Columns
By Sean Bell
With two TV shows returning Arthur Conan Doyle's creation to our screens, Sherlock Holmes has never seemed more influential. But for the good of detective fiction, it might be time to look elsewhere for our unorthodox investigators... [25.May.12]
With Clear Channel recently purchasing Boston's WFNX, almost certainly with the intention of changing its format, we look at how important it is for alternative radio to exist -- and evolve. [24.May.12]
By Dave Heaton
I vigorously defend lots of country music that sends others running. Yet there is one band that drives me absolutely batty. I need to confront and dissect this visceral feeling that their music is the worst, ever. It's time to face my enemy: Rascal Flatts. [23.May.12]
What happens when the world of rock music collides with the world of the fine arts? [22.May.12]
Plot just provides us with a win condition, it is not necessary for the act of play. I can enjoy a game without plot, but I can’t enjoy a game without world building because that is a game without rules. [21.May.12]
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Recent Columns
By Oliver Ho
Britain’s pop culture knight, Christopher Frayling, offers the definitive biography and interpretation of the Spaghetti Western maestro, Sergio Leone.
Moss Icon and Jason Farrell still sizzle in the present tense, despite years of obscurity.
Sure, you may believe that it's not cool to like Train, but with the release of the unabashedly infectious California 37, the San Francisco trio brings fun back to pop music. And who ever said music can't -- or shouldn't -- be fun?
By Will Layman
The two most recent albums by these jazz artists, Esperanza Spalding's Radio Music Society and Norah Jones' Little Broken Hearts, go in different (and good) directions.
One of the most challenging aspects for Ali Bannister, head of the equine hair and make-up department on the set of War Horse, was keeping artists safe when applying mud to the rear ends of over 80 horses.
By Brice Ezell
The weapons deals in The International and the back-door negotiations between corporate lobbies and Congress are two sides of the same coin; both use overwhelming systemic violence to further their ends.
Blues, gospel, and jazz singer Ruther Foster spent so much time on the road that her songwriting suffered -- yet the folk, Stax soul, and gospel that accompanied the sound of tires spinning on asphalt gave her a different kind of musical inspiration.
By Iain Ellis
Whereas Richard Pryor used autobiography for his comedy of social dissent, George Carlin aimed his critical lens outwards, to reflect upon a world of greed and self-delusion.
As the singer just turned 24, we look back on how gigantic her star has grown while looking forward with an open mind at whatever her next move may be.
Once the calling card for young filmmakers, short films offer a chance to explore concepts of form and structure that Hollywood would not touch—at least not until it proved profitable.
By Josh Indar
My folks are probably still kicking themselves for taking a seven-year-old to see Steve Martin’s profane and ridiculous first film, The Jerk, because that was the day I gave up on strong, upstanding heroes and decided that I wanted to be like Navin Johnson.
With the film adaptation of On the Road just a month away, it's important to once again define what characterized the Beat movement: an infatuation with the foreign.
In light of David Simon's recent comments to The New York Times on its intent to 'stir actual shit', we revisit how important The Wire should be to both popular culture and American society.
By Alan Ranta
If Toronto is having a Seattle moment, as The New York Times called it, it's fair to say that Canadian electronic music is having a Chicago/Detroit moment.
Copeland and Brooks infected my classroom with the ‘existential freedom’ that allows each person to stare into the darkness, yet somehow and someway, find the words, the voice, and the courage to sing a sweet song. That is, they gave us all the blues.
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Cannes 2012: 'Post Tenebras Lux' and 'Beyond the Hills' (Reviews) [Fri, 4:00 pm]
An Honorable Food: Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid's 'Seductions of Rice' (Curious Omnivore) [Fri, 3:00 pm]
Early Summer 2012 New Music Playlist (Mixed Media) [Fri, 12:00 pm]
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'Men in Black 3' Looks Back, Again (Reviews) [Fri, 9:20 am]
'Hell and Back Again' on PBS for Memorial Day (Mixed Media) [Fri, 9:11 am]
Counterbalance No. 83: The Stooges' 'Fun House' (Sound Affects) [Fri, 9:00 am]
'Moonrise Kingdom': Storms and Conformity (Reviews) [Fri, 8:45 am]
Cannes 2012: Day 8 - 'On the Road' + 'Post Tenebras Lux' (Notes from the Road) [Fri, 8:00 am]
Cannes 2012: 'Rust and Bone' + 'After the Battle' (Reviews) [Fri, 7:59 am]
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In Defense Of…: In Defense Of... Rock Radio: A Force in Popular Culture
Kickin' Up Dust: Confronting the Enemy: Rascal Flatts
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Moving Pixels: To Build a World or to Tell a Story?
Re:Print: Sergio Leone: Something to Do with Death
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