Music Review: Utopia, POV (Reissue)

By Jeffery X Martin

Todd Rundgren’s music has always been an acquired taste. His chart hits have felt like flukes, strange cracks in the system. You aren’t supposed to know who Todd Rundgren is. He leads a cult that resides so far underground, they may as well be Morlocks.

One of the reasons for this status is Rundgren’s musical twitchiness. He jumps from style to style, from Philly white-boy blues to synth-pop, from down and dirty rock and roll to salsa. Never knowing what he’ll do next is exciting for some, laborious for others.

In the late Seventies, Rundgren formed a band called Utopia. It was designed to be his big foray into progressive rock, exploring grand concepts and incorporating deep philosophical lyrics. As it gradually shrank from seven members to four, Utopia became one of the sharpest New Wave bands of its time, delivering perfect three-minute pop songs, deliciously textured with soaring, shifting harmonies.

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Music Review: Stephen Emmer, International Blue

By Melissa Bratcher

It is difficult to categorize Stephen Emmer’s International Blue (produced by Tony Visconti). It’s an orchestral chamber pop album that showcases some of the finest baritone singers currently in the UK (Ultravox’s Midge Ure, Heaven 17’s Glenn Gregory, Furlined’s Neil Crossley, and Cousteau’s Liam McKahey). It’s not exactly orchestra music, and it’s not exactly pop, but what it really sounds like is a soundtrack for a moody mid-1960s film, the kind where the actors wear amazingly fashionable clothes in primary colors and stare seriously off into the distance. It’s a fine album to mark the slide from late summer into autumn.

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Music Review: Jesse Winchester, A Reasonable Amount Of Trouble

By Melissa Bratcher

I turned on Elvis Costello’s Spectacle for Neko Case, but after it was over, I was a Jesse Winchester fan. Like so many who found him from Spectacle, Jesse Winchester felt like my own special secret, this wonderful, warm singer who drew me in and disarmed me with his completely singular voice.

No one sounds like Jesse Winchester. Warmth is the word I keep coming back to when describing his voice, like a warm blanket and a cup of tea, or strong reliable windows against a storm. He’s soothing. His voice is buoyant and gentle. He imbues his songs with honesty and can take simple phrases and make them magical. Unfortunately, he passed away in April of this year. He was one of a kind.

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Music Review: The Fauntleroys, Below The Pink Pony

By Melissa Bratcher

I fully expected to enjoy the debut EP from The Fauntleroys, a new collaboration (I’m not using the word “supergroup” because it’s just embarrassing on principle) from Ivan Julian (founding member of the Voidoids), Linda Pitmon (Zuzu’s Petals, The Baseball Project), Nicholas Tremulis (Chicago-based soul iconoclast), and Alejandro Escovedo (Rank and File, The Nuns, and an amazing solo career). What I didn’t expect was to love Below The Pink Pony as much as I do. It’s six fantastic, loose, throwback songs done by stellar musicians who are obviously having a great time.

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Music Review: Tiny Moving Parts, Pleasant Living

By Melissa Bratcher

When I was a youngster, I had Gordon Gano and John Lydon’s voices to express my angst and loathing. I’m sure my parents haaaaaated hearing their adenoidal tones blaring from my room. Times haven’t changed, and there are still frontmen with hateable voices.

Tiny Moving Parts’ Dylan Mattheisen is a fantastic guitarist. He pulls textures and richness from his guitar in ways that truly boggle. As a lead singer, though, his voice made me want to put my fist through a wall. Perhaps that was what he was going for. In that case, well done.

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Blu-Ray Review: The Possession Of Michael King

By Brad Henderson

David Jung is a first time director/writer who has brought his first feature to the table with The Possession Of Michael King. Jung did a hell of a job with his first film and I’m excited to see what he does next, but sadly, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this flick.

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DVD Review: Blood Soaked

By Brad Henderson

There are quite a few films that don’t get much attention these days. Between big-budget blockbusters and higher budget indies, these B-movies just get shoved to the side. There are a few companies sweeping these films up and giving them the time of day and Wild Eye Releasing is one of them.

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Blu-Ray Review: Graduation Day

By Brad Henderson

Back in the day Troma purchased a lot of films from different companies who were going out of business to build up their catalogue. Yes, Troma’s name is all over the old DVD and their logo is on the back on this Blu-Ray but Troma didn’t have anything to do with the making of the film. I only say this because the streak that Troma has isn’t a very good one. Luckily. we have Vinegar Syndrome who is going through Troma’s catalogue and pulling the good flicks out of the depths of their toilet and giving them a proper release.

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Movie Review: Honeymoon

By Less Lee Moore

Leigh Janiak’s first directorial effort, Honeymoon, wants very much to successfully blend the feel of an indie dramedy with science fiction films like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Unfortunately, it doesn’t succeed in either capacity.

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Blu-Ray Review: Locke

By Brad Henderson

Sometimes I will look at a film differently depending on how it is made, obstacles that were overcome during production, or something as seemingly insignificant as maybe a story behind it. I wouldn’t say Locke falls under any of the categories but it is a film that stands out from the rest.

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