Music Review: Goblin, Beyond the Darkness

By Jeffery X Martin

The Italian progressive rock band Goblin has been in existence, in some iteration or another, for over 40 years. Most people know them from their multiple collaborations with film director, Dario Argento, in creating soundtracks for his horror movies. Goblin hasn’t made any new music, though, since the soundtrack for Non so honno in 2001. At this point, they’ve earned the right to rest on their laurels a tad, so instead of new music, Goblin releases a lot of greatest hits compilations.

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Blu-Ray Review: Cold In July

By Less Lee Moore

It’s best not to know a whole lot about the plot going into Jim Mickle’s latest film Cold In July. If you haven’t read the Joe R. Lansdale novel upon which the movie is based (like me), try not to form any preconceived notions from the tag line or cover art and just go with it. If you’re about ten minutes in and thinking, “Damn, this is just a whole bunch of stalker-revenge movie clichés that aren’t really doing it for me,” keep watching. There’s no M. Night Shyamalan-style twist, just a lot of well-crafted narrative turns that will keep your attention even after the movie ends. It’s that good, and easily the best of Mickle’s last three films.

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Music Review: Lowell, We Loved Her Dearly

By Less Lee Moore

You live in a man’s world, I live in my own world.
I tell you I don’t want you anymore.
—Lowell, “I Love You Money”

Imagine if there were a female singer/songwriter/musician who’s a Britney Spears-loving feminist, a former stripper who self-identifies as bisexual, and who has synasthesia. And imagine that her music is poppy and provocative and that she sings like both an angel and a banshee. That person is real and her name is Lowell.

Lowell first came to my attention earlier this year with her dynamic and delightful EP I Killed Sara V. (review). Its first track, “Cloud 69,” is a unique slice of sugary, sexy pop and like nothing else I’ve heard. We Loved Her Dearly contains that EP’s five tracks plus seven more and it’s going to blow your mind and break your heart.

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Music Review: Death From Above 1979, The Physical World

By Less Lee Moore

I can’t sell you if no one buys.
Point out your heroes, click and they die.
—Death From Above 1979, “The Physical World”

Death From Above formed and later added the 1979 (under a bit of duress, mind you). The duo released some EPs and an album. Then they broke up for a decade and during that time, didn’t speak to each other for five years. Eventually, they started emailing each other again and took steps towards reforming. They toured for a couple of years, including a set at Coachella in 2011. Now they are back with a second album of new material and as much as it pains me to say this, I like it better than everything else they’ve ever done.

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Music Review: Gerard Way, Hesitant Alien

By Tyler Hodg

When it comes to music, change is often a good thing. New settings and surroundings can result in unique creations. Off the heels of a successful past, Gerard Way tries to write a new chapter in his music career with his first post-My Chemical Romance album, Hesitant Alien. It’s not easy starting again, but Gerard Way insists on proving his validity as a solo artist. Unfortunately, the “Black Parade” singer isn’t able to live up to expectations and delivers a painfully mediocre album.

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Music Review: Lucinda Williams, Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone

By Melissa Bratcher

There is no one quite like Lucinda Williams: her voice, her particularly Southern identity, her phrasing, her stunning writing. A true American iconoclast, she has been recording for over four decades, and shows no signs of compromising her integrity or sense of self. On her new album, Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone, released on her own independent label, Highway 20 Records, Williams speaks for the poor, the rejected, and the disenfranchised while asking for compassion. Of the 20 songs on the album, she wrote 18 of them, and her very particular voice could not be clearer.

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New Country For Old Men: The Eternal Mystery Of Tim McGraw, Part 2

By Jeffery X Martin

1994 was a big year for Tim McGraw. With his first single, “Indian Outlaw,” he deftly revealed just how far we have to go with our relations with and conceptions of Native American people. Not that he meant to; he just released a terrible song, filled with awful clichés that reached Number One on the US charts because white people, right?

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Music Review: The History Of Apple Pie, Feel Something

By Melissa Bratcher

On their second album, Feel Something, London’s The History Of Apple Pie fully embrace the ‘90s throwback, shoe-gazey style that they explored on their previous release, 2013’s Out Of View. Listening to Feel Something is like taking a trip back to the not terribly long ago, but longer than I think it was past. The cover of Feel Something even looks a bit like a My Bloody Valentine cover.

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DVD Review: Prisoner Of Paradise

By Brad Henderson

When I received Vinegar Syndrome’s recent release of Prisoner Of Paradise I asked myself, “Do I bring The Boozer Reviewer back?” Then I saw it was a big budget X-rated war epic, falling under the Nazisploitation subgenre. . . and it starred John Holmes. I knew then I needed to watch this without any alcohol.

Man, I wish I was intoxicated when I watched this.

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Blu-Ray Review: StageFright

By Brad Henderson

StageFright was a classic when I originally saw it back in the ‘90s. At that time I knew it as Bloody Bird, but a little while later I acquired a VHS copy with the title StageFright: Aquarius. I imagine this was confusing for some in the days before the Internet. I think the distributors knew this so they made StageFright one word. Honestly, it doesn’t matter but I find it funny. It’s even funnier since Jerome Sable’s Stage Fright was released earlier this year.

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