Tuesday, May 21 2013
Looking for the Perfect Moment of Abject Failure: ‘Plimpton! Starring George Plimpton as Himself’
George Plimpton was a blue-blooded aesthete who chronicled his many failures and never cared about being called a dilettante.
How Much?: “Ten Grand #1”
Can we escape our fate? And is doing so only a question of substantiation? The substantiation by means of a certain weight of money, or maybe the transubstantiation of piety in a hyper-noir landscape…
‘True Blood: Season Five’ Runs a Little Dry
There are moments when we imagine that a character might actually meet the true death, leaving Sookie without a vampire lover to come to her rescue, for once.
‘Captain America’: It’s Not That Bad
This much maligned film captures enough of the spirit of Captain America that Marvel fans will probably want to own this odd piece of ephemera from before the age when Marvel movies became a juggernaut.
‘Fear of Food’ by Harvey Levenstein
Raised on a lifelong media diet of “good” and “bad” foods, some Americans tend to approach the dinner table in a state of panic.
‘Dark Circles’ Presents a Good Argument for Birth Control
When the kitchen sink starts calling you names, it's time to grab the baby and move out.
The National: Trouble Will Find Me
The National keeps on growing older gracefully with the impeccably executed Trouble Will Find Me, but it might just be that the venerable group has reached the point of no-longer-increasing returns.
Justice: Access All Arenas
Access All Arenas, a vivid and vivacious capture of Justice's 2012 Arena of Nîmes show, proves once and for all that the progression that occurred between Cross and Audio, Video, Disco hadn't changed them as a band. It, in fact, made them better.
Jonah Berger’s ‘Contagious’ Shouldn’t Cause an Epidepmic
As with many marketing books, Contagious verges on pop psychology.
Poisonous Relationship: Garden of Problems
This vinyl and digital only “album” feels more like a DJ's tool than a pure record, but it works best when the experimental nature of the music is unfurled and the artist just lets loose.
Cathedral: The Last Spire
Patron saints of doom bid farewell to their stony parishioners with their riff heavy swan song.
Odonis Odonis: Better EP
Odonis Odonis' Better EP is louder, darker, and uglier than its predecessor, the noisy, surf-minded Hollandaze. But the hooks are still there, buried mile-deep in feedback and sludge.
Young Dreams: Between Places
I don't hear Young Dreams in any of these songs, I hear their favorite bands, and I find that kind of frustrating.
Muddy Waters: You Shook Me: The Chess Masters 3 - 1958 to 1963
Essential recordings from the history of the blues -- oh hell, from the history of American popular music, period
Monday, May 20 2013
Quirky Puzzles: ‘The Goodwin Games’
The Goodwin Games wears its quirk on its sleeve. The opening is straight out of The Royal Tenenbaums: while ornate classical music plays, a bowtie-wearing family patriarch (Beau Bridges) sits in a too-perfectly-art-directed library.
‘Not Fade Away’ Shouldn’t, Yet Despite Its Title, It Does
The hype around David Chase's first film is, sadly, unfulfilled.
Free Your Mind and Your Ass Will Follow: Julian Cope’s ‘Copendium’
This is one of the best books about music ever published. It's an absolute delight to sink into and thrash around in, and it comes with a rigorous and righteous sense of wild-eyed-and-eared enthusiasm, and enough exuberant 'motherfuckers' to make Tarantino blush.
‘Motive’ Wonders, Why?
Motive reminds viewers that breaking social norms can lead to dire consequences.
Call of the Cthulhu Nazis: “Fatale #14”
“She should never have come to Romania... Damn me for a Fool...”
‘Doc Martin Special Collection: Series 1-5 + The Movies’
Doc Martin's social ineptitude and crankiness could tire easily, but Portwenn and its residents offer a balance that works well.
