// Category Archive for: Current Faves

Music Review: David Essex, Rock On; David Essex; All The Fun Of The Fair (Reissues)

By Hanna

With his own jukebox musical and sold-out comeback shows, David Essex has no need of a revival, though by now his career is so long that there are always parts of it that could use extra attention. A documentary from Alan G. Parker is slated for release soon, which is a good enough reason for Cherry Red to re-release Essex’s first three albums on CD: Rock On (1973), David Essex (1974), and All The Fun Of The Fair (1975). All three reissues are fairly straightforward, with the original album art, some informative liner notes by Phil Hendriks, and a couple of interesting bonus tracks.

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Music Review: Arlo Hannigan, House And Home

By Melissa Bratcher

If I were the sort of pithy writer who could sum up an album (or EP, as this is) in one word, I would say Arlo Hannigan’s new EP House And Home is intimate. I would, of course, be remiss in not adding, House And Home  is gorgeous, rich, and immersive. There’s a feeling of space, both the wide open kind and the heavenly kind.

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TV Review: Master Of None, Episode 9: “Mornings”

By Tyler Hodg

Master of None’s go-home show is the perfect culmination of Dev (Aziz Ansari) and Rachel’s (Noël Wells) relationship up to this point. “Mornings” gives us an in-depth look at casual conversations and arguments between the two that typically wouldn’t be shown in more elaborately-themed installments.

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TV Review: Master of None, Episode 8: “Old People”

By Tyler Hodg

It’s a fact that most people hate to admit: we are getting older. With each and every day that passes, we are slowing turning into our elders.

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TV Review: Master of None, Episode 7: “Ladies and Gentlemen”

By Tyler Hodg

If you’re an ignorant, regressive feminist-hater, the best course of action would probably be to skip “Ladies and Gentlemen.”

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TV Review: Master of None, Episode 6: “Nashville”

By Tyler Hodg

“Nashville” is everything television should be. The sixth episode of Master of None is charming, intelligent, heartbreaking, and humorous—more so than any of the other episodes so far.

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Music Review: Love, Reel to Real

By Melissa Bratcher

Love’s 1974 album Reel To Real doesn’t sound how you might expect Love to sound. It lacks the psychedelia and heavy rock of their best known work Forever Changes, and instead could be considered an Arthur Lee solo record. It’s funky. Super funky. And it’s fascinating.

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TV Review: Master of None, Episode 5: “The Other Man”

By Tyler Hodg

Things get weird in the fifth episode of Master of None. Guest staring Claire Danes, Noah Emmerich, and Colin Salmon, “The Other Man” incorporates some bigger name actors in a few odd situations.

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Music Review: They Might Be Giants, Why?

By Melissa Bratcher

They Might Be Giants can’t help but be They Might Be Giants. Since 1982, TMBG have been doling out idiosyncratic melodies with unusual instrumentation and clever, visual lyrics. Their jump to making music for families (not kids, specifically, but families) was less a jump than a side step, and a logical move. Those of us who listened to TMBG as yoofs have been known to foist cassettes of their music on our own children (who, if they have any taste at all, loved them) and one day, those children will foist hologidgets of TMBG on their children and thus the cycle will be repeated forever and ever, etcetera.

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Music Review: Protomartyr, The Agent Intellect

By Jeffery X Martin

One of the glorious things about living in a college town is getting to listen to college radio. Flexible playlists, fresh new music, and DJs who haven’t quite learned to read out loud are only a few of the entertainment benefits. In fact, the first time I heard Protomartyr was on our local college station (WUTK – Volunteer Radio, baby). I thought the announcer said the name of the band was “Robo-Margaret.” I searched for that non-existent band for two days!

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