Hot August NightHot August nightAnd the leaves hanging downAnd the grass on the groundSmellin' sweet.--Neil Diamond, "Brother Love'sTraveling Salvation Show" (1972)Here are the reviews I'mworking on for this month.Amazon: Full House - The Complete Fourth Season [four-discset] (I also reviewed seasons one and three), Hanna-Barbera's Magilla Gorilla - The Complete Series [four-disc set], My NameIs Earl - The Complete First Season [four-disc set], Kaki King - Until We Felt Red, M. Ward - Post-War, The Clash - Rude Boy: The Movie, Heart Like a Wheel, Baghdad ER, Beavis & Butt-Head - The Mike Judge Collection: Volume Three [three-disc set] (I alsorevie

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Portrait of Marisa MonteI'm posting this pretty, yet pensive image here as Blue Note was kind enough to send it to me and because I wasn't able to attach it to my previous posts about the Brazilian singer.I'm not sure why, but for the past few months, it's gotten harder and harder to add pictures to my posts (I can't tell if it's the program or the pictures). In any case, it usually takes a few tries before I can get one to stick. Consequently, I haven't been able to use some of my favorite images. Like this one. So, I figured I'd create a new post and try it again. Voila--it worked!While I'm at it, if you missed my ramblings on Universo Ao Meu Redor

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Where in the World is...Carmen Sandiego? Matt Lauer? No, me. Here are some of the more interesting sites on which I've found my reviews and other ephemera.*****Analogue Haven:Amazon reviews of The Director's Series, Vols. 4-6[The typos are their addition.]AustinMusic.com:Amazon review of Various Artists - Austin City Limits Music Festival 2005Canine Equipment Outfitters:Amazon review of My Family and Other AnimalsCD Baby:(Over-long) AMG bio of Dennis DriscollFacets of Religion:Amazon review of Luther GreenCine:Reference to my Siffblog review of Brigitte and Brigitte:Somewhat related is Kathy Fennessy's Siffblog entry on Sam Fuller and Luc Moullet, in

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Review RoundupJeff, Castle Storm, Infinity CatJeff is Jake and Jamin Orrall, rocking the Thurston Moore look in the photo to the left. (They were 16 and 14 when they started Infinity Cat.) Their third LP consists of loud, jammy stuff laid down in two days. The 13 ditties touch on prog, punk, hardcore, and metal. Jake shouts and strums, while Jamin beats the skins. To be sure: It rocks, but this kind of material works best live.Carolyn AlRoy, Gorgeous Enormous, WussyHer debut is a singer-songwritery thing with country tinges. New York poet-turned-psychotherapist AlRoy sings like Lois Maffeo, which is to the good, but Gorgeous Enormous doesn't do it for

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Alaska Is Not in AmericaIn the course of writing about the latest Long Winters release, Putting the Days to Bed, I decided to do a little reading about the Seattle band. Their website is a great place to start. Along the way, I stumbled across a piece in The Stranger called "Harm's Way" (2/21/02), in which I found that frontman John Roderick moved to Alaska the same year I did: 1971.I wonder if that means his family also took a trip to the Anchorage International Airport to see Richard Nixon when he came to town during his 1972 re-election campaign? Heck, we did, and there were no Republicans in our house. No matter. It was something to do. And he was

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Who is Peter Tevis: Part IILast month, I posted a message fromBob Cumbow regarding American singer/songwriter Peter Tevis, who influenced the sound of the Spaghetti Western through his association with Italian composer Ennio Morricone. Bob forwarded the post to Peter, who responds with his own take on the story. With his permission, I am posting it here.*****Here's the true story of "A Fistful of Dollars." I was working atthe Teatro De Opera as a stereo stage manager at about 24 yearsof age in 1961, when I was introduced to an Italian lady who had established herself by helping singers get started. She made an appointment for me to go to RCA, to meet

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July, JulyJuly, July, July It never seemed so strange.-- The DecemberistsHere are the reviews I'mworking on for this month.Amazon: Carnivàle - The Complete Second Season [six-disc set](I also reviewed the first season), Our Brand Is Crisis (revealingdoc about the American-consulted campaign of a Bolivian presiden-tial candidate), Dashboard Confessional - Dusk and Summer (louder, less whiny), Joshua Radin - We Were Here, Widespread Panic - Earth to America, Greg Graffin - Cold as the Clay (Bad Religion singer goes solo), the Long Winters - Putting the Days to Bed (third release from John Roderick's local combo), David Ford - I Sincerely Apologize For A

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Seattle Film Afficianados RespondTo a piece in Slate calledThe Movie I've Seen the MostIntroduction:What movie have you seen the most? That's the question Slate asked a collection of filmmakers and critics, knowing that what's addictive is different than what's deemed the best. The answers vary from Ghostbusters to Dr. Zhivago, from Citizen Kane to Election.Excerpt:Michael Sragow, critic, The Baltimore SunIt was my luck to see the greatest movie ever made, The Wild Bunch, shortly after it opened in the summer of 1969. I saw it six times the first week and may have seen it 50 times since. No other film has such an inside-outside reach. Sam Peckinpah to

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On Covering Gainsbourg:Part IVIntoxicated Man (1995, Mute)Pink Elephants (1997, Mute)The idea to make this record began from a combination of personal curiosity about Gainsbourg's material (particularly his lyrics) and a growing bewilderment that his work is virtually unknown outside French speaking countries.-- Mick Harvey (from the liner notes to the first album)The songs were written by Serge Gainsbourg. All 32--16 per record--have been translated into English. Mick Harvey (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) performs them with Anita Lane (Jane Birkin to his Gainsbourg), Warren Ellis (the Dirty Three, The Proposition), and other Australian notables. I hav

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Paul Burch, East to West, Bloodshot (8/15/06)It's impossible to hear this without being frequently reminded of Bob Dylan in his Nashville Skyline phase... There's that same strain to be unforced and easygoing, as if to admit to any measure of doubt or sadness would amount to a cardinal sin. --Richie Unterberger onBlue Notes (2000)*****East to West, Paul Burch's sixth full-length, is a toe-tapping platter that goes down like a cool glass of iced tea on a hot day. (Allow me to put in a plug for Tazo's tasty Sweet Orange Blossom.) I hear Buddy Holly and Marshall Crenshaw on the faster numbers ("Montreal," "I Will Wait for You"). On the slower ones, I hea

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