-
Continue reading →: Singles 3/17
Retreating into the introspection of Mama’s Gun and even Baduism if I’m in a cranky mood, Badu scores the biggest triumph. Erykah Badu – Window Seat (8) Chiddy Bang – The Opposite of Adults (6) Jason Derulo – In My Head (5) Avril Lavigne – Alice (4) Iyaz – Solo…
-
Continue reading →: Alex Chilton: RIP.
Like a lot of eighties kids, my first acquaintance with Alex Chilton happened when I fast forwarded around The Bangles’ cover of “September Gurls” on Different Light. A decent cover — sung by (I think) bassist Michael Steele, with the right amount of rue. Most importantly, the album’s multiplatinum sales…
-
Continue reading →: On purple prose and Iggy Pop
Give EMF credit: “Unbelievable” doesn’t turn my stomach like ubiquitous wedding classics like Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration.” One of my earliest club memories was dancing to “Unbelievable” months before it hit number one at the now-defunct Red Room on Lenox Avenue (during spring break, come to think of it).…
-
Continue reading →: Who’s the foal?
If you’re following the Arizona primaries, you’re familiar with the splendidly named J.D. Hayworth (imagine a whiskered Roosevelt-hating plutocrat from a thirties Katherine Hepburn film). In a campaign speech yesterday, Haysworth evokes noted bestiality expert Rick Santorum. Hayworth, during an interview with an Orlando, Fla., radio station explained: “You see,…
-
Continue reading →: “I don’t know what you did or not”
I like this, despite reminding me of Everlast.
-
Continue reading →: Hungry sex in hellfire: the “realness” of Taylor Swift
A friend send me this long post about Taylor Swift whose wrongheadedness is so comical that I’m sure the computer that generated it has a CTRL-ALT-ANGST function. I love about half of Fearless, consider Swift’s live chops, erm, limited at best, and have never been a fifteen-year-old girl, so let…
-
Continue reading →: Lucky bastard…
Former Go-Between Robert Forster has a collection of essays called The 10 Rules of Rock and Roll published in Australia, sez Robert Christgau. More importantly, The Monthly has demolished its firewall and you can now judge Forster’s insights and prose yourself. My favorite one offers the kind of contrarianism I…
-
Continue reading →: Singles 3/10
The best singles this week boast a boring-craftsman proficiency. Owl City gets a mention because I want to remind non-fans of Death Cab For Cutie that it could be worse. Much worse. Martina McBride – Wrong Baby Wrong (7) Spoon – Written in Reverse (7) Gorillaz ft. Mos Def and…
-
Continue reading →: Love is cold: Christine McVie and Tusk
To celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the release of Tusk, PopMatters will run features all week in celebration of Fleetwood Mac’s second most acclaimed record. I’ve got an essay on Christine McVie’s contributions.
-
Continue reading →: “4 letter words are seldom heard with such dignity and bite” — on Prince’s ‘Graffiti Bridge’
The purchase of a Prince album was an admission of privilege. Too young to appreciate 1999, Purple Rain, and Sign ‘O’ the Times except as home bases of singles I really liked (the Purple Rain top ten quartet, “Kiss,” and “U Got The Look” I remember most), I was nevertheless…
-
Continue reading →: Whew.
Tonight’s necrophiliac Oscar tribute to John Hughes reminded me why his movies sucked.
-
Continue reading →: Jason Reitman films: “The height of smoke-and-mirrors artistry”
Fishing for worthy targets of odium, I settled on Up in the Air last December. Dennis Lim adds to the chorus. Director Jason Reitman’s three films are characterized by: slick surfaces, jaunty rhythms, and brisk patter, are designed precisely to discourage close looks—reveals a peculiar consistency, even though all three…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Humanizing The Vacuum 