My friends would think I was a nut: My favorite debut solo albums

I define this list as solo albums released by people in bands. Wu-Tang Clans’s astounding series of 1994-1995 releases by Ol’ Dirty Bastard, GZA, Raekwon, and Ghostface Killah should dominate this list (I like Ghostface’s Ironman less than his next three albums when he established himself as the 2000’s most consistent album artist). I could

‘Eighth Grade’ reminds us we’ve all been there

To be middle school is to live in fear, or, worse, to live in anticipation of fear. Many adults will look at Kayla Day and remember how, like her, they walked on the balls of their feet.

Worst Songs Ever: XTC’s ‘The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead’

Like a good single, a terrible one reveals itself with airplay and forbearance. I don’t want to hate songs; to do so would shake ever-sensitive follicles, and styling gel is expensive. I promise my readers that my list will when possible eschew obvious selections. Songs beloved by colleagues and songs to which I’m supposed to

Singles 7/27

A diverse top five below, crowned by Tamia, known by white audiences for 2002’s “Stranger in My House.” This lite disco wonder sounds like it could’ve been released a decade before that one; I’ve been singing “fire, fire, fire” to myself since mid-July. Click on links for full reviews. Tamia – Leave It Smokin’ (8)

The best multi-disc albums

By necessity a short list, cuz few albums deserve to go over fifty minutes: not in the CD era, even less in the streaming era.

The best EPs

Check my list. If you heard not another note of these acts, these extended play releases would represent their best. Unfortunately, Americans, suspicious of singles because they lack the gravity of full albums, don’t dominate. Yet if you remain wedded to the version of an act with which you were besotted in your youth, 1981/1982

Korean master returns with ‘The Day After’

Perhaps a film grad student has written a paper for journal publication called Three Times: Soju and Repetition in the Films of Hong Sang-soo. Like a composer recapitulating a theme, the Korea director loves returning to charged moments, sometimes screwing with the staging, often leaving it alone.

Worst Songs Ever – Justin Bieber’s ‘Love Yourself’

Like a good single, a terrible one reveals itself with airplay and forbearance. I don’t want to hate songs; to do so would shake ever-sensitive follicles, and styling gel is expensive. I promise my readers that my list will when possible eschew obvious selections. Songs beloved by colleagues and songs to which I’m supposed to

Screenings #37

Here’s this month’s haul in reverse chronological order, with a few blurbs. I hyperlinked to reviews. * denotes a repeat viewing Eighth Grade (Burnham, 2018) 7/10 The Day After (Hoo, 2018) 7/10 On the Seventh Day (McKay, 2018) 7/10 The Cakemaker (Graizer, 2018) 6/10 A Ciambra (Carpignano, 2018) 7/10 Chappaquiddick (Curran, 2018) 6/10 Ava (Foroughi,

Worst Songs Ever: Duncan Sheik’s ‘Barely Breathing’ and Sister Hazel’s ‘All for You’

Like a good single, a terrible one reveals itself with airplay and forbearance. I don’t want to hate songs; to do so would shake ever-sensitive follicles, and styling gel is expensive. I promise my readers that my list will when possible eschew obvious selections. Songs beloved by colleagues and songs to which I’m supposed to

Worst Songs Ever: Glenn Frey’s ‘Sexy Girl’

Like a good single, a terrible one reveals itself with airplay and forbearance. I don’t want to hate songs; to do so would shake ever-sensitive follicles, and styling gel is expensive. I promise my readers that my list will when possible eschew obvious selections. Songs beloved by colleagues and songs to which I’m supposed to

Swingin’ low

Pundits confuse or conflate swing voters and centrists. They’re not the same. Swing voters can believe we need stronger environmental policies that protect us from sea level rise, endorse robust protections for reproductive liberties, yet believe the national debt is a problem and that Hillary Clinton is a cold bitch; some of the vilest misogynists,