The New Releases Shelf — On the Line
On the Line, the new album from Jenny Lewis, exists in a glorious time warp. The artistic sensibility that she’s developed across the two decades since Rilo Kiley’s debut is firmly in place, but is as if there’s a spinning … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — On the Line
The Art of the Sell — “The Dark Knight” movie poster
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. What a strange, innocent time it was, when movie theater operators first unrolled the teaser posters for … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — “The Dark Knight” movie poster
Playing Catch-Up — Tortilla Flat; Serenity; The Meg
Tortilla Flat (Victor Fleming, 1942). Not long after presiding over Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz in the same calendar year, director Victor Fleming went far more small-scale with this loose adaptation of a typically scruffy John … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Tortilla Flat; Serenity; The Meg
Last Call — “Broad City”
Sometimes in pop culture there are clear end points, and — effective or not — they can provide insights to a whole series, oeuvre, or discography. It took me too long to find Broad City. I didn’t scramble to it … Continue reading Last Call — “Broad City”
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #748 to #745
748. The Kinks, State of Confusion (1983) On the U.S. singles chart, the nineteen-seventies were rough for the Kinks. Previously shoulder to shoulder with the Who on the tier just below the Beatles and the Rolling Stones on the pyramid … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #748 to #745
From the Archive — Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
As the new version of Dumbo soar into theaters, it seems a long lifetime since a new directorial effort from Tim Burton was cause for excitement. When I was crafting reviews for my college radio station in the early nineteen-nineties, … Continue reading From the Archive — Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
This Week’s Model — Tacocat, “Hologram”
The opening guitar riff is almost enough for me. Rhythmic, echoing, and steely strong, it reminds me of the first moments of Billy Bragg’s “The Saturday Boy,” though with an extra coat of hard toffee gloss and a quickened pace … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Tacocat, “Hologram”
Now Playing — Us
It’s not all that unusual for a filmmaker to establish themself as a vibrant new voice within their first couple of features. But I can’t think of another recent instance in which a creator who was already a known quantity … Continue reading Now Playing — Us
Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “I’ll Bring It Home to You”
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. In 1962, Sam Cooke released the cut … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “I’ll Bring It Home to You”
Beers I Have Known — Hopkins Brewing Company Hipster AF
This series of posts is dedicated to the many, many six packs, pony kegs and pints that have sauntered into my life at one point or another. I’ve become a little complacent about the ease in which the supercomputer I … Continue reading Beers I Have Known — Hopkins Brewing Company Hipster AF
Coffee for Two 