How do you even define Billy Bragg’s music anymore? Nowadays it almost sounds like easy listening, but with a leftist political leaning. The man has always worn his heart on his sleeve and although his political songs can seem a little too on the nose and simplistic, his love songs are simply beautiful. I just love the guy, OK? The Chevalier is quickly becoming the cool spot to see shows. I remember it looking more like a rundown high school...

Civil War The only thing better than Civil War is the press tour Kirsten Dunst did for it. Not that anything she said was controversial, but because she came across as a cool-headed actress with perspective and confidence. She spoke out against genocide (wow!), avoiding plastic surgery (pot calling the kettle black?), and the stupidity of method acting. It was cool and endeared me to her even more. She’s cool, but you know what’s also cool? This movie. Of course,...

Dog Party Dangerous Good things come to those who wait, and for me, that’s the new Dog Party record “Dangerous.” Listening to Dog Party brought back some sweet memories from my college days. Days when I first starting getting into the Ramones. I had been exposed to punk rock in high school and it made a lasting impression but it was only in college that I started doing my homework and learning the basics. NOFX (RIP) only takes you so...

WHO: X WHAT: Smoke & Fiction WHY: Let’s round up the week with more X, shall we? It’s easy to point at bands that are still going and overstaying their welcome, but X certainly isn’t that. On Smoke & Fiction, the band shows they can still create inspiring and relevant music even at the end of their career. This album not only sounds like X, strutting and shimmying past rockabilly and punk rock, but it also sounds great: crisp and...

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In Penelope Spheeris’ Decline of Western Civilization Part I, X are depicted as the gatekeepers or elder statesmen of LA 70s punk rock. It’s hard to say whether that label really stuck, but whatever the case, they never asked for it. One thing is for sure, X have been a machine always on the move for the past 40 years, and the creative juices of “leaders” John Doe and Exene Cervenka’s never stopped flowing. X’s influence in music over the...

WHO: Minneapolis Uranium Club WHAT: Infants Under the Bulb WHY: Like if Minutemen and Dead Milkmen had a very loud baby. There’s a certain edge with the clean sound of guitar, and smarts to these lyrics you just don’t hear anymore. The songs in Infants Under the Bulb are catchy, bouncy, bubbly, and there’s a certain urgency to Brendan Wells’ lyrics. There’s a deep (deceitful?) intelligence that’s being delivered by these songs. D Boon would be proud. Even the story...

Rocky: Ultimate Knockout Collection Growing up I was both a Schwarzenegger and Stallone fan. Maybe more a Schwarzenegger fan because he seemed tough, scary, and a lovable goof. Of course I loved Stallone in Rocky, Judge Dredd, and Demolition Man, but I think at the time I was most tuned into movies, Schwarzenegger was making the more bonkers stuff. Now, as a grown-up, I’ve learnt to appreciate Stallone more. He’s kind of in a class all by himself,...

Dune Part TwoOriginal Motion Picture Soundtrackby Hans Zimmer Can you believe they made a Dune movie AGAIN? And that it turned out THIS good? Jodowosky’s Dune opened my world to the mythos surrounding the book and to Jodorowksy himself. My cultural world was changed after watching that documentary, so of course, after seeing David Lynch’s movie, the idea of a new Dune movie is a loaded proposition to me. What was a good sign was that Denis Villeneuve would be...

Heyooooo! It’s that time of year again! Look, the world is getting dumber and dumber and I blame mainstream media. No, not news (well, a little the news), but just terrible music, movies and TV shows. So, it’s more important than ever that we focus on our scholarly duties and try and get smarter in a world hellbent on lowering our standards. Of course, it wouldn’t be a new school year without school goodies. Yes, books and food are more...