We have now reached the last of a three part series concerning the three taboos of cinema. Thus far we have discussed the use of profanity and violence, leaving us…
Michael Burke
2 Min Read
Musical genres can be helpful for fans: They allow music to be categorized; grouped with other artists that sound similar. If you like Metallica, you will probably like Slayer. If…
Dw. Dunphy
2 Min Read
Can I get a head count of all the bloggers out there reading this? Ten? Thirty-two? Forty-eight? … All of you? Well then, I suppose all of you will understand…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
“Someone sent some big-shot Agent here to take a look at me But he left before I even started Then said that I was talent-free I’m having that kind of…
Ed Murray
1 Min Read
From its inception, the band Cactus was always supposed to be a supergroup. The rhythm section of late-“Ëœ60s psychedelic sludge rockers Vanilla Fudge — namely, bassist Tim Bogert and drummer…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Each spring when Great Strides rolls around and we begin fundraising for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Julie and I do our best to write a letter that grabs people’s attentions…
Ann Logue
2 Min Read
The Reykjavik Blues Festival was started in 2003 by Halldor Bragason, a blues guitarist from Iceland who studied music in the United States. Halldor has performed with many of the…
Tony Redman
1 Min Read
Here’s the soundtrack to one of the most unusual (and dated) Peanuts specials out there. The year is 1983. Charles Schulz, inspired by the movie Flashdance released earlier that year,…
Rob Smith
1 Min Read
Wasn’t aware that Uncle Donnie had a hand in the movie business until I found this missive.Á‚ Of course, the “properties” he’s pushing probably explain why.Á‚ Still, wouldn’t it be…
Ken Shane
2 Min Read
The definition of “cool” is a very amorphous thing. Basically, it depends on who’s doing the defining. One thing that a lot of people agree on these days is that…
Dw. Dunphy
1 Min Read
It’s not that I wanted to hate the new QueensrÁƒ¿che album, American Soldier. I never approach a new record with the desire to dislike it, no matter who it is,…
David Medsker
1 Min Read
Props to Will Harris for bringing this Danish group to my attention. God, I miss bands like this. Let’s not mince words about the kind of music Alphabeat plays because,…
Dave Steed
1 Min Read
Let’s hop right into the music this week and stray all over the map within the borders of the letter J, looking at songs that charted no higher than #41…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
In Icelandic, it’s a klubbar blueshatidar — a blues club — at least for the week of the Reykjavik Blues Festival. The rest of the year, the Cafe Rosenberg is…
Taylor Long
1 Min Read
Cursive, “From The Hips” (download) [kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/ZgJfr-195xk” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /] “From the Hips” is one of the tracks that most echoes the band’s earliest sentiments on their excellent new…
Zack Dennis
1 Min Read
In 1998, Terrence McNally’s play “Corpus Christi” was first performed in New York City. It wasn’t hard to predict that portraying Jesus as a promiscuous homosexual living in Corpus Christi,…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
Al Gore was in Chicago last week, but without his PowerPoint deck. He was part of the Speaker Series, the post-Obama political craze. Gore talked about the role of carbon…
John C. Hughes
1 Min Read
Before singer/songwriter Carly Simon attempted to fully embrace the excess of the ’80s with a misguided stab at New Wave, she released this single in 1982 from the soundtrack of…
Ann Logue
1 Min Read
I’m a Chicagoan on a working vacation in Iceland, writing about the financial crisis for a hedge fund trade magazine and taking in geysers. When I realized that my…
Ted Asregadoo
1 Min Read
DOWNLOAD THE FULL MIX HERE If there’s a not-so-subtle subtext to this mix, it would be singers who have raspy voices.Á‚ And if there was a disclaimer, it would be…
Taylor Long
1 Min Read
They may only have an album and a Christmas EP behind them, but Glasgow’s Glasvegas are already performing like a big-time rock band. Grabbing the attention of the US late…
Scott Malchus
2 Min Read
One of the things I enjoy about writing for Popdose is the opportunity to introduce people to classic films that they may have heard of but don’t know whether to…
Dw. Dunphy
2 Min Read
The question is not whether Howard The Duck has aged well, nor is it whether the movie was ahead of its time and is only now finding an appropriate audience….
Lance Berry
2 Min Read
At times, the world runs on our differences more than our similarities. Everyone has their favorite directors, and of course there are those who dispute their choices. For every lover…
David Medsker
1 Min Read
Below are magnified fragments of album covers. Most of them are well-known albums, but there are a few obscure covers (or lesser-known albums from well-known artists) mixed in to keep…
Jon Cummings
2 Min Read
For someone who can talk your ear off, Syd Straw certainly has built an enigmatic career. After establishing her bona fides as an arty modern-rock diva during the mid-’80s, as…
Peter Chakerian
2 Min Read
After 15 big red-letter seasons, NBC’s ER came to an end on Thursday night, earning its largest audience in nearly three years–some 16.2 million viewers, according to Nielsen estimates. This…
David Medsker
2 Min Read
It still seems strange that Tears for Fears, two Janov-loving introverts from Bath, were one of the biggest bands of the ’80s. In a decade defined by excess (Motley Crue,…
Scott Malchus
1 Min Read
Degrassi: The Next Generation — Season 7 (2009, Echo Bridge Home Entertainment) purchase this DVD collection from Amazon: DVD Degrassi: The Next Generation is like the older, Canadian cousin of…
Matchup Monkey
1 Min Read
… And there was another one, posted right on the front of the checkout desk, that struck a chill as deep as January down Sam’s back. It showed a dismayed…