Monthly Archives: November 2009 »
Bond: Thunderball (1965)
The fourth James Bond film and the final one to be directed by Terrence Young, Thunderball has the most complicated production history of the films. Author Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory worked on a
Read More »The Maid
The Maid Dir: Sebastián Silva Rating: 3.5/5.0 Elephant Eye Films 95 Minutes Say what you will about The Maid, the one thing you can’t say is that it’s predictable. At times, it feels like
Read More »Rediscover: Songs: Ohia: The Lioness
Rediscover: Songs: Ohia The Lioness 2000 Ohio-based singer-songwriter Jason Molina has had an incredible output over the last 12 years, releasing something in the neighborhood of two dozen albums and EPs. In that time,
Read More »Clare & the Reasons: Arrow
Clare & the Reasons Arrow Rating: 4.5/5.0 Label: Frogstand Records Arrow’s immediate predecessor, 2007′s The Movie, was a fine debut by Clare & the Reasons that occasionally suffered from a lack of musical diversity.
Read More »Tegan and Sara: Sainthood
Tegan and Sara Sainthood Rating: 3.0/5.0 Label: Sire Records It has been two years since Canadian sister-duo Tegan and Sara Quinn have been on tour, intertwining their voices. After much anticipation, they are back
Read More »Concert Review: The Pogues
Something quite extraordinary happened at the end of the first Pogues show in Portland in many, many decades. No, I’m not talking about Shane MacGowan’s miraculous ability to keep on surviving, the vibrant version
Read More »Holy Sons: Criminal’s Return
Holy Sons Criminal’s Return Rating: 4.0/5.0 Label: Important Records Emil Amos’s one man project, Holy Sons, is incredibly productive. Following the striking Drifter’s Sympathy of earlier this year, his new Criminal’s Return is not
Read More »Gift of Gab: Escape 2 Mars
Gift of Gab Escape 2 Mars Rating: 2.5/5.0 Label: Quannum Projects Recently, Sasha Frere-Jones used the New Yorker podium to declare, officially, that rap was dead. Putting aside the immediate dubiousness of such a
Read More »The Missing Person
The Missing Person Dir: Noah Buschel Ration: 3.0/5.0 Strand Releasing 95 Minutes If film noir was an aesthetic response of sorts, a sense and sensibility that emerged from the difficulties of the Great Depression
Read More »Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records: by John Cook with Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance
Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records by John Cook with Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance Rating: 3.5/5.0 Algonquin Books It’s well reported that despite the major slump the music industry seems to be
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