Stand! with Black Messiah
Buried amid the acknowledgments of his 2013 memoir, Questlove, of the Roots, wrote "D: I pray this album comes out before my twentieth book." His sentiments echoed the feelings of a great swath of...
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The Sociology of Annoying Xmas Songs
Why do some of the most annoying Xmas songs keep coming back year after year after year? To find answers to this question, one could do worse than study Wham!'s musical masterpiece "Last Christmas."...
View ArticleMusic Picks for 2014
For the last 11 years, I've released an annual list of my favorite albums, intended primarily for those who want to hear new music but have a hard time sorting through the hundreds of new titles that...
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Best Buy, 'Serial' and the Era of Outrage
Last week, Best Buy became the latest entity to find itself staring down the barrel of the Internet's collective indignation. On Thursday, the retail chain tweeted a joke about Serial, the wildly...
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Things Have Changed: Dylan Sounding Tremendous in Recent Tour Leg
Whatever Bob Dylan did differently on this leg of the Never Ending Tour, he needs to keep doing it. He hasn't sounded this good in years. His was voice the clearest it has been in a decade; his words...
View ArticleA-Sides with Jon ChattmanThe ABCs of THE HEYDAZE; A-Sides Top 54 Songs of 2014
Drink. Eat. Write papers. Somewhat study. Hit on girls. Get turned down.That essentially sums up my college experience, but why share my pratfalls. Oh, right... because THE HEYDAZE are a band that...
View ArticleKateGate's Growing Horrors: From the B-52s' Kate Pierson's Unapolegetic...
Dear Kate, It's been over a week since the release of your new single, "Mister Sister," and the publication of my open letter to you regarding the disappointment and pain that it caused me, a longtime...
View ArticleSony Exec's Apology Following Prejudicial Emails Is Just Not Enough, and...
The definition of "racism" is "prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior." Individual racism, which...
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Movie Review: Mr. Turner -- Go Toward the Light
Had he been born in a different time and place, painter J.M.W. Turner might have been a member of the Hudson River School, a group of artists who worked in the second half of the 19th century, after...
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Everything Macaulay Culkin Eats In The Home Alone Movies, Ranked
By: Kristin Hunt Credit: 20th Century Fox Forget being like Mike. In the '90s, there was only one person every child wanted to be, and it was Kevin McAllister. The dude had alarmingly proficient...
View ArticleHanukkA-Sides with Jon Chattman: Songs in the Key of Jew - Meet The...
Sorry Adam Sandler. You very well might have to do yet another Hanukkah song. I have a Jewish duo - a "Jew-O" if you will - who should be added to your arsenal of triumphant Jews. Off topic, you might...
View ArticleThe Hobbit, The Battle of the Five Armies Another Tour de Force
Once again Peter Jackson triumphs in his directing and writing of the The Hobbit, the Battle of the Five Armies. It stars Martin Freeman just nominated for a Golden Globe for Fargo, Ian Mc Kellen,...
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A Christmas Story for the Videogame Generation
A Review of Kevin Jakubowski's book 8-Bit Christmas Apparently, I'm not a monster. And for this, I have Kevin Jakubowski to thank. This fear about my humanity all started back in May, right around the...
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Gems: Listen to My Debut Track 'Larimar,' Which Remixes Beyonce's '7/11'
As 2014 closes out and we enter a blank slate for the New Year, I had one major goal on my bucket list that I promised to check off -- which was to begin the production phase of my music career. With...
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Disney to 'Frozen' Fans: 'Let it Code'
I have a friend who is as obsessed with Frozen as her young daughter. They must have seen it over a dozen times already and I've lost count as to how many text conversations we've had about how the...
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The Sharp Things' Newest Cut Is an Adventure
THE SHARP THINGS is a longstanding, multi-member NYC-based collective led by singer/songwriter/pianist Perry Serpa. Over their 15-plus years in existence, THE SHARP THINGS have taken in over 40...
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Why 'The Comeback' Shouldn't Have
No one appreciates sentiment as much as Valerie Cherish, the desperate-for-everything actress on HBO's The Comeback, and no one is more equipped to play her than Lisa Kudrow, an actress so desperately...
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The Best Films of 2014
As 2014 draws to a close, it's a perfect time to reflect on noteworthy films, strong performances and the strides that black artists made this past year. It's also a good time to spotlight the...
View ArticleTheater: Bradley Cooper Gets Ugly; TR Knight Gets Closeted
POCATELLO ** 1/2 out of **** THE ELEPHANT MAN ** out of **** POCATELLO ** 1/2 out of **** PLAYWRIGHTS HORIZONS What a pleasure to see actor T.R. Knight back on stage in a role that might have been...
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