This Week’s Model — Lucy Dacus, “Forever Half Mast”
Back when Fridays were turned over older songs excavated from my digital collection, the edition that landed around the U.S. federal holiday Independence Day often featured a track that somehow, some way spoke to the character of the nation celebrating … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Lucy Dacus, “Forever Half Mast”
The New Releases Shelf — Western Stars
Three months shy of his seventieth birthday, no one would chastise Bruce Springsteen for hanging up his guitar strap. Especially following the monumental Springsteen on Broadway run, it would seem the man who strummed his first formative chords with the … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Western Stars
Golden Words — The Office, “Gay Witch Hunt”
Since great television comedy always begins with the script, this series of posts considers the individual episodes that have claimed the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series over the years. Despite its current elevated status in the annals of television comedy, The Office was neither a rating juggernaut nor an awards magnet for much of its run. In the full-season Nielsen ratings series rankings, The Office never cracked the the Top 50. It claimed the Emmy for outstanding comedy series in its second season, but none of its performers ever won an acting trophy. Across nine … Continue reading Golden Words — The Office, “Gay Witch Hunt”
Now Playing — Toy Story 4
So maybe here’s where the story ends? Nearly twenty-five years after Toy Story launched Pixar into the field of feature film production and almost a decade past Toy Story 3, which seemed to provide an ideal conclusion to the franchise, … Continue reading Now Playing — Toy Story 4
Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Easy Come Easy Go”
Whatever other plentiful complaints can be lodged against the hair metal band Winger, they deserve admiring credit for the novelistic perfection of this detail: Their final single to place on the Billboard Hot 100 bears the title “Easy Come Easy … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Easy Come Easy Go”
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #700 to #697
700. Dinosaur Jr., You’re Living All Over Me (1987) Still known as simply Dinosaur at the time, the band fronted by J. Mascis released their sophomore full-length, You’re Living All Over Me, late in 1987. Championed by members of Sonic … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #700 to #697
Outside Reading — When She Squeezed Me Tight She Nearly Broke My Spine edition
Banned: The song deemed ‘too dangerous’ for the BBC by Stephen Dowling In a marvelous act of research and wry summary, Stephen Dowling provides the details on around a dozen different songs that have received official bans from the BBC … Continue reading Outside Reading — When She Squeezed Me Tight She Nearly Broke My Spine edition
This Week’s Model — Sheer Mag, “Blood From a Stone”
I want music to be complex and surprising. I want intricacies and subversions, devilishly clever reinvention and bursts of inspiration that upend the very foundations of pop. But sometimes — often, really — what I want more than anything is … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Sheer Mag, “Blood From a Stone”
The New Releases Shelf — Originals
I come to Originals, the new album credited to Prince, with mighty mixed emotions. My cumbersome manner in naming the performer associated with the release basically tells the story. I have a hard time believing Prince would have been pleased … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Originals
Playing Catch-Up — Cop Car; The Predator; The Case Against 8
Cop Car (Jon Watts, 2015). Like the product of a mysterious third Coen brother who got some of Steven Spielberg’s DNA spliced into him in utero, Cop Car begins with a simple premise, predicated on the wonderstruck and impulsive decision … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Cop Car; The Predator; The Case Against 8
Coffee for Two 