review

Adventure Time The Complete Seasons 5 and 6   Adventure Time is one of those shows I went into with a lot of hesitation. With the thorough infantilization of pop culture nowadays — Yo Gabba Gabba, the Ninja Turtles and their “comeback,” the resurrection and long-stagnant comic book hero movie, Transformers (as only children can find something worthwhile in those movies), Stranger Thing — one wonders whether adults watch these shows because they are actually good, or because they...

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping   Like it or not, the Lonely Island are a comedic force and they’re here to stay. They’ve already proven their worth with the indie comedy masterpiece Hot Rod years ago and have been churning out the good stuff ever since. It makes perfect sense when your troupe is made up of gifted writers, an editor, a director, and a veritable comedic celebrity. It also doesn’t hurt that the Lonely Island is completely in love...

A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Shift and Shadow 12” EP by XIXA. XIXA released its debut full-length album earlier this year (discussion of that release will be coming in the very, very near future) but, now that it’s out and it has had the chance to really establish itself with the indie rock community, some listeners will be wondering what might have come before the “grand introduction” that Bloodline represented. As it turns out, XIXA’a output...

  WHO: The Woodrow Wilsons WHAT: Devil Jonah WHY: If you mingle in certain corners of Boston chances are you might have heard of the Woodrow Wilsons. Their stylings have been one of the many bright spots in New England’s musical history and certainly underrated. At times their songs are a folk rock freight train and other times just a beautifully bubbling simmer. And it’s over before you know it. It’s anyone’s guess whether the Woodrow Wilsons will ever reform...

Artist: Great Apes Album: California Heart Label: Asian Man Records It may have taken a few releases for the band to get the bugs worked out of their sound (they’ve already got one full-length album, one comp which collected a bunch of previously released tracks and a bunch of singles and EPs on top of that too), but Great Apes have truly found their magic on California Heart – their sophomore Asian Man-released album. That is not to say California...

  Thee Oh Sees Drop   Our Thee Oh Sees coverage ends with a special entry. I remember when I heard that Thee Oh Sees were breaking up. An incredible workhorse of a band like this one just calling it quits like that? Did leader John Dwyer just burn out from putting out more than one album a year? How can someone’s creative juices just stop flowing?   Well the hiatus lasted 4 months and everyone both rolled their eyes...

Artist: The Dean Ween Group Album: The Deaner Album Label: ATO Records/Cadence Ever since Ween announced its dissolution in 2012, the band’s fans have agonized over what might come next from founding members Aaron “Gene Ween” Freeman and Mickey “Dean Ween” Melchiondo. Some of them figured they pretty much had the group’s dynamic nailed; because Melchiondo was the huskier-voiced entity in the group and already had side projects like Moist Boyz on his resume, the lighter, more “songwriterly” material must...

Venture Bros.: The Complete Sixth Season   Let’s back up a second and talk about why the Venture Brothers is arguably the best show on TV right now. First of all, because Breaking Bad is over, obviously. Second, because the proof is in the pudding and the Venture Brothers is mighty tasty pudding. Watching the Venture Brothers is a delight for many reasons. Not just that Doc Hammer and Jackson Public have created a show so perfectly immersed in...

  Thee Oh Sees Mutilator Defeated at Last It’s a funny thing when you think a band has topped themselves to the point of no return. That happened to me when I first heard Mutilator Defeated at Last by Thee Oh Sees. Now this statement (topping oneself) is a hard one to make for a band like this. I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it: Thee Oh Sees put out records like Donald Trump lies. Now there’s a...

How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee by Bart D. Ehrman I’ve been reading Bart Ehrman ever since my journey away from Christianity first started. And although I’ve found some of his writings more compelling than others, I’m still glad there’s someone like him out there doing God’s work. Or not-God’s work, which is actually more important. How Jesus Became God mainly deals with the questions and issues church figures were dealing with when they...