Well, this may not be a blog per se, but I’ve written a lot of pieces since 2017 for another website on music, TV, and film. I’ve selected some of my favorites to re-publish here. My very favorite ones here are in bold.

 

Come And Get Your Love: F IS FOR FAMILY and the value of empathy (May 26, 2017)

Van Halen, VAN HALEN, or: Stupid Rock Done Smart (August 17, 2017)

Everyone Was a Child Once: A CHRISTMAS STORY (February 26, 2018)

21st Century American Wasteland: Wilco, YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT, featuring Stubb’s BBQ and 9/11 (March 25, 2018)

Lights And Music Are On My Mind: Cut Copy, IN GHOST COLOURS (June 29, 2018)

Better Stall Saul (September 27, 2018)

The discipline not to write setting: THE SHIELD and THE ORDER OF THE STICK (November 23, 2018)

We Are Standing on the Edge: Radiohead, OK COMPUTER (November 28, 2018)

This Ain’t No Disco: Talking Heads, FEAR OF MUSIC (December 15, 2018)

Something’s Gone Wrong Again: The Buzzcocks, SINGLES GOING STEADY (December 21, 2018)

I don’t got that bad of a mouth, do I? Eminem, THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP (January 21, 2019)

I know where you’re from, but where do you belong? Modest Mouse, THE MOON & ANTARCTICA (February 15, 2019)

Yesterday Once More: IF I WERE A CARPENTER (May 21, 2019)

I want to testify: Big Star, RADIO CITY (October 23, 2019)

I liked JOKER a hell of a lot more than I expected to (October 24, 2019)

Now she’s gone, and I’m back on the beat: Squeeze, SINGLES 45s AND UNDER (November 13, 2019)

We would have come earlier, but your husband wasn’t dead then: The absurd influence of POLICE SQUAD! (November 18, 2019)

Little boy lost, he takes himself so seriously: Bob Dylan, BLONDE ON BLONDE (December 29, 2019)

What’s Up, Doc? The Cartoonish Mayhem of SHOOT ‘EM UP (February 4, 2020)

Shining violence in the city: AFTER DARK, featuring Italians Do It Better and Johnny Jewel (February 19, 2020)

ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST is the astonishing, unexpected TV gem of 2020 (May 7, 2020)

Let’s take a sleigh ride: Fred Willard, 1933-2020 (May 16, 2020)

Look at this face. What do you see? GET A LIFE (July 2, 2020)

Cocteau Twins, TREASURE (October 23, 2020)

BORAT 2 justifies its existence by putting a new spin on an old formula (October 27, 2020)

“Guys have underestimated me my entire life”: Like the man himself, TED LASSO is easy to overlook but has surprising depth (October 28, 2020)

Even Moses got excited when he saw the promised land: Lyle Lovett, THE ROAD TO ENSENADA (January 5, 2021)

20th century, go to sleep: R.E.M., NEW ADVENTURES IN HI-FI (January 6, 2021)

So this is what it’s like to be an adult: Pearl Jam, NO CODE (January 7, 2021)

True Optimism vs. Hopepunk (February 8, 2021)

A kiss of death, the embrace of life: Television, MARQUEE MOON (May 25, 2021)

I THINK YOU SHOULD LEAVE, Season Two (July 15, 2021)

I’ve been lucky: Norm Macdonald, 1959-2021 (September 15, 2021)

“Just do the work, pal. You’ll be all right”: TED LASSO season two (October 14, 2021)

I haven’t worked a day in my life: John Madden, 1936-2021 (December 29, 2021)

Take your instinct by the reins: R.E.M., DOCUMENT (July 28, 2022)

Just when I was starting to feel okay: Chris Bell, I AM THE COSMOS (December 21, 2022)

The unreal story of PAUL T. GOLDMAN (February 1, 2023)

I’m not as dumb as I am: HAPPY ENDINGS is the 21st century’s great screwball sitcom (April 5, 2023)