The Art of the Sell — The Electric Prunes for the Vox Wah-Wah Pedal
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. Plain and simple, I love every last bit of this 1967 radio commercial that features garage rock … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — The Electric Prunes for the Vox Wah-Wah Pedal
Medium Rotation — Take It Like a Man; Surrender
AMANDA SHIRES Take It Like a Man (ATO Records) — There’s a lot of backstory that can be weighed when listening to Take It Like a Man, the eighth solo album from Amanda Shires. By her own accounting, Shires was … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Take It Like a Man; Surrender
Laughing Matters — The Young Ones on University Challenge
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. During my first year … Continue reading Laughing Matters — The Young Ones on University Challenge
Golden Words — Hacks, “There Is No Line”
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. Pilots are rarely the strongest episodes … Continue reading Golden Words — Hacks, “There Is No Line”
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #146 to #144
146. Talking Heads, Remain in Light (1980) “Remain in Light was a difficult album to make,” Chris Frantz, drummer for Talking Heads, told Rolling Stone magazine a few years after the release of LP in question. “We wanted to do … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #146 to #144
Outside Reading — Making Students Existing Controversial edition
Free the Student Press by Margaret Renkl I was in my senior year of high school when the Supreme Court of the United States announced their decision in the case Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, which effectively stripped freedom of the press … Continue reading Outside Reading — Making Students Existing Controversial edition
This Week’s Model — The WAEVE, “Can I Call You”
I suspect most people whose curiosity is piqued by the new band the WAEVE attribute that interest to the presence of Graham Coxon, famous for bringing all manner of wild invention to the band Blur. I’m also glad to hear … Continue reading This Week’s Model — The WAEVE, “Can I Call You”
The New Releases Shelf — Renaissance
Renaissance, the new album from Beyoncé, had me cackling with glee from it’s first moments. The opening track “I’m That Girl” springs to life with an electronically manipulated intonation of “Please, motherfuckers ain’t stop–, please, motherfuckers” and variations on the … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Renaissance
Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “To Live and Die in L.A.”
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. After drummer Darren Costin left the group, … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “To Live and Die in L.A.”
Then Playing — Hannie Caulder; War of the Planets; Top Gun: Maverick
Hannie Caulder (Burt Kennedy, 1971). Raquel Welch stars in this Western as Hannie Caulder, a woman who is widowed and raped by three bank robbing brothers fleeing their latest stick up (Ernest Borgnine, Jack Elam, and Strother Martin, Western movie … Continue reading Then Playing — Hannie Caulder; War of the Planets; Top Gun: Maverick
Coffee for Two 