Owing as much to Emerson, Lake and Palmer as they do to John Carpenter and Fabio Frizzi, Detroit instrumental synth-rockers Voyag3r (pronounced “Voyager Three”), create harrowing sci-fi soundtracks for non-existent films. Their first full-length release is called Doom Fortress, and it is precisely as happy as it sounds.
There’s something to be said for Sunday morning music: the music you put on because the hangover hat is so heavy you can’t raise your head, or the music that goes nicely with coffee and the Sunday paper. The Low Countries’ Greatest Hits compilation A Prize Every Time – The Greatest Bits is truly a Sunday morning record. It’s quiet; it’s packed with tidy, short songs; and is so restrained that it is almost painful. An Anglo-Flemish duo comprised of Nigel Parrington and Els D’hooge, The Low Countries have been turning out twee, thinky, folky music since 2007 and A Prize Every Time gives a nice overview of their brand of ever-so-gentle music.
Continue reading ‘Music Review: The Low Countries, A Prize Every Time – The Greatest Bits‘
Better Than Ezra deserves credit for being one of the few bands to make it through the Nineties with their personnel and integrity intact. Lead singer Kevin Griffin has one of the most recognizable voices in the business and the band’s standard blend of light ska and clever catchy choruses is time-tested and successful. At the very least, Better Than Ezra has always been less painful to listen to than Train.
Continue reading ‘Music Review: Better Than Ezra, All Together Now‘
Roughly a million years ago, or probably closer to 12, my new friend Dave and I were chatting with Sloan’s Andrew Scott after a show and Dave asked if perhaps one day Sloan might do something like KISS did in 1978: each member release a solo album at the same time and they could have matching covers and see whose sells the best. Andrew replied, laconically, “Oh, Jay would fucking love that.” (I’m not paraphrasing there; I’m pretty sure that’s what he said exactly.)
As I’ve said before, country music is a train wreck, a big one, where you can’t identify the body parts because they’ve been replaced by twisted steel and tiny fragments of seats and gears. Everything is all jumbled together and, unless you’ve happened to luck onto some old stuff, you can’t tell the country from the can’t-ry.
So why do I still listen?
Hope.
Continue reading ‘New Country for Old Men: Kenny Chesney, “American Kids”’
By Cait Brennan
Scott Miller wrote and sang some of the most innovative, intelligent, moving indie pop of the past three decades. For years, though, the Game Theory catalog has been impossible to hear, keeping the work of this essential artist out of reach of all but the most devoted fans. Miller’s tragic passing in April 2013 galvanized efforts to change that, and America’s finest reissue label rode to the rescue. At long last, 1982’s Blaze Of Glory is back, with a bevy of bonus goodies, and it’s a harbinger of even bigger things to come.
Continue reading ‘Music Review: Game Theory, Blaze Of Glory (Reissue)’
By Ben van D
Hillary Clinton giving birth to a fully-grown and wailing Brian Wilson in the passenger seat of a bulletproof deuce coup might seem unlikely. Perhaps no more likely than bleached California coast pop sprouting up from the heart of land-locked Arkansas. However unlikely, somehow Fayetteville’s SW/MM/NG make it seem natural with their debut offering Feel Not Bad.
Who thought the Cabin Fever movies would keep going? I didn’t. I enjoyed the original Cabin Fever because Eli Roth was blending old school horror with a modern touch and it was a blast. Roth made a throwback film without calling it a throwback and succeeded in many ways. He left this franchise alone but continued making films like Hostel. Ti West stepped up to the plate next and made a sequel called Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever. This movie went into a different direction but kept the comedy and gore and did so in a way that it didn’t feel like much of a sequel aside from recurring characters. Even though Ti West disowns the film I still think it is a great addition to the franchise.
Continue reading ‘Blu-Ray Review: Cabin Fever: Patient Zero‘
In 1976, a film called Snuff was exposed to the world. Snuff is vile, gross, and just plain weird, but it’s excellent at the same time. But let’s back up a bit first.
I will admit that I’m not very knowledgeable about this whole Jersey Shore thing. I know there is a TV show with a bunch of people drinking and fighting, but that’s about it. One of them is called The Situation, which is extremely stupid. The only situation on this show is that they all suffer from being idiots. Now they’ve decided to start a production company—at least the person named JWoww or whatever the hell she’s called—and start making movies? Personally, I don’t really care what they are doing, all I know is that this isn’t film.