Music Review: The Edie Adams Christmas Album
Published on November 15th, 2012 in: Comedy, Feminism, Holidays, Music, Music Reviews, New Music Tuesday, Retrovirus, Reviews, TV |By Cait Brennan
Ernie Kovacs is rightly regarded as television’s first genius. Dynamic, irreverent and uncompromising, Kovacs pushed TV technology to its limits in the service of his anarchic comic brilliance. More than that, Kovacs was larger than life. His personal motto was “Nothing In Moderation,” and he lived up to that billing until the day he died.
Few mere mortals could hope to keep up with his madness. But he met his match the day he met Edie Adams. Smart, sexy, sultry and with a voice like butter, Adams was everything Ernie needed: merry co-conspirator, brilliant comic foil, and a tremendously versatile actress and vocalist that brought elegance and heart to the proceedings. Kovacs’s life, and for that matter his untimely death, cast a big shadow, and Edie’s talents have often been unfairly overlooked.
Thankfully, the lady’s finally getting her due. From the formidable Kovacs/Adams archive and the good folks at Omnivore Recordings comes The Edie Adams Christmas Album, featuring Ernie Kovacs, a warm, charming, and nostalgic record featuring 15 never-before-heard holiday classics. It’s the perfect antidote to contemporary holiday angst and a testament to Adams’s vocal gifts.
Various Artists, Meet Me At Mardi Gras
Published on January 10th, 2012 in: Culture Shock, Current Faves, Holidays, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |By Melissa B.
How fortunate the New Orleanians are: Once Christmas and New Year’s are over, they get to move straight into Carnival season. Parades, food, music, revelry, and the finest of these things, I’d wager, is the music.
I’ve often wondered how New Orleans can have so many obscenely talented, homegrown musicians. Is it the food, the humidity, the heritage, the proximity to water? Is there a great funk reservoir that all of the drinking water comes from? Do they put it in babies’ bottles at birth? Whatever causes it, there is a bumper crop of amazing New Orleans music out there and Meet Me At Mardi Gras puts it all in one convenient disc, making a party in your living room, or car, or ears. What have you.
Christmas: A Celebration Of A Birth Marked With Death
Published on December 13th, 2011 in: Holidays, Music, Over the Gadfly's Nest |By Maureen
Everyone has their favorite holiday classics to sing along to while trimming a tree, wrapping gifts, baking cookies, or traveling to be with loved ones. But has anyone ever stopped to think about what’s actually behind most holiday songs?
One in particular has always struck me as incredibly confusing. “Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer” is heard all over the world in many different iterations, but the gist is always the same. This is the least-festive holiday song ever! Someone’s grandmother is killed in a freak accident, and their first question is what to do about her presents?! It’s like the Asshole National Anthem. (more…)
Halloween Nation: Behind The Scenes Of America’s Fright Night, By Lesley Bannatyne
Published on September 29th, 2011 in: Book Reviews, Books, Current Faves, Halloween, Holidays, Horror, Reviews |By Danny R. Phillips
Halloween, for as long as I can remember, has been my favorite holiday. Christmas is too shiny, Thanksgiving is too anxiety fueled (I come from a large, loud family), and Valentine’s Day is a joke. But Halloween? That’s one I could get behind.
The darkness, the pranks, the unlimited imagination, the scary movies on TV, the candy . . . the perfect holiday. So, if you have the same feelings about the darkest night of celebration, then Halloween Nation: Behind The Scenes of America’s Fright Night is for you.
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Top Ten Romantic Comedies: A Valentine’s Day List
Published on February 11th, 2011 in: Comedy, Holidays, LGBTQ, Listicles, Movies, Over the Gadfly's Nest, Staff Picks, Top Ten Lists |By Lisa Anderson
I Love You Phillip Morris
The romantic comedy: it’s the most reviled of genres, and yet also the most resilient. There’s an assumption that men only go see them out of obligation . . . although men are likely to enjoy the good ones, and women are likely to dislike the bad ones. Too many rom-coms rely on mutually insulting stereotypes (the commitment-phobic man, the miserable career woman), predictable plots (boy meets girl, boy does something stupid), and problematic supporting characters (Sassy Black Friend, Sassy Gay Friend).
Nevertheless, they keep getting made, and they keep making money. This is because among the scores of bad rom-coms, there are gems. Almost everyone can think of a few that have actually made them laugh, and managed to resonate with their feelings and experiences. Here are a few of mine, in no particular order.
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A Very Gerry X-Mas
Published on December 25th, 2010 in: Holidays, Movies, Video |If you watch nothing else this holiday season, watch this.
Film Junk Presents: A Very Gerry X-Mas! from Jay Cheel on Vimeo.
Reed Farrington (from Film Junk‘s Cantankerous podcasts) stars in this new Christmas special.
Featuring gingerbread, Star Trek, stop-motion animation, and lots and lots of sneezing, it is, in its own inimitable way, as brilliant, profound, and disturbing as The Wrestler.
Enjoy!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from Popshifter,
Less Lee Moore
Christmas Songs For A Future Generation: The Superions, Destination . . . Christmas!
Published on December 14th, 2010 in: Current Faves, Holidays, Music, Music Reviews, Reviews |By Cait Brennan
Fred Schneider rarely gets his due as a rock legend. One of the most original voices and imaginative storytellers of the New Wave, Schneider brought weird and wonderful absurdist lyrics, a fearless outsider sensibility, and his unique sprechstimme delivery into the rock mainstream. The discrete charm of Fred’s voice and lyrical style are lost on some people, but despite an army of jokesters’ best efforts, Schneider is truly inimitable.
Sad, then, that despite a relentless touring schedule, in the past 18 years his groundbreaking band the B-52s have managed only one new studio release, 2008’s Funplex. The prolific Schneider has participated in dozens of other projects during those years, but none have captured his own brand of madness better than Destination . . . Christmas!, the new album with his band The Superions.
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Meowy Christmas
Published on December 24th, 2009 in: Holidays |By Less Lee Moore
I like to troll thrift stores for old craft books and the best ones are usually found at the “Bibles For Missions” shop down the street from my building. Recently, I came across a hardcover Better Homes and Gardens’ book called Easy Bazaar Crafts. It just reeked of “country ducks” and calico, so naturally I had to peruse.
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Top Ten Holiday Tunes: By Less Lee Moore
Published on December 14th, 2009 in: Holidays, Listicles, Music, Staff Picks, Top Ten Lists |1. “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” Band Aid
I know this song’s privileged, paternalistic attitude is totally inappropriate, but it just reminds me so much of teenaged Christmases, I can’t help but love it. Plus, it features many of my teen musical crushes: Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Boy George, and of course, Marilyn (before the drugs took their toll).
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My Very Own Christmas (and Hanukkah!) Mixtape
Published on December 13th, 2009 in: Holidays, Music, Staff Picks, Top Ten Lists |By Jesse Roth
Every holiday season, the media never fails to deliver its audience the unwelcome gift of what I’d like to call the “and your point is?” story. From what I can tell, the big story this time around reflects on this new phenomenon known as “people other than Bing Crosby recording Christmas music.” Thus far, most of the stories have gone along the lines of “Oh. My. God. You mean Bob Dylan released a Christmas album?! And Mariah Carey released one in 1994?! And wait? What’s this? Andrea Bocelli has one too, and he’s singing with MUPPETS?!? What a craaaazy decade we’re suffering through!”
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