Scott Pilgrim is like my Harry Potter, Twilight or any other popular book series today. I realize I’m hardly alone in that sentiment: There’s something powerful about Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel series that’s irresistible. Though I’ve seen some negative cha[...]
Archive for the ‘True/Slant’ Category
June 18th, 2010 - 2:01 am § in True/Slant
Bad movies that are hard to resist
This week, Newcity published an article I wrote on Chicago’s bad movie scene. “So-bad-it’s-good” movies have been getting a lot of press lately. There’s “Birdemic: Shock and Terror,” “The Room” and “Troll 2,” which is finding even mor[...]
June 14th, 2010 - 5:35 pm § in True/Slant
Songs of Summer: Bodega Girls – 'We Are Losers'
Songs of Summer is a guide to the summer’s new tunes that evoke sensations of everyone’s favorite season. Today’s jam is: Bodega Girls – “We Are Losers” Bodega Girls have been toiling away in Boston’s music scene for some time now. Their new single, “W[...]
June 14th, 2010 - 3:17 am § in True/Slant
R.I.P. Jimmy Dean
Country music legend and sausage hawker Jimmy Dean has died. The New York Times reports that his death Sunday evening was unexpected: His wife, Donna Meade Dean, said her husband died at their Henrico County, Va., home. She told The Associated Press that he had some health problems but was still fun[...]
June 14th, 2010 - 1:32 am § in True/Slant
Extra Life: Beyond Comparison
Some musicians flounder when asked to create and perform new material on short notice. Extra Life frontman Charlie Looker isn’t one of them. In 2006, Looker was asked to perform a solo set at The Stone in the East Village. Looker didn’t have any solo material, as he’d been spending his nights [...]
June 8th, 2010 - 3:06 am § in True/Slant
Can 11,000 Zooey Deschanel fans be wrong?
Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion fits approximately 11,000 people. That is, unless there is a free She & Him show. The Pavilion has 4,000 fixed seats, and the lawn fits about 7,000 people. When She & Him performed at Millennium Park’s concert pavilion Monday, the number of[...]
June 7th, 2010 - 4:09 pm § in True/Slant
The 'We Con the World' video: A blockade to peace
Someone out there thinks that it’s a perfect time for a music video making fun of those who died on the Gaza flotilla. Jerusalem Post deputy editor Caroline Glick for one. So do the people at Latma, a Hebrew-based “satire” site that Glick happens to edit. That partnership happened [...]
June 4th, 2010 - 2:36 am § in True/Slant
Music and the Media, Part 4: 'The Man' vs. The Music
A massive argument amongst indie music bloggers spilled over Twitter on Thursday. Or, in real terms, a blip on Twitter’s scanner brought up some pretty big concepts about how new music is transmitted dispersed online, and right from the keyboards of a few “big” name indie bloggers.[...]