Alan Wilder of Recoil (and formerly of Depeche Mode) has some thoughts on the state of music these days. So who shall we blame for the whole mess? Do we stick two fingers up at the record companies who have sat around twiddling their thumbs, peddling overpriced re-issues for years while their A&R men bombard us with shallow, faceless pop
Read moreOpening night for NBC’s new Millennial-targeted series, Quarterlife, was an unparalleled disaster. The drama series which made headlines about its transition from internet to TV, “Quarterlife,†succeeded in being a flop in its NBC debut Tuesday night, having the worst ratings in at least 20 years, according to Nielsen Media Research. The brazilian-dollar question now becomes: what happened? More at
Read moreOnce is a film that deserves more, so much more. A truly independent effort built around music and characters whose authenticity simply bursts off the screen and fills your heart, this movie was so real in its violation of all things Hollywood that it was almost hard to watch. I kept waiting for the goddamned formula to kick in, and
Read moreI’m a lucky man. I have a Marvin the Martian mouse pad. I have a Marvin the Martian house key. And now, I have a Marvin the Martian SVR to share with all my friends. Let’s start by watching Bugs Bunny save the Earth in one of the more prominent easement cases in galactic history.
Read moreIt’s time for another round of SVR’s Saturday Morning Cartoons. Today we pay tribute to the man I was named for, Yosemite Sam. In “Hare to Heir,” Sam, the somewhat volatile Duke of Yosemite, stands to inherit a millions pounds if he can control his temper. The executor, of course, is none other than Bugs Bunny.
Read moreLast night my wife and I rented the Buster Keaton classic Steamboat Bill, Jr. She’d never seen anything by Keaton, but has heard me (and fellow Scrogue Jim Booth) talk about his particular genius. One of the most remarkable talents America has ever produced, Keaton was an insanely gifted physical comedian who was able to communicate tremendous nuance even within
Read moreSaturday morning cartoons aren’t what they used to be, are they? And I don’t mean that in your typical I-walked-six-miles-to-school-every-day fashion, either. Once upon a time toons made some very different assumptions about their audience. I mean, how many Saturday morning shows these days play on opera? Let’s begin this morning’s entertainment with a smattering of high culture, as Bugs
Read moreToday is Imbolc, the midpoint of Winter. That’s Groundhog Day to you secular/non-pagan types (and yeah, P-Phil peeped his shadow, so throw another blanket on the bed). It’s also my birthday, and my good friend Dr. Mike Pecaut has offered up a fine present – lots of concert footage from one of my all-time favorite bands, the unparalleled Queen! I
Read moreIt was a pretty good year in music. A handful of artists produced absolutely fabulous CDs and a lot more managed releases ranging from “worth the money” to “are you sure that shouldn’t be rated a little higher”? Here’s the format. Instead of the tedious task of actually ranking CDs – a torture I used to inflict on myself every
Read moreFinding and buying music used to be a lot simpler process. You could sample new stuff by turning on this thing called a “radio,” and when you heard something you liked you could go purchase it at this other thing called a “record store.” It wasn’t a perfect system, of course. Sometimes the great song on the radio was the
Read moreOne of the great things about the Internets is that there’s a whole world of stuff out there you don’t know about, never imagined, that’s just insanely amazing. And periodically somebody will send you a link, as fellow Scrogue Mike Sheehan did this past week, saying “hey, check this out.” And it will be so feckin’ amazing it will just
Read moreWell, it sure looked that way. In case you missed it because you were partying the night away, Australian Robbie Maddison jumped a motorcycle over a football field last night to set a new distance record. The attempt came 40 years to the day after Evel Knievel’s famous (and ill-fated) attempt to jump the fountains at Caesar’s Palace. Since he
Read moreWelcome to the final SVR of 2007. Let’s drum the old year out and the new one in with some of the year’s best drumming video finds, shall we? First off, somebody get this kid a contract.
Read moreWelcome to part three of S&R’s first annual year-end round-up. I’ll begin by apologizing for my colleagues, who have wasted a lot of their time (and yours) yammering about “important” issues. Of course, I admire their intellectual gravity, but let’s be honest – that sort of seriousness is really misplaced when the intended audience is the American public. As we
Read moreOur good friend Mike Smith, who has afflicted this space before says: “I swear I didn’t hunt for these.” He’s blaming them on a co-worker named “Fryda.” I don’t know this Fryda, but I know Mike, and I’m skeptical. Anyway, in this first bit, somebody needs to spend some time in training classes at PetSmart. And I’m not talking about
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lullaby pit 