David Cross Oh, Come On David Cross is my main man. He’s my jam. He’s my main squeeze. Not only is he responsible for getting me into comedy albums way back in the day, but his material has kept resonating with me after all these years. I discovered his comedy in a dark period in my life (yes, that sad old story), and it immediately spoke to me. Soon afterwards I was listening to his albums and specials over and...
Kurt Baker Combo Let’s Go Wild Kurt Baker is from Maine but now lives in the plains of Spain and rock ‘n’ roll is the name of his game. How’s that for a biography? There’s a certain element of New England pride I have talking about Kurt Baker and his catchy brand of punk rock ‘n’ roll, so there’s a certain sadness in my heart when I think the man has left us to continue his life of music overseas....
The Irishman Originally Published as I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt Unfortunately, you can’t talk about the Irishman nowadays without talking about Martin Scorcese. Although Charles Brandt’s book I Heard You Paint Houses came before the movie, all the attention and love the movie has received is undoubtedly going to lead some people to its source. The Irishman most certainly is a great movie, and compelling enough for its viewers to want more. It was the case for...
Malibu Ken Selftitledphoto: turntablelab.com Can we give it up for my main man Aesop Rock? Don’t worry, I’ll wait. Oh, you don’t know who he is? Well, shame on you. He’s one of the foremost examples of why rap music is still as exciting and relevant as it ever was, as long as you know where to find it. See, instead of these fakers, rapping about how much bullshit they have, how big they are, and how they’re better than...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into The Drew Thomson Foundation’s self-titled debut album. “What is the secret to making a pop record in the twenty-first century?” Such was the root of a conversation I had with my daughter last week, but it all began with talking about how much music has changed in what could be perceived as a very short period of time. Since it has bearing on the dialogue, it’s worth pointing out that it was...
BattlesJuice B Cryptsphoto: turntablelab.com Back when Late Night television was worth watching, you could count on them as a source or news, comedy, and music. It’s how I discovered a lot of bands including Battles. Watching them on Jimmy Fallon performing Futura, I was immediately transfixed: the stage presence, the style, the weird placement of the drummer’s crash cymbal. All of it was interesting. I heard the song once and it permanently lodged itself in my brain. Gloss Drop was...
Gremlins You know how some people like to have an argument about how Die Hard is a Christmas movie? It was cute back when it first happened, but now it’s just seems tired. I could say the same thing about the movie Shazam! What it boils down to is that people seem to need an excuse to watch Die Hard, and they shouldn’t need the Holiday season to do that. On the other hand, there are...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the All That Matters Is This Matter LP by Holy Beach. Someone wise once said that “Variety is the soul of pleasure. Variety is the condition of harmony. The best way to keep good acts in memory is to refresh them with new. Variety is the very spice of life that gives it all its flavor.” In that spirit, The Deftones once totally reinvigorated heavy metal music by simultaneously making their approach...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the “Hold Fast”/”Demons” 12” picture disc single by the Drowns. Ignoring the fact that the very idea of a two-songs-on-one-side, digitally printed twelve-inch single could easily be defined as the height of twenty-first century indulgence (and, potentially, the pinnacle of missing the point from a ‘back to vinyl’ analogue-lovin’ standpoint), it’s awfully difficult to argue against the quality of the two songs which appear on this preview release for...
Apocalypse Now! 40th Anniversary 4K Final Cut Edition It’s in graduate school that movies really hit me. Maybe it was the desire to gain a better understanding of the artform, or maybe it was the fact that I was stuck in the country going to school with nothing to do. I remember driving 20 minutes to visit a local CD Warehouse on a weekly basis, not to buy any CDs, but to marvel at their incredible used DVD selection (which...