Features
Wednesday, April 13 2011
Joss Whedon: Pioneer of the Body Count
Among Joss Whedon's greatest contributions to television has been the continual use of the Body Count, the willingness to kill off recurring characters in order to ratchet up the narrative tension and create a sense of danger.
Tuesday, April 12 2011
Joss Whedon 101: Cabin in the Woods
Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's Cabin in the Woods has been as star-crossed as a show can be. Although Goddard and Whedon had finished principle filming, MGM requested a year delay to convert the film to 3D, and then promptly went bankrupt.
Friday, January 7 2011
The Year in Television Conspiracies
Secret, usually evil, plots dominated TV drama in 2010, from Lost, Rubicon, and Persons Unknown to 24, V, Flashforward, and Terriers.
Wednesday, October 21 2009
A Decade of Change
Between the Internet, DVRs, and DVDs, television viewers have been almost completely freed from the vagaries of network scheduling. We can watch our favorite shows whenever we want.
Thursday, August 7 2008
Comic-Con 2008: Bigger Than Ever, But Does That Mean Better?
Comic-Con 2008 was a long weekend of geeked-out bliss and a chance to rub elbows with everyone from tiny independent comic artists trying to sell their books to big Hollywood stars. But it also meant gigantic crowds and impossibly long lines.
Reviews
Friday, May 25 2012
Estrogen Highs: Irrelevant Future
Estrogen Highs likes to switch back and forth between straight-ahead punk and power-pop. This would be a cool idea if Estrogen Highs were any good at playing power-pop. They aren't.
Friday, May 18 2012
Echotone: Austin, Texas: The Quiet Fight for a Louder Future
This is a scattershot documentary about live music in Austin, Texas, that features a lot of great material with local musicians, but bails out on its intriguing noise vs. neighbors premise early in the film.
Thursday, May 10 2012
The Freaky Mermaids: Moonshine Once Betrayed Me
This Italian folk duo does great work when putting twists on old formulas. But since they're already adorable, they run into trouble when they intentionally try to be cute.
Friday, May 4 2012
Chuck Mead: Back at the Quonset Hut
Former BR5-49 frontman recruits a roster of old-school Nashville session players and current country stars, and gets down to covering songs from classic country artists. It's an effort that pays off nicely.
Thursday, May 3 2012
Electric Touch: Never Look Back
The title of Electric Touch's second album drips with unintentional irony, as the record is created from nothing but recycled (yet catchy) ideas from the book of big dumb rock clichés.
Jennifer Castle: Castlemusic [1.May.12]
Dante vs. Zombies: Buh [30.Apr.12]
Desertshore: Drawing of Threes [12.Apr.12]
'Deadliest Catch' Returns for an Eighth Season [10.Apr.12]
The Cerny Brothers: Dream [29.Mar.12]
Marine Dreams: Marine Dreams [19.Mar.12]
Dead to Me: Moscow Penny Ante [6.Mar.12]
Orchestra of Spheres: Nonagonic Now [9.Feb.12]
Of Montreal: Paralytic Stalks [6.Feb.12]
Buxton: Nothing Here Seems Strange [2.Feb.12]
moe.: What Happened to the La Las [27.Jan.12]
'Archer' Returns, with Burt Reynolds [19.Jan.12]
Firehorse: And So They Ran Faster ... [17.Jan.12]
Pikachunes: Pikachunes [16.Jan.12]
The Devil Makes Three: Stomp and Smash [7.Dec.11]
moe. 5 November 2011 - Houston, TX [5.Dec.11]
Radiation City: The Hands That Take You [29.Nov.11]
The Decemberists: Long Live the King [17.Nov.11]
'Primeval' and the Anomalies of Time Travel [12.Nov.11]
The Dang-It Bobbys: Big Trouble [21.Oct.11]
Farewell Flight: Out For Blood [17.Oct.11]
Roxette: Greatest Hits [14.Oct.11]
The Handcuffs: Waiting for the Robot [12.Oct.11]
Tiger & Woods: Through the Green [23.Sep.11]
Dream Theater: A Dramatic Turn of Events [21.Sep.11]
Primus: Green Naugahyde [14.Sep.11]
'Sons of Anarchy's' Battle for Control [6.Sep.11]
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.: It's a Corporate World [25.Aug.11]
Nightmare and the Cat: Nightmare and the Cat [17.Aug.11]
Fountains of Wayne: Sky Full of Holes [9.Aug.11]
Comicpalooza 2011: 27-29 May 2011 - Houston, TX [28.Jul.11]
Milk Maid: Yucca [20.Jul.11]
Falcon: Disappear [11.Jul.11]
Leftover Cuties: Places to Go [6.Jul.11]
'Leverage' Season Four Premiere [26.Jun.11]
'Expedition Impossible' Series Premiere [23.Jun.11]
I Was Totally Destroying It: Preludes [21.Jun.11]
'Falling Skies' Series Premiere [19.Jun.11]
Morning Teleportation: Expanding Anyway [16.Jun.11]
The Avett Brothers: 20 May 2011 - Houston, TX [15.Jun.11]
Flogging Molly: Speed of Darkness [14.Jun.11]
'Ice Road Truckers' Season Five Premiere [3.Jun.11]
Deep Dark Robot: 8 Songs About a Girl [25.May.11]
Foxtails Brigade: The Bread and the Bait [23.May.11]
Bridges and Powerlines: Eve [3.May.11]
Dinosaur Bones: My Divider [26.Apr.11]
'Game of Thrones' Series Premiere [15.Apr.11]
'The Whitest Kids U'Know' Season Five Premiere [15.Apr.11]
'Breaking In': Office Work [6.Apr.11]
Snow Caps: Moonbreak [5.Apr.11]
Chixdiggit!: Safeways Here We Come [1.Apr.11]
Adventure: Lesser Known [24.Mar.11]
Green Day: Awesome as F**k [23.Mar.11]
Mind Spiders: Mind Spiders [15.Mar.11]
Survivor: Redemption Island [9.Mar.11]
Young the Giant: Young the Giant [21.Feb.11]
Jed and Lucia: Superhuman [15.Feb.11]
'The Chicago Code' Series Premiere [7.Feb.11]
Funeral Party: Golden Age of Knowhere [26.Jan.11]
N.E.R.D. - Best of N.E.R.D. [21.Jan.11]
Cake: Showroom of Compassion [20.Jan.11]
Sorry No Ferrari: Ternary [20.Jan.11]
Mike Gordon: Moss [14.Jan.11]
'Leverage' Season Three Final Three Episodes [10.Dec.10]
'Stuck With Hackett' Series Premiere [10.Dec.10]
Destroyer: Archer on the Beach [7.Dec.10]
Fangs Out: Speech Shadowing [3.Dec.10]
'Firebreather': Fitting In [24.Nov.10]
'Human Target' Season Two Premiere [17.Nov.10]
NOFX: The Longest EP [9.Nov.10]
Weezer: Death to False Metal [8.Nov.10]
Steven Page: Page One [5.Nov.10]
Vanish Valley: Vanish Valley [29.Oct.10]
Blue Giant: Blue Giant [13.Oct.10]
Ben Folds and Nick Hornby: Lonely Avenue [8.Oct.10]
'IRT: Deadliest Roads' Series Premiere [3.Oct.10]
Miniature Tigers: F O R T R E S S [1.Oct.10]
'The Amazing Race' Season 17 Premiere [26.Sep.10]
'Detroit 1-8-7': Series Premiere [24.Sep.10]
'Cougar Town' Season Two Premiere [24.Sep.10]
'Hawaii Five-0': Surf and Terrorism [20.Sep.10]
'Devil': Working With Constraints [20.Sep.10]
'Nikita': Spies Like Them [9.Sep.10]
'Regular Show': Mildly Amusing [7.Sep.10]
Blip Blip Bleep: Like Track Stars [7.Sep.10]
moe.: Smash Hits, vol. 1 [15.Aug.10]
Kathryn Calder: Are You My Mother? [13.Aug.10]
Grupo Fantasma: El Existential [2.Aug.10]
Librarians: Present Passed [29.Jul.10]
Cadillac Sky: Letters in the Deep [20.Jul.10]
Dragons Power Up!: Brace for the Bloom [13.Jul.10]
Shark Speed: Education EP [7.Jul.10]
Brasstronaut: Mt. Chimaera [23.Jun.10]
We Are Scientists: Barbara [17.Jun.10]
Glass Rock: Tall Firs Meet Soft Location [7.Jun.10]
The Unwinding Hours: The Unwinding Hours [3.Jun.10]
Against Me!: White Crosses [2.Jun.10]
Dark Dark Dark: Bright Bright Bright [4.May.10]
Flogging Molly: Live at the Greek Theatre [20.Apr.10]
Coheed and Cambria: Year of the Black Rainbow [14.Apr.10]
Fanshaw: Dark Eyes [26.Mar.10]
Spaghetti Anywhere: Spaghetti Anywhere EP [19.Mar.10]
MarchFourth Marching Band: Rise Up [17.Mar.10]
Cars & Trains: The Roots, the Leaves [16.Mar.10]
Dragon Turtle: Almanac [12.Mar.10]
Marillion: Less Is More [4.Mar.10]
Kevin Barker: You & Me [24.Feb.10]
The Destro: Harmony of Discord [15.Feb.10]
Blackfield: Live in New York City [25.Jan.10]
OK Go: Of the Blue Colour of the Sky [21.Jan.10]
The Fall of Troy: In the Unlikely Event [11.Jan.10]
Cougar: Patriot [5.Jan.10]
HORSE the Band: Desperate Living [18.Dec.09]
Hail the Size: I Can't Die in L.A. [16.Dec.09]
French Miami: French Miami [10.Dec.09]
Bear in Heaven: Beast Rest Forth Mouth [9.Dec.09]
Jupiter One: Sunshower [20.Nov.09]
Black Mold: Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz [10.Nov.09]
The Swell Season: Strict Joy [6.Nov.09]
Netherfriends: Calling You Out [3.Nov.09]
Mike Doughty: Sad Man Happy Man [16.Oct.09]
Porcupine Tree: The Incident [9.Oct.09]
Astra: The Weirding [5.Oct.09]
Elephant Stone: The Seven Seas [29.Sep.09]
War Tapes: The Continental Divide [14.Sep.09]
They Might Be Giants: Here Comes Science [1.Sep.09]
Björk: Voltaic [24.Aug.09]
Zechs Marquise: Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare [14.Aug.09]
Cool Devices: Cool Devices [3.Aug.09]
Paper Route: Absence [27.Jul.09]
Trey Anastasio & Don Hart: Time Turns Elastic [20.Jul.09]
Dream Theater: Black Clouds and Silver Linings [17.Jul.09]
Ice Palace: Wonder Subtly Crushing Us [15.Jul.09]
Birds of Avalon: Uncanny Valley [14.Jul.09]
The Mars Volta: Octahedron [22.Jun.09]
NOFX: Coaster [18.Jun.09]
Envenomist: The Helix [11.Jun.09]
Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella [9.Jun.09]
So Many Dynamos: The Loud Wars [8.Jun.09]
Cake: 29 April 2009 - Houston [5.Jun.09]
Honey Claws: Healer EP [1.Jun.09]
Sara Watkins: Sara Watkins [26.May.09]
Spoon + Black Nasty: 22 April 2009 - Houston [22.May.09]
DD/MM/YYYY: Black Square [30.Apr.09]
Midival Punditz: Hello Hello [9.Apr.09]
Flogging Molly + The Aggrolites [2.Apr.09]
The DoneFors: How to Have Sex With Canadians [30.Mar.09]
Coheed & Cambria + Trivium - Slipknot [27.Mar.09]
Phish: The Clifford Ball [DVD] [27.Mar.09]
D. Rider: Mother of Curses [26.Mar.09]
Megan Munroe: One More Broken String [12.Mar.09]
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez: Old Money [5.Mar.09]
Franz Nicolay: Major General [23.Feb.09]
Mythical Beast: Scales [16.Feb.09]
Friendly Foes: Born Radical [11.Feb.09]
Psychic Ills: Mirror Eye [9.Feb.09]
Honey Claws: Honey Claws [9.Feb.09]
Emerald Park: For Tomorrow [28.Jan.09]
Warship: Supply and Depend [26.Jan.09]
Skew: Skew [14.Jan.09]
South Central: The Owl of Minerva [16.Dec.08]
The Revival Tour [9.Dec.08]
Juno (Deluxe): Music From the Motion Picture [1.Dec.08]
Dredg [25.Nov.08]
Miniature Tigers: Tell it to the Volcano [21.Nov.08]
Rocket From the Crypt: All Systems Go III [17.Nov.08]
Opeth + High on Fire [13.Nov.08]
Dark Dark Dark: The Snow Magic [30.Oct.08]
Blood Ceremony: Blood Ceremony [23.Oct.08]
Caw! Caw!: Wait Outside [14.Oct.08]
Ninja Gun: Restless Rubes [6.Oct.08]
Dream Theater: Chaos in Motion 2007/2008 [29.Sep.08]
Miniature Tigers: White Magic [29.Sep.08]
Icy Demons: Miami Ice [25.Sep.08]
Mason Proper: Olly Oxen Free [24.Sep.08]
sBach: sBach [22.Sep.08]
The Mood: Synaesthesia [18.Sep.08]
Lex Land: Orange Days on Lemon Street [15.Sep.08]
Opiate for the Masses: Manifesto [10.Sep.08]
Jupiter One: Jupiter One [29.Aug.08]
Telepathique: Last Time on Earth [28.Aug.08]
E.S.L.: Eye Contact [28.Aug.08]
Matthew Sweet: Sunshine Lies [26.Aug.08]
Golden Animals: Free Your Mind and Win a Pony [22.Aug.08]
Starling Electric: Clouded Staircase [20.Aug.08]
Cancer Bats: Hail Destroyer [19.Aug.08]
The Orchid Highway: The Orchid Highway [24.Jul.08]
The Band of Heathens: The Band of Heathens [22.Jul.08]
The Mother Truckers: Let's All Go to Bed [15.Jul.08]
Bridges and Powerlines: Ghost Types [9.Jul.08]
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers [9.Jul.08]
Bum Kon: Drunken Sex Sucks [8.Jul.08]
Everest: Ghost Notes [1.Jul.08]
Fall of Serenity: The Crossfire [20.Jun.08]
Radiohead: 17 May 2008 - The Woodlands, TX [10.Jun.08]
Wolftron- Flesh & Fears [4.Jun.08]
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers: Turbo Ocho [22.May.08]
Instant Orange: Instant Orange [30.Apr.08]
The Battle Royale: Wake Up, Thunderbabe [31.Mar.08]
Porcupine Tree: Nil Recurring [25.Mar.08]
The Felice Brothers: The Felice Brothers [11.Mar.08]
Streetlight Manifesto: Somewhere in the Between [21.Feb.08]
Blogs
Wednesday, December 14 2011
Bubbling Under the 75 Best Albums of 2011: Fountains of Wayne
This week we presented our Best 75 Albums of 2011. Here are several more just bubbling under the top 75...
Monday, December 5 2011
Bubbling Under the 75 Best Songs of 2011: Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
Today we presented our Best 75 Songs of 2011. Here are several more just bubbling under the top 75...
Wednesday, July 20 2011
Armchair Quarterbacking Comic-Con 2011
Grading the upcoming Comic-Con, from who's in attendance to who decided to stay behind...
Wednesday, June 22 2011
Feeling Burned By 'The Killing'
We stuck around for the whole season, got our hopes up when things improved in the last few episodes, and this is the way it ends? Ugh. Spoilers abound, of course.
Thursday, September 9 2010
A Bad Month for Independents in Houston
In a period of just under two weeks in August, Houston, Texas, lost its eclectically-programmed college radio station and 75% of its dedicated arthouse screens.
The Westboro Baptist Church vs. The San Diego Comic-Con (Mixed Media) [23.Jul.10]
Deadliest Catch and the Death of Captain Phil Harris (Channel Surfing) [21.Jul.10]
Best Music Videos of 2009: Chris Conaton (Mixed Media) [3.Dec.09]
Why I Gave Up on Glee (Channel Surfing) [1.Dec.09]
Legend of the Seeker: Season 2 Premiere (Channel Surfing) [11.Nov.09]
True Blood Season 2 - The Wrap-Up (Channel Surfing) [24.Sep.09]
Let's Go to the Clip: The Comic-Con '09 Film Recap, Part 2 (Short Ends and Leader) [4.Aug.09]
Let's Go to the Clip: The Comic-Con '09 Film Recap, Part 1 (Short Ends and Leader) [3.Aug.09]
Anticipating Comic-Con '09 (Graphic Novelties) [22.Jul.09]
Auto-Tune the News #6 (video) (Mixed Media) [14.Jul.09]
Harper's Island: The Death of Cheesy Fun? (Channel Surfing) [10.Jul.09]
Three More Memorable Albums from 1999 (Sound Affects) [29.Jun.09]
Prison Break: An Epitaph (Channel Surfing) [18.May.09]
On the Bubble: 5 TV Shows Worth Saving (Channel Surfing) [1.May.09]
Heroes: Season 3 Finale and the State of the Show (Channel Surfing) [30.Apr.09]
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers: 1 March 2009- Houston, TX, The Continental Club (Notes from the Road) [9.Mar.09]
Weezer - "Pork and Beans" (Sound Affects) [26.May.08]
