The glass bottom boat of the cultural press
Kevin Devine and Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull have joined forces as the gorgeously poetic pop group Bad Books, but fill their recent tour setlists with songs from their collective catalogs. Jen Cray enjoys the music, but yearns for an espresso or two.
The lineup isn’t as important as the experience when it comes to the Van’s Warped Tour. Jen Cray smeared on some sunblock and took in the annual summertime tradition when the traveling circus hit Orlando.
Silver Lightning from a Black Sky (Division). Review by Tim Wardyn.
The Stars Are Out (Sugar Hill Records). Review by Tim Wardyn.
The Lemonheads (Vagrant Records). Review by Tim Wardyn.
Noone thought that Ben Kweller had enough fans in Orlando to sell out The Social, but sell it out he did. It was a good thing Jen Cray got there early to catch the action.
Continuing on with the “flashback to her high school years” week of concerts, Jen Cray decided to check out the opening night of The Lemonheads’ tour.
The Pieces (Benchmark). Review by Stein Haukland.
Everyone But You (Intelligent). Review by Julio Diaz.
God Bless the Blake Babies (Zoe). Review by Julio Diaz.
Review by drew West
Concert addict Jeremy Glazier talked with A.J. Croce near the beginning of his year-long Croce Plays Croce tour about embracing his father’s music and his own while honoring both their familial bond and shared influences.
For Lily and Generoso, 2023 was a fantastic year at the cinema! They select and review their ten favorite films, six supplemental features, and one extraordinary repertory release seen at microcinemas, archives, and festivals.
The hidden gem of the French New Wave, Le Combat Dans L’île gets a lovely Blu-ray from Radiance Films.
This fall, Ani DiFranco brought new Righteous Babe labelmate Kristen Ford to Iowa City, where Jeremy Glazier enjoyed an incredible evening of artistry.
This week Christopher Long grabs a bag of bargain vinyl from a flea market in Mount Dora, Florida — including You’re Never Alone with a Schizophrenic, the classic 1979 LP from Ian Hunter.
Bob Pomeroy gets into four Radio Rarities from producer Zev Feldman for Record Store Day with great jazz recordings from Wes Montgomery, Les McCann, Cal Tjader, and Ahmad Jamal.
Bob Pomeroy digs into Un “Sung Stories” (1986, Liberation Hall), Blasters’ frontman Phil Alvin’s American Roots collaboration with Sun Ra and his Arkestra, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and New Orleans saxman Lee Allen.
Roi J. Tamkin reviews A Darker Shade of Noir, fifteen new stories from women writers completely familiar with the horrors of owning a body in a patriarchal society, edited by Joyce Carol Oates.
Mandatory: The Best of The Blasters (Liberation Hall). Review by Bob Pomeroy.
Feeling funky this week, Christopher Long gets his groove on while discovering a well-cared-for used vinyl copy of one of his all-time R&B faves: Ice Cream Castle, the classic 1984 LP from The Time, for just a couple of bucks.
During AFI Fest 2023, Lily and Generoso interviewed director Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir, whose impressive debut feature, City of Wind, carefully examines the juxtaposition between the identity of place and tradition against the powers of modernity in contemporary Mongolia.