The dB’s, Falling Off The Sky

By Less Lee Moore

It’s been 25 years since the dB’s recorded an album; it’s been 30 years since they recorded one with the band’s original lineup of Peter Holsapple, Chris Stamey, Gene Holder, and Will Rigby. Understandably, expectations run high and the urge to compare this new album to their previous ones is strong. As a fan, I wanted to try and avoid this in my review, but damn it if each song on Falling Off The Sky doesn’t sound exactly like the dB’s! Which is a good thing, trust me.

Let’s be clear: the songs on Falling Off The Sky aren’t those of old fogeys. Okay, maybe Holsapple and Stamey can’t hit the high notes like they did in the early ’80s, but there is not one boring or stodgy moment on this album.

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Your SpaceX, Space-y Celebration Mix

By Emily Carney

On May 22, SpaceX’s Dragon capsule became the first commercial space vehicle to be launched and docked with the International Space Station. The footage on NASA TV was gorgeous, epic, and monolitic and reminded me of why spaceflight still remains completely badass and important. The capsule made a successful landing on Friday, May 31.

Sexy cover models:
The crew of Apollo 10 (1969)
Gene Cernan, Tom Stafford, John Young

As everybody who knows me knows, I’m obsessed with spaceflight. So this is what I listened to during the week of SpaceX’s travels in low earth orbit.

SPACE MIX
1. “Apollo 16 Lunar Rover Ride,” by John Young and Charlie Duke, on the Moon, April 1972
2. “Blue Danube (Excerpt),” Johann Strauss
3. “Future,” Cut Copy
4. “Don’t Bring Me Down,” Electric Light Orchestra
5. “Hold Still,” Jarvis Cocker
6. “Time Stands Still,” Cut Copy
7. “National Anthem,” Lana Del Rey
8. “Midnight City,” M83

Check it out here: http://8tracks.com/emilybot/space-mix

Assemblog: June 1, 2012

Holy Motors, 2012

New on Popshifter this week: a review of Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life and the highly anticipated Prometheus. There are also fifteen (!) new articles from our May/June issue, True Patriot Love.

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Prometheus: More Than A Spectacle

By Paul Casey

You will see Prometheus. Of course you will. If you have even a modicum of space knowledge of Ridley Scott, you will. Alien, Blade Runner, Prometheus. Even if this is a space version of Robin Hood, you have to see it. Ridley Scott is as important to science fiction cinema as Stanley Kubrick. We all know this. In spite of the cynicism and waiting Internet doom machine, you have no choice but to see this movie. And when you do, you need to see it in 3D.

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Our May/June 2012 Issue Is Out Now!

May/June 2012 Issue – True Patriot Love

Click the image
to read the issue!

Issue 027—True Patriot Love—Features: Five Reasons/Nathan Fillion; Top Ten/Jim Carrey; Paul Gross; The ’70s & Donald Sutherland; Callum Keith Rennie; Top Ten Sloan Songs; The Barenaked Ladies; The Wainwright-McGarrigles; Nick Gilder & Tal Bachman; NoMeansNo; Guy Maddin; The Kids In The Hall; Degrassi; RetrOntario.

Live The Life You’re Dreaming Of

It’s been ten years now, so I automatically assume everyone knows the story. But I should probably tell it again. First, I fell in love with Sloan. Then, I fell in love with Shaun.

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Five Reasons We Love Nathan Fillion

By Lisa Anderson

Nathan Fillion as
Mal Reynolds on Firefly

Few Canadian actors have been as beloved in the 21st century than Nathan Fillion. He’s perhaps best known for his role as spaceship smuggler captain and war veteran Malcolm Reynolds, in Joss Whedon’s short-lived but influential Firefly series. It’s true enough that Browncoats (Firefly fans) still love their Captain; he even unintentionally set off an online fundraising firestorm last year by suggesting that he would buy the rights to the show and distribute it for free if he had enough money. There are many other reasons that Nathan Fillion has as many fans as he does, though—even aside from being handsome and seeming friendly and funny in interviews and at conventions. Here are are just a few.
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Top Ten: Jim Carrey’s Most Humorous Characters

By Julie Finley

Jim Carrey: some people love him . . . some people hate him. I would fall into the “love” category, although I don’t love every single role he has played. But the ones I do adore, I REALLY love because no one could ever pull it off quite like him!

Sadly, there are people who actually claim that he’s “Not Funny!” or “Stupid!” I honestly do not know how anyone could NOT find at least one of his characters humorous, but some people are just assholes that lack a sense of humor. So, if you are one of those types, don’t even bother to read this! If you do have a healthy sense of humor, but have only paid attention to one or two characters he’s played, read on (or if you just appreciate the guy, this will be of interest)!

I’ve compiled a list of my favorite comedic roles he’s portrayed over the years. This list will not include his dramatic or more serious roles. He is a great dramatic actor, but comedy is truly his forte, and I really wish someone in Hollywood would write an incredible comedy film script that could bring his finest talents back into the spotlight. It’s been a while since he’s been in a rip-roaring hilarious feature, and I blame that on the absolute garbage that has come out of Hollywood in the past 10+ years. I think the last really great comedies I’ve seen were anything involving Sacha Baron Cohen, Bad Santa, The Forty Year Old Virgin, and Stepbrothers. Everything else has been totally lame, and I am sick of seeing the same five actors in the same roles over and over again!

With that said, here are my favorites, and I will note: these are original characters developed by Jim, not impersonations (which he is incredible at doing, but these are his own creations).
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Paul Gross in the Performance of My Lifetime

By Michelle Patterson

Paul Gross wasn’t about to change just my perceptions of what makes good Art good (the kind with a capital “A”) and what makes bad art bad (the kind that makes you wince at the attempt of it in the first place). “Why aren’t these people afraid of failure,” I’d think to myself. “What made them think that they could do this?”
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What Would The ’70s Have Done Without Donald Sutherland?

By Charlie M.

The Seventies were lucky to have Donald Sutherland. A quick look at his filmography suggests that whatever genre you’re interested in, there’s an iconic ’70s film with Sutherland at the heart of it. From comedy to sci-fi, from horror to war movie, like a human landmark, you can use him to orientate yourself around cult films of the era. His charisma is, in part, due to the fact there’s no other actor who looks quite like him—he’s magnetically sexy rather than conventionally attractive. More brutally, film director Fellini described him as “a sperm-filled waxwork with the eyes of a masturbator.”
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