Wednesday, February 8 2012
The Old 97’s: 28 January 2012 - Charlottesville, VA
The Old 97's use two decades of experience to make being professional feel like anything but that.
‘Miners’ Hymns’: Labor and Poetry
Beautifully and evocatively, Bill Morrison's film traces the changes of fortune for the mines and miners, the industry and communities of Northern England.
Mark Lanegan Band: Blues Funeral
After eight years spent growling for others, Mark Lanegan returns with his most musically diverse album to date.
Die Antwoord: Ten$ion
Die Antwoord may be strange and engrossing, but are they making good music? Yes and no.
Detective Inspector Malcolm Fox Returns in ‘The Impossible Dead’
Ian Rankin's dialogue rings true; a sense of life as actually lived, and the lessons to be learned — or not — from history, all framed in an engrossing story never told hurriedly, but always well-paced.
Robert Altman Before and After ‘M*A*S*H’: ‘Countdown’ & ‘Brewster McCloud’
These two early curiosities from Robert Altman's career are available on-demand.
Mark Sultan: Whatever/Whenever
Sultan blends together his doo-wop, garage, and punk influences, presenting himself as a peerless artist.
As Theo Van Gogh Knew, Hell Really is Other People: ‘3 by Theo’
Of his nearly 30 films, these three by Theo Van Gogh each focuses on verbal wrestling between a man and a woman.
On President Obama’s Mother: ‘A Singular Woman’ and Her Egalitarian Spirit
This book reveals Stanley Ann to be an intellectually curious, passionate, idealistic, and unconventional woman whose sense of wonder and love shaped the lives of two children -- including the one that would become the 44th president of the United States.
Group Inerane: Guitars from Agadez Vol. 3
Tuareg rock youngsters are fatally hampered by bad production.
The Dirt Drifters: This Is My Blood
The feeling that this is your neighborhood bar band gives the music a punch of energy that’s memorable. At the same time, the stories in the music, and the ways they’re told, are less distinct, even generic.
Tuesday, February 7 2012
‘Unfinished Spaces’ Revisits Cuba’s Schools of Art
The journey in Unfinished Spaces begins with reconsidering the hopes and confusions of Cuba just after the Revolution, the politics and the struggles that go on to this day.
‘Doomsday Preppers’: Planning for the End of Times
If you’re a statistically average person, what are your chances of following these people’s lead and successfully preparing for social collapse? Well, pretty long, unless you have quite a few acres of land lying fallow in the country and a couple hundred thousand extra dollars.
‘The River’: Secrets and Allusions
Hopefully, the found footage gimmick will give way after the first episode, since it would be a shame to shoot all of the Amazon from one camera on some guy’s shoulder.
Becky Cloonan’s Smile: Dark Horse’s Reboot of “Conan”
I'm sure the smile used by Becky Cloonan to signal her enjoyment is a perfectly good smile. But the smile she draws on Conan is sublime. It opens the character in a way very few writers have been capable of.
Paul McCartney: Kisses on the Bottom
As musical interpretations of romance go, Kisses on the Bottom may only get you about halfway there, flowers in hand wondering whether a second date is on the cards, unsure if that’s even what you want at all.
Trailer Trash Tracys: Ester
The band name is silly. The album cover art is atrocious. The opening song is merely a wall of noise. But once you get past all of that, Ester is a rewarding slice of shoegazey dream pop that’s evocative of ‘50s R&B and surreal movie and TV soundtracks.
Rodrigo Y gabriela and C.U.B.A: Area 52
The preeminent Mexican guitar duo rattles Havana with a Cuban orchestra.
