// Category Archive for: Reviews

Blu-Ray Review: Long Weekend

By Jeffery X Martin

If we Americans have learned anything over the last 20 years, it’s that Australia is hell on earth. Spiders bigger than your face, jellyfish that can kill you from ten miles away, sharks, Yahoo Serious. . . it’s the kind of place we should really nuke from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.

At its dark little heart, the 1978 Australian film Long Weekend is about hell, and the different ways that concept can manifest itself into reality.

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Music Review: Various Artists, 60 Songs From The Cramps’ Crazy Collection

By Melissa Bratcher

The record collection of The Cramps’ Lux Interior and Poison Ivy was massive and eclectic, as well documented on the Internet, the truest of all informational sources. In 2013, Cherry Red Records released Loose Lips Might Sink Ships (review), a 26-track album of instrumentals from their collection, and now, a follow-up has arrived: 60 Songs From The Cramps’ Crazy Collection: The Incredibly Strange Music Box. It’s the kind of riff-filled, oddly charming, mish mash of things that one would expect and hope for. There’s exotica, rockabilly, novelty singles, and a curious preoccupation with voodoo and fancy words (“Ginchy” “Groovy” and “Limbo”!). It’s enormously fun.

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Music Review: The Wooden Sky, Let’s Be Ready

By Melissa Bratcher

Imagine that Boz Scaggs, Dr. John, and Van Morrison somehow had a baby and that baby happened to sing for a Toronto-based rock band. That band would have to be The Wooden Sky, who have just released their newest album, Let’s Be Ready. Lead singer Gavin Gardiner has the kind of bluesy, soulful voice that sometimes sounds remarkably like the three previously mentioned titans. And that’s great. Sometimes, though, Gardiner’s yawp could benefit from a little enunciation.

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Music Review: Kevin Jenkins, Til The Story’s Told

By Melissa Bratcher

To attempt to pigeonhole Kevin Jenkins would be a mistake. On Til The Story’s Told, Jenkins’s sophomore effort, there are hints of soul, Americana, face-ripping funk, and gospel. His diverse influences come together to make songs that have depth and range, that sound both familiar and quite unusual.

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Blu-Ray Review: Spring

By Less Lee Moore

I detest romantic comedies. They are often decidedly unromantic and terribly unfunny. Throw drama into the mix and it’s even worse: concocted conflicts and clichéd characters. Horror comedies are a more palatable but often hit or miss. Combining all four genres seems like a bad idea. Somehow Spring manages to do that and still be terrific. It’s the best romantic comedy/drama horror movie you’ve seen yet.

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Music Review: Swans, Filth (Deluxe Edition)

By Jeffery X Martin

Since Michael Gira’s band, Swans, has come back onto the scene, they’ve garnered more critical acclaim than ever, and new fans are running alongside the bandwagon, flailing arms up in the air, and hoping to swing aboard. Now that Swans debut album Filth has been remastered and re-released as a special three-disc set, this is a perfect opportunity for new fans to climb on up and get acquainted with the old stuff.

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Music Review: Himmel, A Long Cold Winter

By Jeffery X Martin

Luca Bluefire is the mastermind behind the dreampop project Himmel. Their debut album, A Long Cold Winter, is a fascinating mixture of New Wave nostalgia and modern psychedelia and even when it becomes overly derivative, it’s still worth a listen.

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Music Review: Mastodon, Crack The Skye (Vinyl Reissue)

By Tyler Hodg

Six years after the release of Mastodon’s Crack the Skye, the band has re-issued their landmark album as part of a new vinyl series. Crack The Skye is pretty unanimously loved by fans of the band, as well as those who love the (somewhat broad) genre of metal. What is specifically extraordinary about Mastodon and this album in particular is that you don’t have to enjoy the band’s heavy style to respect them, because their talents as songwriters and musicians are just too obvious to overlook. Crack the Skye is the epitome of well-crafted music, is arguably the best work the band might ever do, so this limited edition re-issue is definitely something worth highlighting.

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Music Review: Uncle Lucius, The Light

By Melissa Bratcher

Guitarist Mike Carpenter of Uncle Lucius calls his band “Southern rock for the thinking man” and that’s quite correct. There’s a rich vein of social consciousness running through The Light, with thought-provoking lyrics on each track. Lest that make you shy away from The Light, don’t; those lyrics are enveloped in some excellent tunes, played by a band that doesn’t shy away from kicking ass.

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Music Review: Little Richard, Directly From My Heart (Best of the Specialty and Veejay Days)