Whatever it takes I’m giving, it’s just a gift I’m given
The new film Wild captures an element of hiking along out on a trail in manner I’ve never quite seen onscreen before. Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) is on a solo trek on the Pacific Crest Trail. She’s a relative novice … Continue reading Whatever it takes I’m giving, it’s just a gift I’m given
College Countdown: Rockpool’s Top 20 College Radio Albums, November 1988, 2
2. Cocteau Twins, Blue Bell Knoll Most of the albums on this list are imprinted on me deeply enough to hold a deluge worth of water, sitting as they were in the various tiers of the new music rotation when … Continue reading College Countdown: Rockpool’s Top 20 College Radio Albums, November 1988, 2
From the Archive: The Nightmare Before Christmas
I regret that not one of the five-hundred-plus words of this review is “Selick.” I bought completely into the hype of the time asserting that The Nightmare Before Christmas was a Tim Burton creation, and anyone else in the credits … Continue reading From the Archive: The Nightmare Before Christmas
One for Friday: Neko Case, “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis”
Sometime during my first pass through college radio, the onslaught of tribute albums began. There may have been some genuine affection for certain performers that inspired such efforts or at least colored the performances by the acts recruited to fill out the grooves. The real driving force, though, was the dead certainty that the most direct way to a college deejay’s heart was with one of their ragamuffin rotation staples playing a really familiar song, likely from an artist they secretly loved but has no entry to their ultra-hip airwaves. This how we got, say, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones … Continue reading One for Friday: Neko Case, “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis”
And I was ’round when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and pain
Fifty-sixth in a series…. (via) Continue reading And I was ’round when Jesus Christ had his moment of doubt and pain
My Writers: John Darnielle
Usually the image that accompanies one of these posts represents my first exposure to the work of the writer in question. Given the chronology of releases from the band the Mountain Goats, it’s likely that I was introduced to the … Continue reading My Writers: John Darnielle
Top 40 Smash Taps: “Can’t Leave ‘Em Alone”
These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. The duly appointed First Lady of Crunk&B, Ciara scored a chart-topper with her very first solo single, “Goodies,” released in 2004. She then managed the runner-up slot with her next two releases, collaborations with Missy Elliott and Ludacris. All in all, not a bad way for an artist to establish herself right out of the gate. While she hasn’t quite reached those heights … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Can’t Leave ‘Em Alone”
Chaplin, Chazelle, Kosinski, Lubitsch, Pressburger and Powell
The Great Dictator (Charlie Chaplin, 1940). The audaciousness of Chaplin making a comedy that mocks Adolf Hitler — predicated at least somewhat on the two men’s shared taste in mustache grooming choices — is undercut, though only slightly, by the fact that he eventually regretted it, openly stating that he wouldn’t have created The Great Dictator had he been aware of the full extent of the Nazis’ crimes against humanity. Delivered as World War II was still in the ramping up process, the film is a brilliantly scathing satire, not just of Hitler’s brutal ambitions but of war itself and … Continue reading Chaplin, Chazelle, Kosinski, Lubitsch, Pressburger and Powell
College Countdown: Rockpool’s Top 20 College Radio Albums, November 1988, 3
3. Jane’s Addiction, Nothing’s Shocking In the fall of 1988, prevailing opinion held that Perry Farrell was the next great artist emerging from the realm of off-center rock ‘n’ roll. His band Jane’s Addiction was just out with just its … Continue reading College Countdown: Rockpool’s Top 20 College Radio Albums, November 1988, 3
From the Archive: The Pursuit of Happyness
Since I started the week out with a sprinkling of unkind words for a Smith father-son collaboration, why not end by looking back to the first time they foisted family time on audiences in the name of art. It was … Continue reading From the Archive: The Pursuit of Happyness