Playing Catch-Up — Leaving Neverland; Blaze; Denial
Leaving Neverland (Dan Reed, 2019). Working with a landslide of troubling evidence and an abundance of cautious patience, British documentarian lays out a compelling, convincing case that Michael Jackson regularly perpetrated sexual abuse on boys that came into his orbit … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Leaving Neverland; Blaze; Denial
Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Workin’ for a Livin”
These posts are about the songs that just barely failed to cross the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. According to Huey Lewis, he started writing the song “Workin’ for a Livin” when he was doing exactly that. A musician who toiled through the nineteen-seventies with modest success — most notably as a member of the San Francisco band Clover — Lewis relied on a series of other jobs to help him make ends meet over the years, including a stint as a truck driver. It … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Workin’ for a Livin”
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #660 to #657
660. Hunters & Collectors, Human Frailty (1987) In just about every way, Human Frailty was a breakthrough for the Australian band Hunters & Collectors. The band’s fourth studio album represented their first significant hit in their homeland, slipping into the … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #660 to #657
Outside Reading — The Twilight Bark edition
‘NO EXCESSIVE BARKING’: A Chevy Chase dog park divides the rich and powerful by Jessica Contrera Writing for The Washington Post, with a strong sense of playfulness fully engaged, Jessica Contrera examines a social skirmish taking place in a … Continue reading Outside Reading — The Twilight Bark edition
This Week’s Model — Vagabon, “Water Me Down”
“Water Me Down,” the new single from Vagabon, is lovely and enveloping. A thrilling shard of neo-soul, the track boasts effortlessly elegant vocals and an array of quietly seductive synthesized sounds. What could be just another luxe come-on, hollowed out … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Vagabon, “Water Me Down”
The New Releases Shelf — The Center Won’t Hold
If No Cities to Love, the 2015 comeback album from Sleater-Kinney, was an assurance that the beloved group could reemergence from a decade-long hiatus with their roaring power and vibrant creativity intact, then The Center Won’t Hold is the provocative … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — The Center Won’t Hold
Laughing Matters — Leslie Jones on Alabama’s Abortion Ban
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. The institutional heft that’s … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Leslie Jones on Alabama’s Abortion Ban
The Long Haul — Rob Delaney in Catastrophe
These posts are about great acting performances sustained across the full run of a television series. Rob Delaney as Rob Norris in Catastrophe (2015 – 2019) The television comedy Catastrophe begins with a one-night stand, or at least what seems to be … Continue reading The Long Haul — Rob Delaney in Catastrophe
The Art of the Sell — “Star Wars” trailer
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. A long time ago, a studio’s marketing team was charged with convincing the general public that an … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — “Star Wars” trailer
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #664 to #661
664. Jason and the Scorchers, Fervor (1983) “When I came to Nashville, I was looking for a sound with a rural feel to it and a lot of energy, a sound that was American,” Jason Ringenberg told The New York … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #664 to #661
