If I Walk Away (Walk Away), You Walk Away (Walk Away). You Will
Latest Twits
- HOLD THE PHONE, you say this ISN'T your first rodeo? Swizzlesticks! I thought we were at a fucking rodeo, and it was your first one! Golly! 7 hours ago
- Rumble, Young Man. RT @God_Damn_Batman: If a radioactive spider bit Batman, the spider would get Batman powers. 12 hours ago
- ME: "Sweet Karloff Frankenstein tattoo." HIM: "That's my grandpa." ME: "SORRY, Dude. I WAS gonna ask why the cigarette." #boxinggymgaffes 16 hours ago
- @ghweldon I'm pretty sure the Ceti eels will crawl out & die on their own now that they know Red Tornado is ontp them. Feel better, Pal. 1 day ago
- @nprmonkeysee I keed! I keed because I love... scripted drama. KEEDING! Again. Because I -- we'll always have JUSTIFIED, is what I mean. 1 day ago
-
Prolific as Hell (Sometimes)
- Wig Vs. Wig: Elephant Room and The Gaming Table, reviewed.
- Showdown: The Edge vs. The Grey
- This production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona had too much U2 in it, even for me.
- When the Star Talks Himself Blue: Ryan Adams at Strathmore, considered
- More on Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball: Mistakes Were Made, by Me
Blogroll
- Admit One
- Alyssa Rosenberg
- And I Am Not Lying For Real
- Avoid This Job
- Cinema sur le toit
- Comics DC
- CulturePulp
- Dan Zak
- DC Conspiracy
- DCeiver
- DCist
- Fresh Yarn
- Gina Welch
- How Fucking Romantic
- Imp of the Perverse
- John August
- KlimekBlog (collected screeds, 2001-2005 or thereabouts)
- Lone Cell Theory
- Lost in Cerebrum
- Monitor Mix
- Monkey See
- Outlaw Vern
- Philip Kennicott
- Player Piano Party
- Pygmalion in a Blanket
- Rich Massabny Reviews
- Snake Oil (olde worlde .Mac version)
- Sound Opinions
- SpoutBlog
- Studies in Crap
- Stuff White People Like
- Talking Pictures
- The All Music Guide
- The Criterion Contraption
- The Institute of Official Cheer
- The Museum of Bad Album Covers
- This American Life
- Tonsil
- Transom
- Turn It Up
- Washington Post Style
- What You Should Buy
-
I've Upset You
Sandra on When the Star Talks Himself Bl… urugly on Bruce Springsteen to release a… Steve Beall on Bruce Springsteen to release a… "Krapp's L… on Game of Koans: WSC Avant Bard… Anon on Talk to the Hansard: Marketa I… For Completists Only
- February 2012 (1)
- January 2012 (10)
- December 2011 (8)
- November 2011 (6)
- October 2011 (8)
- September 2011 (6)
- August 2011 (3)
- July 2011 (4)
- June 2011 (9)
- May 2011 (3)
- April 2011 (9)
- March 2011 (5)
- February 2011 (8)
- January 2011 (6)
- December 2010 (4)
- November 2010 (8)
- October 2010 (2)
- September 2010 (8)
- August 2010 (6)
- July 2010 (2)
- June 2010 (8)
- May 2010 (5)
- April 2010 (9)
- March 2010 (5)
- February 2010 (6)
- January 2010 (13)
- December 2009 (8)
- November 2009 (12)
- October 2009 (11)
- September 2009 (10)
- August 2009 (10)
- July 2009 (7)
- June 2009 (16)
- May 2009 (12)
- April 2009 (4)
- March 2009 (13)
- February 2009 (11)
- January 2009 (7)
- December 2008 (11)
- November 2008 (7)
- October 2008 (14)
- September 2008 (11)
- August 2008 (11)
- July 2008 (14)
- June 2008 (15)
- May 2008 (13)
- April 2008 (10)
- March 2008 (10)
- February 2008 (9)
- January 2008 (10)
- December 2007 (4)
- November 2007 (9)
- October 2007 (7)
- September 2007 (7)
- August 2007 (10)
- July 2007 (11)
- June 2007 (16)
- May 2007 (1)
-
Nice Try, Internet Jerkizoids!
Dating?
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Personally — and professionally, come to that — I had more fun with the imported comic illusionism of Elephant Room at Arena (“would look far more comfortable in some ramshackle, claustrophobic space, where its raw aesthetics and ironic sensibility might … Continue reading
Showdown: The Edge vs. The Grey
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged I made a table, Look, movies, showdowns, The Edge, The Grey
This production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona had too much U2 in it, even for me.
Nick Dillenburg & Miriam Silverman, fine actors in a shaky production
Reviewed for the Washington City Paper.
When the Star Talks Himself Blue: Ryan Adams at Strathmore, considered
Adams: "I got a plan."
I saw Ryan Adams and the Cardinals open for Oasis (!) in 2008 (!!!) but I only caught part of their set from across a basketball arena and anyway it was not an especially memorable experience. But I quite enjoyed the talky, sloppy Adams solo show — and opener Jason Isbell — that I review in today’s Washington Post. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Aimee Mann, Click Track, Drive-By Truckers, Jason Isbell, music, Patton Oswalt, pop music, Ryan Adams, Strathmore, The Birchmere, The Washington Post
More on Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball: Mistakes Were Made, by Me
Bruce Springsteen announced U.S. tour dates this morning. He’ll be here in DC on April Fool’s Day. So I’ll just get this over with: Bruuuuuuuce!
Thank you. And now, let us proceed.
When The Boss announced the title and release date of his forthcoming album Wrecking Ball last week, I just couldn’t see past its abysmal cover, an area in which he has been a career offender. I noted that Wrecking Ball is also the title of a very fine Emmylou Harris album from 1995. Dana Stevens, Slate’s superb film critic, noticed that too.
(When I was on the Filmspotting podcast the week after Stevens, I tried to say how much I admire her writing and how honored I was to follow her on the show, but it came out wrong. I apologize for that, Ma’am.)
Anyway, we exchanged a few Tweets about that title. “Title re-use doesn’t infringe copyright, but it’s crass,” Stevens wrote. I pointed out that Emmylou got the title from Neil Young, whose song “Wrecking Ball” (from his 1989 album Freedom) Emmylou covered on her album Wrecking Ball. Got all that?
“If Bruce covers the Neil Young song on this record, then the nab is vindicated,” Stevens concluded. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Bruce Springsteen, concerts, Dana Stevens, Emmylou Harris, Filmspotting, music, Neil Young, Twitter, Wrecking Ball
My NPR Monkey See debut, sorta, on MMA star Gina Carano’s film debut, sorta
MMA star Gina Carano in HAYWIRE
I have a lengthy, discursive post up on NPR’s Monkey See blog today ruminating on Steven Soderbergh‘s action-cinema debut, Haywire. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Gina Carano, movies, NPR Monkey See, Steven Soderbergh
Bruce Springsteen to release another album with an ugly cover on March 6
You can’t judge an album by its sleeve, and that’s good news for Bruce Springsteen.
My admiration for The Boss is a matter of public record, and it was from a place of love that I took the occasion of his last album’s release three years ago to point out that nearly all of his album covers are terrible. Today he announced that his 17th studio album will be called Wrecking Ball and will be released for sale on March 6. Any resemblance to Emmylou Harris‘s great album from 1995, Wrecking Ball, is completely coincidental, probably.
That’s the cover of Bruce’s Finger-Painting With Bird Shit Wrecking Ball at the top of this post. Hideous, right? He probably paid Danny Clinch a lot of money to take the photo before scrawing his name over it in Wite-Out. What this says to me is Eh, only a fraction of those of you who bother to listen to this at all are actually going to pay for it, so why I should I sweat the packaging? Just sit tight, we’re gonna play “Badlands” later.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged album covers, Bruce Springsteen, knee-jerk reaction, music, tracklists
Image of Zen: I Am Curious (Yellow)
Courtesy of the Criterion Collection’s Twitter feed, which says this is from a 1971 issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. No. 101, cover date March ’71, it turns out.
I so enjoy referencing the title of this 1967 arthouse film, which was banned for a while in the U.S., that perhaps one day I’ll actually watch it.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged comics, Criterion, I AM CURIOUS (YELLOW), Image of Zen, Spider-Man
Legendary art-punk Jon Langford coming this way to sing songs he wrote for Richard Byrne’s new play… in five months.
Jon Langford's portrait of Hank Williams
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged artisphere, Arts Desk, artwork, Jon Langford, mekons, Richard Byrne, theater, Waco Brothers, Washington City Paper
Bomb Out the Lights: Studio’s Time Stands Still, reviewed
Holly Twyford is a wounded photojournalist (SCOTT SUCHMAN)
What I ran out of room to say in my Washington City Paper review is that the book the character played by Greg McFadden starts working on during his convalescence, an examination of the political subtext of horror cinema, sounds an awful lot like Shock Value, the one published by the New York Times’s Jason Zinoman – son of Studio Theater founder Joy Zinoman – last summer. Continue reading
Drive-By Truckers 9:30 Club Setlist Table II: The Secret of the Ooze
It’s not much of a photo, but it was a pretty fantastic way to spend New Year’s Eve. That’s Booker T. Jones, stage-right, performing at the 9:30 with the Drive-By Truckers, a band I love and that I’ve written about a lot. The first time I saw them play was at The Troubadour in Los Angeles in 2003 or 2004. All I remember about that show is that my then-girlfriend had a pain in her leg and we left early. Since then, I’ve seen DBT play the 9:30 probably 10 times. When they were there for a Friday & Saturday night stay last February, I made a table to show how different the two setlists were. Hey, some people care about baseball statistics. (DBT singer-songwriter Mike Cooley does not.) Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 9:30 Club, Alabama Shakes, Booker T. Jones, Drive-By Truckers, music, New Year's Eve, setlists
Patterson Hood & Mike Cooley of the Drive-By Truckers Take Your Questions!
(Okay, my questions. But still.)
The Drive-By Truckers are one of my favorite bands, and I’ve had the privilege of speaking with singer-songwriters Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley on several occasions during the last three-and-a-half years. I talked to them again, separately, for Washingtonian about their plans for their year-ending three-night stand at the 9:30 Club, which kicked off last night.
One of the things we discussed was Cooley’s two-night-only battlefield promotion to full-time frontman when Hood fell too ill to perform just before a weekend of 9:30 Club concerts in February 2009. I reviewed the first of those shows for the Washington Post. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 9:30 Club, Drive-By Truckers, interviews, Washingtonian
You, Narcissus: DC’s theater of theater
Christian Conn and Erica Sullivan in VENUS IN FUR. (SCOTT SUCHMAN/Studio Theater)
What was the Number One Topic under consideration by DC theaters in 2011? Why, the theater, of course.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Arena Stage, Bob Mondello, David Ives, David Muse, essays, Studio Theatre, theater, Trey Graham, Washington City Paper, Woolly Mammoth
And Now for Something Slightly, If Not Completely, Different, but Also Slightly Longer: HARK HARK, DECK DECK: Yule-Tunes Eclectic & Inexplicable Team VI – The NOW SOUND of Christmas [Side B]
Side B. Merry Christmas!
You can find both sides of Hark Hark, Deck Deck: Yule-Tunes Eclectic & Inexplicable Team VI: The NOW SOUND of Christmas here.
Presenting HARK HARK, DECK DECK: Yule-Tunes Eclectic & Inexplicable Team VI – The NOW SOUND of Christmas [Side A]
Yippe kai yay, Christmas lovers! My sixth annual audio Christmas card has arrived to illuminate and/or obfuscate your yule! At two hour-long sides, the first of which you can hear right now, this is the longest yulemix ever. Remember those 120-minute blank cassettes introduced in the twilight of the analog era that allowed you to record more music at lesser quality and were highly prone to breakage? Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Christmas, fair use, holiday obscura, mixtapes, music, yulemixes, yuletunes eclectic
Decadence, Inc.: Arena’s You, Nero and Signature’s Hairspray, considered.
Danny Scheie as Nero and Susannah Schulman as Poppaea. (SCOTT SUCHMAN/Arena Stage)
Or maybe it’s about how a bad upbringing can damage you beyond the reach of art’s rehabilitative prowess.
Or mediocre art’s rehabilitative . . . I’m still thinking about this, is the point. Which suggests Freed was successful, even if the ending is kind of a mess. Continue reading
Postcards from “Postcards from Italy”: Beirut at the 9:30 Club, reviewed.
I covered the first of Beirut’s two-night, tour-ending stand at 9:30 Club last night for the Washington Post. Read all about it in the paper-paper version, or see the version on Click Track for a few more of Josh Sisk’s fine photos from the show.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 9:30 Club, Beirut, Click Track, concerts, Francophiles, music, pop music, The Washington Post, Zach Condon
Self-Convicted: Lauren Weedman’s BUST, reviewed
Not that bust. Grow up.
I wrote about writer/actor/comic/onetime Daily Show correspondent Lauren Weedman’s one-woman-show for the City Paper.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged autobiography, Lauren Weedman, solo shows, Studio Theatre, The Studio Theatre, theater
Hurt’s So Good: Krapp’s Last Tape, briefly considered.
John, hurting.
I’ve previously chewed on productions of Beckett’s Happy Days in 2007 and this year.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged ALIEN, Gate Theatre Dublin, John Hurt, Krapp's Last Tape, Samuel Beckett
Talk to the Hansard: Marketa Irglova at the 9:30 Club, reviewed.
I’ve seen The Swell Season perform twice. One of those shows was an opening set for Damien Rice about six months before the film Once came out in the States, dramatically raising their profile. I’ve seen male-half-of-the-Swell Season Glen Hansard’s longtime band The Frames play a great show to a half empty 9:30 Club, too.
Anyway, the Paper of Record sent me to the 9:30 Club the other night to cover Marketa Irglova’s first solo tour, supporting her debut album Anar. My conclusion? She’s a great singer but too humble a performer to sustain interest through a headlining-length set, and the songs she’s writing without Hansard all seem to share one, slow tempo. To be fair, I don’t think Hansard’s as good a songwriter on his own as he is when collaborating with her, either. Here’s the review.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 9:30 Club, Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova, pop music, The Swell Season, The Washington Post
