist for the Alarm, a few weeks before the band’s debut full-length was released. “But … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #110 to #108
The New Number One Film On Sight And Sound’s Greatest Movie List Is A Step Forward, But More Needs To Be Done by Erin Brady Writing for /Film, Erin Brady considers the latest Sight and Sound list of the one … Continue reading Outside Reading — Canon Fire edition
“in|FLUX,” the new single from Anna B Savage, begins delicately. The first minute or so is spare and elegant, like Fiona Apple when she’s trying to lure the listener into a false sense of safety. Then the burbling electronic beat … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Anna B Savage, “in|FLUX”
Coffee for Two 