Today In Pop Culture: Crosby Meets Bowie

By Jeffery X Martin

Pop quiz, hot shots.

Who was the biggest selling musical artist of the twentieth century? We’ll make this multiple choice, just to make it easier.

A) Elvis Presley
B) Madonna
C) Perry Como
D) Bachman-Turner Overdrive

If you guessed Bachman-Turner Overdrive, bless your heart.

Continue reading ‘Today In Pop Culture: Crosby Meets Bowie’

TV Review: Master of None, Episode 6: “Nashville”

By Tyler Hodg

“Nashville” is everything television should be. The sixth episode of Master of None is charming, intelligent, heartbreaking, and humorous—more so than any of the other episodes so far.

Continue reading ‘TV Review: Master of None, Episode 6: “Nashville”’

Music Review: Love, Reel to Real

By Melissa Bratcher

Love’s 1974 album Reel To Real doesn’t sound how you might expect Love to sound. It lacks the psychedelia and heavy rock of their best known work Forever Changes, and instead could be considered an Arthur Lee solo record. It’s funky. Super funky. And it’s fascinating.

Continue reading ‘Music Review: Love, Reel to Real’

TV Review: Master of None, Episode 5: “The Other Man”

By Tyler Hodg

Things get weird in the fifth episode of Master of None. Guest staring Claire Danes, Noah Emmerich, and Colin Salmon, “The Other Man” incorporates some bigger name actors in a few odd situations.

Continue reading ‘TV Review: Master of None, Episode 5: “The Other Man”’

Music Review: They Might Be Giants, Why?

By Melissa Bratcher

They Might Be Giants can’t help but be They Might Be Giants. Since 1982, TMBG have been doling out idiosyncratic melodies with unusual instrumentation and clever, visual lyrics. Their jump to making music for families (not kids, specifically, but families) was less a jump than a side step, and a logical move. Those of us who listened to TMBG as yoofs have been known to foist cassettes of their music on our own children (who, if they have any taste at all, loved them) and one day, those children will foist hologidgets of TMBG on their children and thus the cycle will be repeated forever and ever, etcetera.

Continue reading ‘Music Review: They Might Be Giants, Why?’

The Official Popshifter Podcast, Episode #04: Texas Gators

Welcome to Episode 4 of The Official Popshifter Podcast. This one is titled “Texas Gators, Violent Pornography, and Tales from the Pit.”

Already, you should be enticed. It’s another fascinating discussion of American pop culture with Less Lee and X! Please enjoy. Preferably with a nice glass of cold Bosco.

Reviews:

Blu-Ray Review: Eaten Alive

DVD Review: The Farmer’s Daughters

Blu-Ray Review: The Beast (from Dirge Magazine)

Music Review: Hulaland: The Golden Age of Hawaiian Music

Music Review: Fuzz, II

Concert Review: Fuzz at The Hoxton

Music Review: Protomartyr, The Agent Intellect

By Jeffery X Martin

One of the glorious things about living in a college town is getting to listen to college radio. Flexible playlists, fresh new music, and DJs who haven’t quite learned to read out loud are only a few of the entertainment benefits. In fact, the first time I heard Protomartyr was on our local college station (WUTK – Volunteer Radio, baby). I thought the announcer said the name of the band was “Robo-Margaret.” I searched for that non-existent band for two days!

Continue reading ‘Music Review: Protomartyr, The Agent Intellect’

Review: Master of None, Episode 4: “Indians on TV”

By Tyler Hodg

It’s not hard to guess what the theme of Master of None’s fourth episode is when it has a title like “Indians On TV.” Writers Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang tackle cultural inaccuracies, and, well, blatant racism towards Indians in television and film.

Continue reading ‘Review: Master of None, Episode 4: “Indians on TV”’

We Want Movie Sign: Why Bringing Back MST3K Is A Good Thing

By Matt Keeley and Less Lee Moore

Matt Keeley is a Popshifter alum who currently contributes to the excellent pop culture and LGBTQ blog Unicorn Booty.

To paraphrase Bono (and Chris Murphy from Sloan), lately there’s been a lot of talk, maybe too much talk, about the recent Kickstarter for a new version of Mystery Science Theater 3000 that was launched by Joel Hodgson. And when we say “talk” we mean “smack talk.”

Continue reading ‘We Want Movie Sign: Why Bringing Back MST3K Is A Good Thing’

Music Review: Danzig, Skeletons

By Tim Murr

Glenn Danzig could have ended his career at any time in the last 30 years and still left an indelible mark across pop culture. Most artists don’t get one iconic band to front, much less three! From Misfits to Samhain to Danzig, Glenn has given the world some of the best albums in punk, goth, and metal, while always staying true to his rugged individualistic vision and not giving a fuck about trends.

Continue reading ‘Music Review: Danzig, Skeletons’