Music Review: R. Kelly, The Buffet

By Paul Casey

R. Kelly’s thirteenth studio album, The Buffet, is an album of conflicting styles. Up front, The Buffet takes all of the ridiculous sex metaphors from throughout Kelly’s career and amplifies them to an extreme. Like Black Panties and 12 Play before it, things get dark and filthy. You can probably imagine the kind of sexy food metaphors that Kelly employs in pursuit of the perfect dirty song, but here is a quote anyway: “Come and feed me baby / girl put your body on a dinner plate / I just can’t get enough of your buffet and I’m so hungry / baby feed me.”

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The Intercontinental Title Podcast, Episode #02

In this episode, Paul and X give their predictions for TLC 2015 and discuss the shining glory that is Jesse Ventura.

The Intercontinental Title Podcast, Episode #01

Welcome to the latest podcast in the Popshifter family, The International Title Podcast.

This weekly podcast covers the WWE, both presently and historically. Hosts Jeffery X Martin and Paul Casey also take a look at the larger questions involved with the business, such as how it impacts popular culture.

Does NXT Hold The Key To The Future Of Wrestling?

By Paul Casey

NXT is ostensibly the minor leagues of WWE; in reality, it is so much more than that.

I have watched wrestling for a long time; over 20 years. And I don’t know if I have ever been so hopeful for the future of the sport than I am now. Triple H has assembled a rich group of talent, combining Indie veterans and entirely new creations, many from sports backgrounds. NXT is filmed in the Full Sail University—WWE’s training ground—in Florida and the crowd has the old ECW feel, only without the misogyny and blood lust. This is a kinder, more mature audience who are just as likely to appreciate a great women’s match as they are a kendo stick extravaganza.

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The Official Popshifter Podcast, Episode #03: Hallowand

The Official Popshifter Podcast, Episode #03, “Hallowand”

It’s the Halloween episode of the Official Popshifter Podcast, and we’re talking about all things Halloween with our special guest, Paul Casey. It’s a cornucopia of creepiness this month on Popshifter!

Featuring Managing Editor Less Lee Moore, Featured Contributor Jeffery X Martin, and Special Guest Paul Casey! Enjoy and thanks for listening.

Reviews:

Music Review: Wand, 1000 Days

DVD Review: A Plague So Pleasant

Blu-Ray Review: The Walking Dead, Season Five

Gallant: How The New R&B Saved My Life

By Paul Casey

Brainwaves living in stills / Your nightmare’s just floating on film, babe
You found it in the white lies, back of your mind
You know it’s not the same reel that you dusted off before
So set it in a tape deck / Put it in a VCR / Show me how you got in this predicament
Did the Devil let you down? / I could tell you it’s the apex / I could tell you it’s the Alhambra
Take another shot of your adrenaline / Pray you’ll get that far
—Gallant, “Manhattan”

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Music Review: The Dramatics, Greatest Slow Jams

By Paul Casey

The Dramatics had the funky, harder sound. Then they had the smooth and low-down sound. That falsetto by Ron Banks put them in that category of magical 1970s Soul with The Delfonics and The Stylistics. L.J. Reynolds brings some of that rougher and gruffer vocal love. This Greatest Slow Jams compilation grabs a bunch of the sweetest and sexiest tracks from 1971-1976, excluding the group’s collaboration with The Dells. It also includes the L.J. Reynolds single “Tomorrow” from his 1987 album Tell Me You Will. This would sound great next to a James Ingram track or Between the Sheets-era Isley Brothers or hell, something from The Dramatics’ reunion album from ’85! Out of print, yes, but placed next to the very 1970s sound of the rest of the songs, it breaks the mood. And with slow jams, the mood is everything. If you have to stop having sex, that playlist needs to be tweaked, pal.

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After You’ve Gone: Thoughts On Burial At Sea

By Paul Casey

Part One

I love Lost. I love Prometheus. I love Bioshock. Suspension of disbelief is a crutch for people who have a failure of imagination. Hammering something down and making it more comprehensible is not an inherent positive. Presenting a story that provokes confusion and forces the brain to engage in a creative way is not a failure of talent or of planning. It is an artistically rich approach that many actively seek out in opposition to what they are told are the true “reality” based goals.

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Best Of 2013: Paul Casey

2013 was a good year for my interests. Some of the greatest video games I have experienced all came in a bunch. R&B continued its resurgence with both new and legendary musicians, making this year one of the greatest in nearly a decade for human music. Rap has also reached a more interesting place than it has been in a long time with much of the dull-minded aversion to being smooth and beautiful wiped away. Now if you want to hit a nice melody on the chorus you can do it without the fear that you will be removed from the big-cock-I’m-in-a-street gang-and-will-literally-murder-you-and-your-family club. Even when it was aggressive or violent, this year it was from the Miike Takashi School of Creative Perversion.

On the television too, I had a wonderful time with the most original American show in the last decade ending its run on top. Yes, Eastbound & Down (probably) ended Kenny Power’s story as fearlessly as it began. This was not a big movie year for me and while I am sure there are a bunch that I will love when I get around to seeing them—Blue Jasmine, The Counsellor—nothing I have seen this year warrants a recommendation.

Games
Music: Albums
Music: Singles
Television
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Interview With: Toronto R&B Musician Jhyve, Part Two

By Paul Casey

About a month ago, I had a conversation with a talented musician from Toronto. Jamaal Desmond Bowry goes by the name Jhyve and makes modern R&B. He also has a touch for Rap. His latest album, Supermegafutureshit, resulted from a collaboration with producer Soul. The album is an atmospheric thing and another sign of how the genre is regaining its standing with listeners and musicians. Get low, change the tone, push through a whole bunch of compatible influences.

I spoke with Jhyve for about an hour and our conversation covered many things that I feel are important, especially right now. While we discussed Jhyve’s history and how his music has developed, we also got to talk about how R&B has changed over the years and why it is that so many unfairly reduce its ability to address human problems. Read Part One of the interview.
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