Why Wrestling Can’t Modernize

By Paul Casey

Wrestling is not a sport. It is some combination of martial arts exhibition, magic, and comic books. It is a dangerous profession. As I wrote around this time last year on Popshifter, there are many reasons why professional wrestling has not gained legitimate mainstream acceptance.

Over the last year in WWE—the most powerful wrestling outfit in the world—CM Punk, independent wrestling hero and one of the most gifted technicians in at least a decade, has held the main world title. He has held it for over a year, straight. In modern times this is extremely rare. In the old days title reigns lasted years; now they last months with a much wider pool of talent vying for the top prize. This is not really a bad thing—even though some would-be traditionalists argue that it has added to wrestling’s decline—as when the wrestlers in competition are talented and the bookers know how to weave storylines together it can reflect the best aspects of professional wrestling: fast, brutal, hilarious, and supremely athletic.

I have admired Punk for a long time, and when he shook up the company in 2011, it was an exciting time to be a wrestling fan. I hoped, as many did, that this would be the moment when wrestling finally moved on and progressed beyond emulating the successes it had in the past. Even though there have been many fine things about CM Punk’s run as the top guy in WWE (and arguably in all of pro wrestling), it emphasizes again how deeply ingrained wrestling’s problems are.

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Movies: Thirteen In 2013

By Lisa Anderson

Much Ado About Nothing

So here we are, in 2013! The number thirteen has been considered both lucky and unlucky throughout history and across the world, but looking ahead it seems to be a lucky number for moviegoers. I thought it would be fun to make a list of the thirteen genre films (i.e., sci-fi, fantasy and horror, etc.) that interest me most this year. While not all the movies I want to see are genre films, the list was easy to make.

1. Guillermo del Toro presents: Mama (Jan. 18)
Horror master del Toro’s latest production, directed by Andrés Muschietti, tells the story of two orphaned little girls who may not be as alone as they seem. The film’s trailer is quite a hook, teasing and building up to the reveal of the titular horror. If the actual movie is half as creepy and atmospheric, it’ll be a thrill.

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My Vinyl Addiction and the Perfect Turntable

By Danny R. Phillips, unrepentant recordaholic

Hi, my name’s Danny and I’m a vinyl junkie. Not the vinyl slapped on the front seat of a 1973 Chevy Malibu. No, I’m talking records man, RECORDS! From my earliest memories, I have loved the dark wonder of the LP. I would sit surrounded by my mother’s collection, everything from The Faces to Supertramp, Everly Brothers to The Bellamy Brothers. I recall listening to records for hours on end, ignoring Sesame Street, often wearing a pair of those 1970’s “earmuff” headphones, tightened to the last notch to accommodate my five-year-old head, pressing them tight with my hands so that not a note could escape.

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Band Profile: The Grownup Noise

By Chelsea Spear

Over the past few years, the Boston music scene has been host to a reinvention of the folk music scene. Bands like Crooked Still, Golden Bloom, and the Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library have adapted aspects of traditional music to a more rock- and indie-inspired sound. Most recently, The Grownup Noise has blended verbose, catchy singalong verses and choruses to ornately orchestrated pop songs and substantial rock rhythms.

The opening riff for “Strawmen,” the opening song for the band’s 2011 release This Time, With Feeling, sounds like the musical equivalent of a Dagwood sandwich. Rolling, savory percussion wells up amidst tangy cello and a schmear of shimmering keyboard. This combination of aural flavors shouldn’t work as well together as they do. Call it love at first taste.

Throughout the album, canny arrangements contrast the band’s musical lineup in a manner that keeps the listeners in a kind of musical suspense. On a production level, This Time, With Feeling has a clean, mid-range sound that sometimes emphasizes the band’s idiosyncratic, retro qualities, with some fun stereophonic sound effects.

Paul Hansen’s songwriting skills and endearingly imperfect vocals anchor The Grownup Noise’s musical cornucopia. Hansen writes lushly melodic songs and pairs his abbreviated verses with long, detailed lyrical stretches. Listening to him fit all the words into his verses sounds like watching someone try to write a long, detailed message on the back of a beautiful postcard. Hansen sings in a nasally tenor that suggests James Taylor or Van Dyke Parks. The contrast of his breathy, sometimes pinched-sounding vocals against the movable feast of The Grownup Noise’s baroque pop makes for an engaging listen.

Fans of The Grownup Noise’s impeccable records won’t have long to wait for the next one. The quintet recorded a new album this past fall that should be available soon. In the meantime, they will be engaging in a brief East Coast tour this February. Fans of unusual pop music should check them out. You can listen to tracks on the band’s website or Facebook page.

Tour Dates:
February 21: The Middle East (upstairs), Cambridge MA/8:30 p.m.
February 22: The Rock Shop, Brooklyn NY/9 p.m.
February 23: The Basement, Northampton MA/8 p.m.

Assemblog: January 4, 2013

The Place Beyond The Pines

New this week on Popshifter: We’ve got Best Of 2012 lists from me as well as Megashaun. You can also peruse all our Best Of 2012 lists, if you’re so inclined.

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Best Of 2012: Megashaun

These days it’s not uncommon to hear the reply “busy” when asking someone you’ve not seen for a while, “how are you?” Having attended numerous events throughout the year, I’ve come to realize just how universal and vague a reply this is, and have therefore stopped using it. While it is nice to relax every now and then, being occupied with work and various other projects keeps the mind healthy and the creativity flowing. Best of all it completely destroys boredom—and looking back at 2012 I can honestly say this has been the most exciting year I’ve experienced.

Given my “day job” as a host and reporter for EP Daily, I’m in a position to experience more than most people, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunities this job has afforded me. These include meeting and interviewing people behind some of my favorite games, TV shows, and movies. Some of my interview highlights this year include Mark Ruffalo and Cobie Smulders for The Avengers, Brad Bird for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, the incomparable Radioman, and super stylish game designer Suda51. I have a personal rule to not “fan out” over people I meet but I disregarded this entirely while interviewing Suda51 and even went so far as to ask for a photo (which turned out amazing as you can see).

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Best Of 2012: Less Lee Moore

Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander

2012 was the year of the woman. Women dominated the best of music, film, and TV.

The most significant figure for me in 2012 was Lisbeth Salander, the Steig Larsson-created character of the Millennium trilogy of novels, who also appears in the original Swedish film series and David Fincher’s newest film incarnation. Critics and fans may fight over who was better, Noomi Rapace or Rooney Mara, but both were outstanding at portraying my personal favorite female character of the last couple of decades. (Ms. Rapace had the added distinction of playing the more than worthy successor to Ellen Ripley when she inhabited the role of Dr. Elizabeth Shaw in Ridley Scott’s misunderstood but brilliant Prometheus.)

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Assemblog: December 21, 2012

Night Shift, 1982

New this week on Popshifter: Best Of 2012 lists from Danny, Emily, Paul, Jeffrey, and Chelsea; Jemiah reviews the Django Unchained soundtrack; and I come up with ten more holiday tunes that won’t make you sick.

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Top Ten: More Holiday Tunes That Won’t Make You Sick

By Less Lee Moore

We all hate the played out holiday tunes that we’re forced to hear every year in malls, grocery stores, offices, and restaurants beginning at the end of November (or for those of us in Canada, the beginning of November). I can’t say I unequivocally hate Christmas music, just the Christmas music I hate. Here are ten songs that might change your mind about holiday tuneage.

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Music Review: Django Unchained Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

By Jemiah Jefferson

Audiences know by now that the films of Quentin Tarantino will have certain elements in common: protagonists that barely edge out of antihero territory, if at all; bad guys at least as charming as the heroes, but lacking in fundamental compassion; gleefully creative use of extreme profanity, either in dialogue or in philosophy; and of course, extreme, explicit, and shocking violence. Something often overlooked, however, until experienced, is the fact that Tarantino is one of the most gifted compilers of phenomenal soundtracks that has ever lived.

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