Wednesday, June 26, 2013

PLAYLIST: Mondo Radio (06/26/13)

Here's the playlist for this week's edition of Mondo Radio, which you can download or stream here. This episode: "Something 2 Dance 2", featuring hip-house, grime and other dance/rap hybrids. If you dig it, be sure to also find the show on Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter!

Artist - Song - Album
Frankie Knuckles - Godfather - Beyond The Mix
Frankie Knuckles - Workout - Beyond The Mix
The Beatmasters Feat. The Cookie Crew - Rock Da House (W.E.F.U.N.K.) - Anywayawanna
The Beatmasters Feat. Betty Boo - Hey DJ/I Can't Dance (To That Music You're Playing) - Anywayawanna
Vicious Base - Come On (Re-Mix) - 12" Single
Vicious Base - Comin On Strong - 12" Single
N.W.A. - Something 2 Dance 2 - Straight Outta Compton
DJ Magic Mike - This DJ Cuts Different Ways - Bass: The Final Frontier
DJ Magic Mike - Lyrical Marathon - Bass: The Final Frontier
Nightmares On Wax - Mega Donutz - A Word Of Science: The 1st & Final Chapter
Nightmares On Wax - Playtime - A Word Of Science: The 1st & Final Chapter
Torch Song - Prepare To Energize - Wish Thing
Roni Size/Reprazent - New Forms - New Forms
Outkast - B.O.B. - Stankonia
Roni Size/Reprazent - Railing - New Forms
Navigator & The Freestylers - Ruffneck - An England Story
Ty & Roots Manuva - So U Want Morre? (Refix) - An England Story
Wiley - One Hit Wonder - 100% Publishing
Wiley - To Be Continued... - 100% Publishing
Dizzee Rascal - I Luv U - Boy In Da Corner
Dizzee Rascal - Fix Up, Look Sharp - Boy In Da Corner
Tricky - Murder Weapon - Mixed Race
Tricky - Time To Dance - Mixed Race
Anti-Pop Consortium - Sllab - Tragic Epilogue
Anti-Pop Consortium - Your World Is Flat - Tragic Epilogue
Beans - Anvil Falling - End It All
Beans - Electric Bitch - End It All
DJ Clent - I Love You - Bangs & Works, Vol. 1
DJ Lil Rome - I Go Hard - Bangs & Works, Vol. 1
DJ Roc - I Don't Like The Look Of It - The Crack Capone
DJ Roc - Gun Smoke - The Crack Capone
Big Freedia - Excuse - Scion A/V Presents: Big Freedia
Big Freedia - Almost Famous - Scion A/V Presents: Big Freedia
Juiceboxxx - 100 MPH - Single
Juiceboxxx And Dre Skull - Center Stage - Single
Rio Turbo - Party Trash - Kiss FM
Rio Turbo - Beach Boss - Kiss FM

FEATURE: See the World in a New Way: Time-Lapse Footage

Today, time-lapse footage is commonplace, something people can make on their phones, but few stop to think about how it became so familiar.


Wednesday, June 19, 2013

PLAYLIST: Mondo Radio (06/19/13)

Here's the playlist for this week's edition of Mondo Radio, which you can download or stream here. This episode: "A Star Transistor", featuring glam, art rock and more. If you're feeling it, be sure to also follow the show on Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter!

Artist - Song - Album
David Bowie - Moonage Daydream - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
David Bowie - It Ain't Easy - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
T. Rex - Jeepster - Electric Warrior
T. Rex - Rip Off - Electric Warrior
Mott - See You Again - Shouting & Pointing
Mott - Shouting And Pointing - Shouting & Pointing
Sweet - The 6-Teens - Desolation Boulevard
Sweet - No You Don't - Desolation Boulevard
Slade - Dirty Joker - Play It Loud
Slade - Dapple Rose - Play It Loud
Nick Gilder - 21st Century - City Nights
Nick Gilder - Here Comes The Night - City Nights
Jobriath - Street Corner Love - Creatures Of The Street
Jobriath - Sister Sue - Creatures Of The Street
The Washington Squares - You Can't Kill Me - The Washington Squares
Roxy Music - Re-Make/Re-Model - Roxy Music
Roxy Music - If There Is Something - Roxy Music
Brian Eno - Dead Finks Don't Talk - Here Come The Warm Jets
Brian Eno - Cindy Tells Me - Here Come The Warm Jets
John Cale - Cleo - Vintage Violence
John Cale - Charlemagne - Vintage Violence
The Velvet Underground - Who Loves The Sun - Loaded
The Velvet Underground - Rock & Roll - Loaded
Lou Reed - Satellite Of Love - Transformer
Lou Reed - Vicious - Transformer
Iggy Pop - Tonight - Lust For Life
Iggy Pop - Sixteen - Lust For Life
New York Dolls - Jet Boy - New York Dolls
New York Dolls - Personality Crisis - New York Dolls
Sylvain Sylvain - Teenage News - Sylvain Sylvain
Sylvain Sylvain - Without You - Sylvain Sylvain
Television - Carried Away - Adventure
Television - Ain't That Nothin' - Adventure
The Modern Lovers - Old World - The Modern Lovers
The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner - The Modern Lovers
The Soft Boys - Positive Vibrations - Underwater Moonlight
The Soft Boys - Underwater Moonlight - Underwater Moonlight
Television Personalities - A Girl Called Charity - Yes Darling, But Is It Art?
Television Personalities - How I Learned To Love The...Bomb - Yes Darling, But Is It Art?

VIDEO: Doctor Who Weekend (Day 2)

In honor of the show's 50th anniversary, I'm proud to present part two of an entire weekend of Network Awesome programming devoted to Doctor Who, all curated by yours truly!


VIDEO: Doctor Who Weekend (Day 1)

In honor of the show's 50th anniversary, I'm proud to present part one of an entire weekend of Network Awesome programming devoted to Doctor Who, all curated by yours truly!


Saturday, June 15, 2013

FILM REVIEW - Man of Steel


When Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman in the early 1930s, they never could have known how iconic the character would become, how the last son of Krypton would inspire countless imitators and make the leap from the pages of DC comics to a myriad of other media. First there was the hugely successful radio drama, followed by an endless stream of animated shorts, movie serials, stage plays, feature films and a vast array of TV productions of varying quality. Put short, DC has never been shy about pimping out Supes' archetypal premise for just about anything, which makes it so strange that we've seen very little of him on the big screen in recent years, even as comic book movies grew into an unstoppable force at the box office. Before Bryan Singer's mildly received Superman Returns in 2006, there hadn't been a single Superman film in nearly 20 years (the 1997 calamity Steel notwithstanding), during which time four different actors donned Batman's cape and cowl. Seeking to borrow some of the gritty credibility Christopher Nolan brought to his Batman reboot, as well as their main competitor Marvel's seemingly Midas touch, Zack Snyder's new Man of Steel aims at reinvention, but largely ends up missing the point.

The film opens, as any Superman movie naturally would, on the planet Krypton, with its final days fast approaching. Not fast enough though; far from just recapping the classic origin story and setting up key elements to unfold later, the film quickly gets bogged down in the conflict between Russell Crowe's Jor-El and the condemned leader of a military coup, General Zod, played by a hammy Michael Shannon. When the rocket containing the newborn Kal-El finally makes its way to earth and we're granted the first glimpse of uber-bland Henry Cavill as the iconic superhero, it's not a red cape flapping in the wind or even the milquetoast mild-mannered reporter, but a bearded crab fisherman and drifter. A series of awkward flashbacks never explain quite how he ended up there, but hammer home how Pa Kent (Kevin Costner) insisted his unusual adopted son never reveal his powers. Working an incredibly dangerous job and hanging around seedy waterfront bars seems like a bad way to go about that, and indeed enterprising gal reporter Lois Lane, played by an underused Amy Adams, figures out Clark's "secret" in seemingly no time at all, but that soon becomes irrelevant when Zod escapes his imprisonment and comes to earth to call out Kal-El.

There's nothing wrong with Snyder, or co-producer Nolan, tinkering with the order of events or the details of the mythology, Superman needs to be redefined for each new generation, but in the process they've thrown out a great deal of what made the character timeless in the first place. What people find compelling about Superman is his immigrant's struggle of trying to fit into a strange culture without sacrificing what makes him special, but without the tension of balancing his dual contrasting personas, he's just a really strong guy from outer space. The perfunctory script barely gives him one discernible identity let alone two, making very little time for characterization or developing any of its subplots, particularly with his supposed love interest. Even the dialogue is stilted and weird, what little of it there is sandwiched between endless knock-down, drag-out brawls; it's basically two-and-a-half hours of shit blowing up, without a trace of wit or a sense of adventure. What's more, product placement spoils what may be the film's best action set piece, tragically taking place between a Sears, an IHOP and a 7-Eleven. Hollywood has done Superman right before, and you've got to hope the figure out how to do so again; the Man of Steel deserves better than this.

Friday, June 14, 2013

FEATURE: Cyberchump's Journey of the Mind

Mark G.E., half of the Milwaukee/Kansas City duo Cyberchump, explains the esoteric inspiration behind some of the sounds on their heady new album, Flutter and Flow.


Wednesday, June 12, 2013

PLAYLIST: Mondo Radio (06/12/13)

Here's the playlist for this week's edition of Mondo Radio, which you can download or stream here. This episode: "Murder by Guitar", featuring punk and hardcore, both old and new. If you like what you hear, be sure to also follow the show on Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter!

Artist - Song - Album
The Stooges - Search And Destroy - Raw Power
The Stooges - Your Pretty Face Is Going To Hell (Originally Titled "Hard To Beat") - Raw Power
Crime - Murder By Guitar - San Francisco's Doomed
Crime - Samurai - San Francisco's Doomed
Ramones - Loudmouth - Ramones
Ramones - Havana Affair - Ramones
The Clash - Clash City Rockers - The Clash
The Clash - I'm So Bored With The U.S.A. - The Clash
The Adverts - Great British Mistake - The Best Of The Adverts
The Adverts - One Chord Wonders - The Best Of The Adverts
Eater - Waiting For The Man - The Album
Eater - No Brains - The Album
Dicks - Purple Haze - Kill From The Heart
Dicks - Rich Daddy - Kill From The Heart
Dead Kennedys - Ill In The Head - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
Dead Kennedys - Chemical Warfare - Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables
The Avengers - Desperation (Live) - Died For Your Sins
The Avengers - Car Crash (Live) - Died For Your Sins
Roberto Negri E La Sua Orchestra - Un Pezzo D'Azzurro - Suono & Colore
Screamers - Magazine Love (Live At The Whisky, 01/07/78) - In A Better World
Screamers - Vertigo (Live At The Whisky, 01/01/78) - In A Better World
The Ex - A Sense Of Tumour - Disturbing Domestic Peace
The Ex - Map - Disturbing Domestic Peace
Bitch Boys - Jag Hatar - Häftig Fredag
Bitch Boys - Häftig Fredag - Häftig Fredag
The Shemps - We're From Milwaukee - We Mean It Too
The Shemps - Bad Ju-Ju - We Mean It Too
Oil Tasters - Get Out Of The Bathroom - History In 3 Chords: Milwaukee Alternative Bands 1973-1982
The Police - Miss Veg-O-Matic - History In 3 Chords: Milwaukee Alternative Bands 1973-1982
Die Kreuzen - All White - Die Kreuzen
Die Kreuzen - Rumors - Die Kreuzen
3 On Fire - How Many, How Long? (Live) - Lest We Forget - Our Night To Remember
Sacred Order - International House Of Death (Live) - Lest We Forget - Our Night To Remember
Minor Threat - Cashing In - Complete Discography
Minor Threat - Steppin' Stone - Complete Discography
Bad Brains - Big Take Over - Bad Brains
Bad Brains - Attitude - Bad Brains
Minutemen - Nothing Indeed - Double Nickels On the Dime
Minutemen - Political Song For Michael Jackson To Sing - Double Nickels On the Dime
Brain Tumors - Shadow People - Brain Tumors
Brain Tumors - Rules Of Abuse - Brain Tumors
Holy Shit! - I Hate Banks (Live) - Live On WMSE
Holy Shit! - Put A Bandaid On It (Live) - Live On WMSE
Soup Moat - Shrimp Lemonade - WE RAWISH
Soup Moat - Teddy Ruxpin's Lucky Charm Farm - WE RAWISH
Drugs Dragons - (I'm In A) Braingrave - Single
Drugs Dragons - Predator Weapons - Single
Cheap Time - Trip To The Zoo - Cheap Time
Cheap Time - Glitter And Gold - Cheap Time
Cheeky - He-Man Woman Haters - Choke On A Cheeseburger
Cheeky - Bad Mood - Choke On A Cheeseburger
Defect Defect - Post Apocalypse - Defect Defect
Defect Defect - Time To Die - Defect Defect
Future Of The Left - Robocop 4 - Fuck Off Robocop - The Plot Against Common Sense
Future Of The Left - Rubber Animals - The Plot Against Common Sense
Dead Waves - Watching Them - Kill The Youth EP
Dead Waves - Break Apart - Kill The Youth EP
JEFF The Brotherhood - Heavy Days - Heavy Days
JEFF The Brotherhood - U Got The Look - Heavy Days

FEATURE: A Girl in the Boy's Club: Agnès Varda

With a career spanning several decades and multiple mediums, Agnès Varda's accomplishments speak for themselves, but considering she was more or less the only female filmmaker of the French New Wave, they're even more impressive.


Wednesday, June 5, 2013

PLAYLIST: Mondo Radio (06/05/13)

Here's the playlist for this week's edition of Mondo Radio, which you can download or stream here. This episode: "That Crooked, Crooked Beat", featuring reggae, ska and their UK pop descendants. If you enjoy it, be sure to also follow the show on FacebookTumblr and Twitter!

Artist - Song - Album
Cynthia Richards And Irving Brown - United We Stand - Joe Gibbs Scorchers From The Early Years (1967-73)
The Heptones - Hypocrite - Joe Gibbs Scorchers From The Early Years (1967-73)
U-Roy - Runaway Girl - Dread In A Babylon
U-Roy - Chalice In The Palace - Dread In A Babylon
The Congos - Sodom And Gomorrow - Heart Of The Congos
The Congos - Can't Come In - Heart Of The Congos
Bob Marley And The Wailers - Soul Rebel - Soul Rebels
Bob Marley And The Wailers - My Cup - Soul Rebels
Peter Tosh - Brand New Second Hand - Legalize It
Peter Tosh - Burial - Legalize It
Liberators - Stand Up Right - Enemies Are Coming
Liberators - Why Can't It Be - Enemies Are Coming
The Lines - Same Old Scene - Will You Still Love Me When I've Lost My Mind?
The Skatalites - James Bond Theme - Ball Of Fire
The Skatalites - Ball Of Fire - Ball Of Fire
African Head Charge - The Race Pt. One - My Life In A Hole In The Ground
African Head Charge - Far Away Chant - My Life In A Hole In The Ground
The Clash - The Crooked Beat - Sandinista!
The Clash - Junco Partner - Sandinista!
The Slits - I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Grlz: Women Ahead Of Their Time
Buzzcocks - Why Can't I Touch It? - Singles Going Steady
New Age Steppers - Fade Away - Grlz: Women Ahead Of Their Time
The Specials - Enjoy Yourself - More Specials
The Selecter - The Selecter - This Are Two Tone
The Selecter - On My Radio - This Are Two Tone
The Specials - Stereotypes/Stereotypes Part 2 - More Specials
Madness - My Girl - One Step Beyond...
Madness - Night Boat To Cairo - One Step Beyond...
The English Beat - Twist & Crawl - What Is Beat?
UB40 - Rat In Mi Kitchen - The Best of UB40, Vol. 1
The English Beat - Save It For Later - What Is Beat?
Fischer-Z - The Worker - Word Salad
Fischer-Z - Remember Russia - Word Salad
David Bowie - Tonight - Tonight
Elvis Costello - Watching The Detectives - My Aim Is True
David Bowie - Don't Look Down - Tonight

CONCERT REVIEW: B.B. King & Paul Cebar (The Riverside Theatre, Milwaukee)

For a man rapidly approaching 88 years of age, venerable blues icon B.B. King shows few signs of slowing down.


Sunday, June 2, 2013

FILM REVIEW: The Space Invaders: In Search of Lost Time


As video games continue to evolve into a more and more integral part of our daily lives, and each successive generation of developers and players adds to that unfolding history, there's an ever growing body of peripheral media to record it all and to put video game's cultural and technological impact into context. There're the usual books, websites, magazine articles, etc., but over the last few years there's also been a sharp increase in feature length documentaries on the subject, such as the 2007 offbeat hit The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters and last year's Indie Game: The Movie to name but a few. There are enough films now for it to be considered a genre unto itself, like rock docs, and there's always room for one more, in part because video games are such a complex and fascinating medium, and in part because their fans tend to be a bit obsessive.

Obsession is the motivating factor in the new The Space Invaders: In Search of Lost Time, which finds a new spin on retelling some familiar gaming history by profiling the avid fans who collect vintage arcade games, filling their garages and basements with the coin-operated behemoths that once populated every mall and pizza parlor across this great nation. The film, directed by Jeff Von Ward, does a thorough job of outlining how arcades became a ubiquitous cultural phenomenon in the late 70s and early 80s, generating an absurd amount of revenue before the industry collapsed, thanks mostly to technological advancements like the rise of the home console, but in many ways it's less about video games and more about the unending zeal of any kind of serious collector. It's an expensive hobby, and one that requires a lot of room (hence the punny title), but not so different than collecting coins or comic books.

It's that human angle which really puts the film across, the emotion that's evident in the way the interviewees (predictably almost exclusively male) fondly recall their misspent youths and eagerly describe the intricate details of how they painstakingly bring battered machines, and the neon 1980s feel of the arcade, back to life. From a technical standpoint, the film's small budget at times shows through and it can lean a little too hard on borrowed and archival footage, even if much of it is rather interesting. The real stars here are the shrines built to a bygone era, and, late in the film, having spent considerable amounts of money and countless hours constructing them, the subjects ponder the ultimate fate of their collections, wondering if future generations will care enough to preserve them, to keep them functional and, just as importantly, fun. Thanks in part to films like this, they likely have little to worry about.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...