In 2019 I was targeted by Facebook ads; the algorithm knows I’m a sucker for a Netflix romantic comedy promo. I watched the trailers for two Netflix Christmas movies, The Knight Before Christmas, starring Vanessa Hudgens and Josh Whitehouse, and… Read More
20. Iggy Pop and the Stooges – You Think You’re Bad Man: The Road Tapes ’73 – ’74 [Cherry Red] In 1969, the Stooges were a truth serum, forcing hippiedom to belch up the reality that flowers and hope had become just… Read More
When Blinker the Star released their third album August Everywhere in 1999, the moment was ripe for project founder and mastermind Jordon Zadorozny to stake out his own niche by embodying both DIY and pop sensibilities in a way that… Read More
It’s not much discussed today, but the 1980s was a lesser golden age for American romantic comedies. There’s a strong case to be made that Norman Jewison’s Moonstruck (1987)—featuring an effortlessly charming star turn from Cher, an early glimpse at… Read More
In his new novel, One Simple Thing, Warren Read follows Anne Lamott’s precept in Bird by Bird, the renowned guide to writing (and life): a writer need only write as much as can be seen through a one-inch picture frame.… Read More
“A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead,” says Maurice Bendrix in Graham Greene’s novel, The End of the Affair (1951). It feels… Read More
20. Monophonics – It’s Only Us [Colemine] The Bay Area’s indelible psychedelic soul, live-show phenomenon, Monophonics have just released their third full-length, It’s Only Us. It combines the raw funk and sheer power of early soul masters with a touch… Read More
In the waning days of the Grinch-y year of 2020, we’re all hunkering down and barely holding up. Holiday rituals that once brought comfort and joy have become inadvisable, if not unthinkable. The trite Christmas music blaring from stores as… Read More
Marion Lafournier is a listless accountant who is ambivalent about his relationship to his North Minnesotan hometown, and for good reason. Defined by addiction, gang affiliations, corruption, and familial disputes turned deadly, the fictional town of Geshig is a veritable… Read More
10. Julianna Barwick — Healing is a Miracle [Ninja Tune] Julianna Barwick’s new album of ambient vocal-loop devotionals is her shortest and catchiest, as well as one of her best. The layers of voices are less sumptuous than on her career-making Magic… Read More