Category: Music

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I had plenty of stuff up at Spectrum Culture this week, with probably the most notable being my review of the film that earned Best Director honors at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It’s probably among the best of the year, and the performance of lead actress Emayatzy Corinealdi is definitely among the year’s best. I also adhered to my previously established role as the person on staff who reviews offshoots of Sleater-Kinney. In this instance, it’s the second effort from the band that bears Corin Tucker’s name. It’s solid enough, but it doesn’t manage to recall the style of … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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A Week of Fridays II: An Introduction

Dan Seeger

All next week I will be away, with consciously chosen limited access to the churning storms of the interweb. That creates a dilemma as I have the dueling, incompatible compulsions of insisting on something new in this space every day (even if that means occasionally resorting to nothing more than a piece of ecumenical, rubberized art) and a self-defeating love of procrastination. Luckily, there is a precedent. The last time I was absent from this space for a similar amount of time, I looked to my old friends from the college radio station that is so commonly a factor in … Continue reading A Week of Fridays II: An Introduction

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College Countdown: KROQ-FM’s Top 40 Songs of 1987, 36 and 35

Dan Seeger

36. “Alone Again Or” by the Damned Given the opportunity, I don’t think I ever would have listed Love, the nineteen-sixties band fronted by Arthur Lee, as an influence on the Damned. But the U.K. punk legends gave exactly that reason when asked why they recorded a cover of Love’s seminal song from Forever Changes, their 1967 masterpiece. The cover version showed up on the band’s 1986 album entitled Anything, which came out well after the point that most were even paying attention to the group, at least stateside (they were still making regular visits to the Top 40 back … Continue reading College Countdown: KROQ-FM’s Top 40 Songs of 1987, 36 and 35

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I had a fairly light week at Spectrum Culture, in part because a malfunctioning streaming screener caused me to falter in my marital pledge to use my position as a film reviewer to secure access to intriguing new horror films. Instead, I only had a single music review go up, covering the full-length debut of Poor Moon, a Fleet Foxes side project. It’s mostly a useful album for those looking for a sleep aid. I also kicked in a few words for this week’s List Inconsequential, focused on cover songs that are better than the originals. In this instance, I … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: Senseless Things, “Ex Teenager”

Dan Seeger

Strangely enough, you often can judge an album by its cover. While the old adage about books and covers remains fairly sound when applied to the products of the publishing industry, there’s a remarkable correlation between awful album art and bands that have plainly run out of ideas. Similarly, an album cover that absolutely leaps out and grabs the viewer often houses a record that contains equally striking music. And then there are those particularly fortuitous times when an album cover somehow conveys the entire sense of the music it fronts and promotes. The second full-length from the U.K. punky … Continue reading One for Friday: Senseless Things, “Ex Teenager”

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I had another fairly typical week at Spectrum Culture with one full contribution apiece on the film and music sides. For the former, I reviewed a new documentary focused on the heated immigration issue in the United States. Unfortunately, it falls into one of the pitfalls common to modern documentaries: straining to do far too much. As for music, I reviewed a new compilation of classic, obscure soul music from the generally excellent Now-Again label. As usual, the crate-digger depths of discovery are impressive in the tracks selected, but the intensive focus on ballad-driven, so-called “sweet soul” winds up giving … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: The Bolshoi, “Swings and Roundabouts”

Dan Seeger

I’ve long been fascinated by other people’s record collections. This was especially the case back in college, when my radio station pals and I almost couldn’t help but use musical taste as a barometer. Even beyond that, I was deeply interested in discovering new stuff that my friends and acquaintances might have in their respective stashes of well-loved vinyl. (It wasn’t nearly as much fun to go through cassettes or CDs as it was to sit around and listen to records.) Back before one could possess practically any song they liked on little more than a whim and ninety-nine cents … Continue reading One for Friday: The Bolshoi, “Swings and Roundabouts”

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College Countdown: KROQ-FM’s Top 40 Songs of 1987, 40 and 39

Dan Seeger

40. “4th of July” by X Releases in 1987, See How We Are was the sixth album by the Los Angeles band X. Notably, it was also their first without founding guitarist Billy Zoom, who reportedly left because he was frustrated by the band’s lack of commercial success (he had delivered an ultimatum regarding the need for a hit ahead of the band’s prior album, Ain’t Love Grand!, in 1985). To replace Zoom, X recruited Dave Alvin shortly after he left the Blasters. “4th of July” was the only song on the album not written by John Doe and Exene … Continue reading College Countdown: KROQ-FM’s Top 40 Songs of 1987, 40 and 39

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

So I had a busy week at Spectrum Culture. Almost too busy. I’m not sure anyone needs that many of my words. It started with my latest contribution to the Revisit series over on the film side, a consideration of Wayne Wang’s Smoke. I recently confessed to the site’s editor-in-chief that this is the toughest feature for me to crack, trying to find something freshly pertinent to write about films that I know well. And I want to write about something that’s a somewhat unique selection, not simply celebrate films that have no shortage of advocates. I think I did … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: Ten Speed Summer, “Pantera Fans in Love”

Dan Seeger

What follows is the information I’ve been able to glean about the band Ten Speed Summer. It may be flagrantly incorrect. By some accounts, Ten Speed Summer was a pop-punk band based in Santa Barbara and led by bassist Dave Ehrlich. When he recorded the song “Pantera Fans in Love” for the second volume of the Happy Meals compilation series put out by indie label My Records, he recruited several members of the band Nerf Herder to help him out. According to comments by Nerf Herder band leader Parry Gripp at the time, they liked both Ehrlich and his song … Continue reading One for Friday: Ten Speed Summer, “Pantera Fans in Love”