Radio Days — Too Much Joy at Shank Hall
This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves. When a group of us college radio kids participate in the beater car caravan from our modest … Continue reading Radio Days — Too Much Joy at Shank Hall
The Art of the Sell — Stop Making Sense rerelease trailer
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. When I wrote about Naked, the final Talking Heads studio album, for the gargantuan countdown project that’s … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Stop Making Sense rerelease trailer
Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Heavy Fallin’ Out”
These posts are about the songs that fell just short of crossing the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. The Stylistics had a team that served … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Heavy Fallin’ Out”
Then Playing — The Unforgiven; Radio Unnamable; Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
The Unforgiven (John Huston, 1960). Adapted from a 1957 novel by Alan Le May, The Unforgiven settles in with the Zachary family, Texas ranchers whose status in their frontier community is set into turmoil when a mysterious stranger (Joseph Wiseman) … Continue reading Then Playing — The Unforgiven; Radio Unnamable; Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #15
15. The Cure, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987) Robert Smith had the whole history of the Cure in his head when he started writing songs for the band’s seventh studio album, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me. Of … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #15
Outside Reading — The Legend of Arthaxx d’Cannith edition
The Dungeons & Dragons Players of Death Row by Keri Blakinger Keri Blakinger delivers beautiful, insightful reporting in this story about death row inmates who set some level of escape from their often inhumane circumstances by retreating into the fantastical … Continue reading Outside Reading — The Legend of Arthaxx d’Cannith edition
This Week’s Model — Frida Kill, “Last Ditch Effort”
Some weeks I scour all the new tracks that have been released by an amazing array of artists, agonizing over which song I’ll plop into this weekly feature. Some weeks, the phenomenal Shilpa Ray makes a recommendation on her Instagram, … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Frida Kill, “Last Ditch Effort”
The New Releases Shelf — The Window
The background information on The Window, the fifth and latest album by Chicago band Ratboys, suggests they knew they had material that would benefit from an added level of commitment. The quartet broke from the usual practice of recording in … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — The Window
My Misspent Youth — Silver Surfer by Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers
I read a lot of comic books as a kid. This series of posts is about the comics I read, and, occasionally, the comics that I should have read. In the late nineteen-eighties, getting the first issue of new comic … Continue reading My Misspent Youth — Silver Surfer by Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers
Laughing Matters — The Slipnutz Open for Slipknot
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. Many comic performers are … Continue reading Laughing Matters — The Slipnutz Open for Slipknot
Coffee for Two 