Talib Kweli Gravitas (photos: turntablelab.com) Thank God for Talib Kweli. It’s not just that the man is phenomenal at his craft, but that he’s maybe the highest profile rapper doing something with actual meaning. He cares about art and isn’t a megalomaniac. Spend some time with a Talib Kweli album and you’ll find, instead of bravado, money, and elitism, music that’s actually trying to elevate others. Kweli is a rapper for the people, in that sense. After all, this is...
Double Team – Retro VHS Look I have a soft spot for Jean Claude Van Damme, or JCVD for short. Ever since I was a little kid I had admiration for him and his action movies. Sure, I was fully on board with the Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Willis, Van Damme quartet of action stars, but something about JCDV always stood out for me. Partly because he was an actual martial arts expert, partly because he starred in Street Fighter and I...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Tasting The Sea LP by Vertacyn Arc Materializer. For some listeners, the nature of the Tasting The Sea LP will feel like a return to a different and remarkable time – in spite of the fact that it doesn’t much sound like anything that anyone has heard before. No, it’s the spirit of the record that feels familiar; from the moment a turntable’s stylus touches down on the A-side of the...
Crank One of the great things about the How Did This Get Made podcast is that on occasion they discuss a movie so great and underrated that it changes the game for you. For me, Crank was definitely one of those movies. Having dismissed it as a ridiculous cashgrab at first (like the stupid Hurricane Heist or Geostorm movies), I’ve since come to appreciate it as an incredibly punk rock effort. After watching Crank I was forced to...
Exhalationby Ted Chiang I’m sure I’m not the only one who had their mind completely blown by the movie Arrival. Being a sci-fi lover I was completely delighted by how little of it was about explosions and instead focused on communication and the life stream. A story like that deserves credit solely for how unique it is. Well, it turns out that unique story came from the mind of Ted Chiang. Exhalation is his latest collection of short stories, which...
Marx in the Age of Digital Capitalismby Christian Fuchs (Editor), Vincent Mosco (Editor) I have to stop reading books that sound like they’re impossible to read. Because, most of the time, it turns out they ARE impossible to read. I guess, I keep hoping that the authors or editor would find a way to present complex ideas in a way that’s easy for the reader to understand. Not so with Marx in the Age of Digital Capitalism. I’m just surprised...
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the A Broken Heart is an Open Heart LP/2CD set by Louise Lemon. As intellectually evasive as music genre names have the capacity to be (dig into music history, and you’ll realize how silly sub-genre names get – take post-hardcore or “screamo” for just two examples), there’s no question that Death Gospel (or Doom Gospel – depending upon the press release that one reads) chanteuse Louise Lemon has hit upon something truly...
The MonsieursSelftitled Worship the mighty Monsieurs! Here in Boston it’s hard to find a harder rocking trio of musicians who are cooler than the Monsieurs. They are just one of these bands that should be appreciated by the masses but at the same time are reserved for those who “get it.” And if you don’t get the Monsieurs, then you need to reconsider your priorities, sir. For the uninitiated, the Monsieurs play a dirty and uninhibited form of garage rock...
Iggy and the StoogesRare Power Iggy Pop and the Stooges are a primary source, no matter how you look at it. If you look at punk rock and modern rock in general, you can hear and even taste some of the Stooges. They were true originators. Every person who makes or hears music needs to learn about the Stooges at some point. You don’t have to own their albums, you don’t have to memorize songs, you just have to hear...
Malibu Express & Hard Ticket to HawaiiMill Creek Entertainment What gems the Andy Sidaris movies are. If you’re not familiar with them, imagine low-budget sexy spy movies, so bad that they’re good. Wow, I’m actually surprised how well that summarizes them. You’re not going to find too much high-brow content when you turn on an Andy Sidaris flick but you will find a project born out of dedication and love. There’s no doubt that these guys know what they...