Ho Ho Humbug: Christmas Music For Miscreants

By Less Lee Moore

If you have to leave the house at any point between November 1 and Christmas Eve, chances are good that you’re going to have to hear the same, tired, annoying, and cloying holiday songs over and over again.

Don’t worry; I’m not going to tell you to cheer up or anything. I do, however, have some musical suggestions for you to put on your iPod so that you don’t have to endure the billionth repeat of “Wonderful Christmastime,” but which will still allow you to maintain that air of cool, annoyed resignation that is the only way to get through the holiday season.

(more…)

The Official Popshifter Podcast, Episode #06: Bowie Covers (And Super Creeps)

Less Lee Moore and Jeffery X Martin examine the wide variety of cover versions of the songs of David Bowie, focusing on Cleopatra Records’ release A Salute to the Thin White Duke, the female-fronted Spiders from Venus album, and others. The show concludes with a discussion of Bowie’s single/video release, “Blackstar.”

Links:

A Salute to the Thin White Duke

Spiders From Venus: Women Cover David Bowie

Lea DeLaria, House Of David

David Bowie, “Blackstar” video

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

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.”

(more…)

Happy Birthday, Mads Mikkelsen!

By Less Lee Moore

I brought you some cheese. And a sparkler. And my moustache.

Did you know that today is Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen’s 50th birthday? Clearly, 50 is the new 30!

His most recent film, Men & Chicken, screened at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and is set to hit theaters next year thanks to Drafthouse Films.

In the film, Mads plays a character named Elias who sports a very jaunty moustache. But it’s not the first time in his cinematic career he’s done so. So today, in honor of Mads Mikkelsen’s birthday and the most recent entry into his Moustache Hall of Fame, we take a look back at the most memorable Mads Mikkelsen moustaches (“Madstaches”).

(more…)

Wayback Wednesday: A Look At Jonestown

By Less Lee Moore

“We didn’t commit suicide, we committed an act of revolutionary suicide protesting the conditions of an inhumane world.”
—The Reverend Jim Jones, founder of the The Peoples Temple Full Gospel Church

“Revolutionary suicide does not mean that I and my comrades have a death wish; it means just the opposite. We have such a strong desire to live with hope and human dignity that existence without them is impossible. When reactionary forces crush us, we must move against these forces, even at the risk of death.”
—Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party

(more…)

Music Review: Fuzz, II

By Less Lee Moore

The first album from Fuzz (review) was a stoner rock delight, all guitar solos and epic jams. The latest, the succinctly titled II, is more of the same, but bigger, better, and more bodacious. Since then, member Ty Segall has released his most accomplished album yet (2014’s Manipulator) and the effects of an astonishing improvement in songcraft shows on this album. If you like epic jams or if you want some serious hooks mixed with your stoner rock, Fuzz is just what you’ve been waiting for.

(more…)

Concert Review: Zombi at The Hard Luck Bar

By Less Lee Moore

November 7, 2015
Toronto ON

You might think that two normal-looking guys with short hair wearing jeans and T-shirts and playing music with no vocals would make for an exceedingly boring evening, but you’d be wrong. Zombi is anything but pedestrian.

(more…)

Blu-Ray Review: The Brood

By Less Lee Moore

Let’s get this out of the way first: whenever someone asks about my favorite David Cronenberg film, my knee-jerk response is, The Brood. Having seen almost all of Cronenberg’s pre-A History Of Violence movies, it still stands out. Perhaps it doesn’t have as much of the gruesome depravity of Videodrome or Dead Ringers (both excellent films in their own right), but there’s just something about it that continues to fascinate me.

(more…)

Five Freaky German Films

By Less Lee Moore

Der Nachtmahr

I was a big fan of Der Nachtmahr, which screened at this year’s TIFF. German director AKIZ has said that the film is “New German Fantastic Cinema” with roots in the Expressionist films of the 1920s. Here are a few more freaky German films from the country’s rich cinematic tradition.

(more…)