SCIENCE

WHOO HOO! WE’RE STILL ALIVE!
http://webcast.cern.ch/
If you’re reading this, that means that the Large Hadron Collider has NOT destroyed the Earth and all life as we know it! Hooray! Time to celebrate! Is Sam Moore still in jail? No? Let’s call him up and go snort some blow off some transvestitute’s fake tits! It’s totally time to celebrate! After all, we only have 3 and a half more years before the Mayans come back to kill us all! Time’s a wastin’! Three cheers for SCIENCE!


BOOK

IT STILL MOVES: LOST SONGS, LOST HIGHWAYS AND THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT AMERICAN MUSIC
Amanda Petrusich / Faber & Faber
If Petrusich sounds familiar, it’s most likely because you’ve read her byline at pitchforkmedia.com, otherwise known as the vilest pit of elitist douchebaggery this side of the 18th Street Lounge. But don’t hold that against her; she‘s a sharp writer, and her history-cum-travelogue of merry old Americana is both edifying and deeply touching. This book is a rare example of music writing rising above mere masturbatory ramblings.


CD

CARRIED TO DUST
Calexico / Quarterstick
Of course, I don’t think anyone can really start talking about lost songs, lost highways and the next American music without mentioning Calexico in the same breath. Burns and Convertino are back with another go-around of classic Americana, channeling strains of Newman and classic AM gold through the sand-dusted plains of the Southwest. The album often sounds like a soundtrack in search of a movie, but it’s a good time, nonetheless.


BOOK

WHATEVER IT TAKES: GEOFFREY CANADA’S QUEST TO CHANGE HARLEM AND AMERICA
Paul Tough / Houghton Mifflin
Tough has always been one of the New York Times’ best writers, and he absolutely shines here. His tale of one man’s astoundingly audacious quest to change Harlem for the better is riveting, remaining both poignant and inspiring without ever seeming saccharine. While its outlook on the American education system—mired in a vicious cycle of poverty and unspoken class systems—is bleak, the tale overall is a wholly engaging look into how an individual can make a difference.


MUSIC

PIRATES!
Brine & Bastards /
http://www.myspace.com/brineandbastards
You know, I guess I could tell you folks how Brine & Bastards recalls classic youthful energy in the spirit of ’77 fuck-yeah punk, but I think all you need to know is that they’re New Jersey’s premier pirate-themed musical collective, and that their debut is called SET SAIL FOR SODOMY. Seriously, do you really need to know anything else? Someone get these guys into Richmond, stat!


DVD

I GOT THE FEELIN’:
JAMES BROWN IN THE SIXTIES
Shout Factory
This set contains two classic JB sets from ’68, and the award-winning VH1 documentary about how he single-handedly saved Boston in the aftermath of King’s death, making it safe for all the boring rich white people to come flockin’ back to the Palest City on Earth. What are you still doing here? This is the best DVD set you see all year. Get it now.


CD

PRO TOOLS
GZA / Babygrande
The GZA’s back with another solo, kicking ass and once again proving why he’s one of the most talented rhymers working in NY today. You don’t fuck with the Wu, dudes. Watch your step, kid.


DVD

SON OF RAMBOW
Garth Jennings / Paramount
Your tolerance for this Sundance favorite will depend entirely on whether your level of risk for diabetes. This coming-of-age film about two precocious British lads and their love for Rambo: First Blood can be sickeningly sweet at times, often bordering on propagandistic melodrama; however, you’d have to be either a robot or a heartless Nazi corpse to remain immune to its charming affectations. It’s worth sticking in your Netflix queue.


DVD

THE FALL
Tarsem Singh / Sony Pictures
It’s difficult to explicate what makes this film special in words alone, other than to say that it’s perhaps the best film ever based on the best short story Gabriel Garcia Marquez never wrote. Fuck Burton and his ilk—years from now, critics will look back on this film as the first true translation of Magical Realism into celluloid. Ebert put it best when he wrote, “You might want to see for no other reason than because it exists. There will never be another like it.”   


CD

THE STAND INS
Okkervil River / Jagjaguwar
Right, right, I’ll admit it: I think I was probably wrong about that last Okkervil River album. I’m still not convinced that it was worth all the verbal jizz and hyperbole, but it now makes a strange sort of sense. Technically, both The Stage Names and The Stand Ins should be considered one work—and when taken within the context of the whole, the artifact itself is a wholly remarkable work of heartfelt Americana cast in a thoroughly postmodern reflexive mold, often seeming knowingly self-referential without ever betraying its own sense of artlessness. The long short, governor: it’s a great album. Pick it up with the previous LP and knock back a few. You’ll definitely need ‘em.