College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #756 to #753
756. Malcolm McLaren, Fans (1984) Malcolm McLaren’s career as a musical provocateur took a strange turn in the nineteen-eighties, when he moved from behind the scenes promotional manipulations for the likes of the Sex Pistols, Adam Ant, and Bow Wow … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #756 to #753
From the Archive — Transamerica
I’m not sure I’ve watched more than a couple minutes of Transamerica since my first viewing, and I’m skeptical about how well it holds up. If nothing else, it’s clearer by now that casting a cisgendered actress in a transgendered … Continue reading From the Archive — Transamerica
This Week’s Model — Karen O and Danger Mouse, “Turn the Light”
It’s perhaps not surprising that a performer as iconoclastic as Karen O might have difficulty finding her footing in the current music industry. All sharp edges at a time when the strong preference is for sleek, prefab figures, the frontwoman … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Karen O and Danger Mouse, “Turn the Light”
Golden Words — Arrested Development, “Pilot”
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. In my memory, Arrested Development was … Continue reading Golden Words — Arrested Development, “Pilot”
Laughing Matters — Jerry Seinfeld, on 1981 HBO Young Comedian’s Special
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. When I was younger, … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Jerry Seinfeld, on 1981 HBO Young Comedian’s Special
Now Playing — Captain Marvel
As a longtime (if occasionally lapsed) fan of superhero comic books, I’ve had mixed emotions about the mighty Marvel age of cinema. Close as it has sometimes come, the Marvel Studios machine hasn’t yet made a wholly satisfying movie, in part … Continue reading Now Playing — Captain Marvel
The Art of the Sell — “The Limey” 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. Determining the ownership of the vision behind movie advertising is tricky. There are some filmmakers who have … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — “The Limey” movie poster
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #760 to #757
760. George Harrison, George Harrison (1979) By the end of the nineteen-seventies, George Harrison didn’t seem all that interested in making new records. Certainly, anyone who was one-quarter of the most important combo in pop music history earned the right … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #760 to #757
From the Archive: 90FM’s Top Ten Albums, Mid-March 1989
Thirty years ago this week, I know what was being played at my college radio station. Or at least I know the ten albums that were being played more than any others. I’ve been sitting on this particular list for … Continue reading From the Archive: 90FM’s Top Ten Albums, Mid-March 1989
This Week’s Model — The National, “You Had Your Soul with You”
With about two decades of recorded music and seven full-length studio efforts behind them, the National are somewhat burdened by their most distinctive elements. Barring a massive, likely fan-alienating reinvention, a new National song is going to exist in the … Continue reading This Week’s Model — The National, “You Had Your Soul with You”
Coffee for Two 