You can't put Tom Waits in a sequence and then expect to come back from it.

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Pinch me! DREAMGIRLS turns TWENTY this year.

Nearing 80, pianist Marilyn Crispell is still hungry. spectrumculture.com/2026/01/06/j...

We are looking for writers to review music, film and/or books. Send us a DM for more info!

Wrote about Craig Armstrong's Pacific, a conflicting album that some may find too dull and repetitive, whereas others will experience these aspects as cinematically brilliant. Read more on @spectrumculture.bsky.social here: spectrumculture.com/2026/01/06/c...

All Waterboys isn't classic Waterboys spectrumculture.com/2026/01/06/t...

Have you thought about the Dandy Warhols lately at all? spectrumculture.com/2026/01/06/r...

A lot of folks loved this film. Our critic didn't. Do you agree with her? (Even a little?)

Don’t shleep on Wyatt, y’all

Today’s vibe:

Criminally underrated: Robert Wyatt

Scene Report: High on Fire rock with me spectrumculture.com/2026/01/05/c...

Kind of Blue Diamond spectrumculture.com/2026/01/05/s...

"Shay Hazan is a talented multi-instrumentalist and producer, but his latest work suffers from too many ideas and a lack of consistency." Read my review on @spectrumculture.bsky.social here: spectrumculture.com/2026/01/05/s...

We ranked the Top 10 Albums of 2020 as if they came out today. See what we came up with. Agree? What did we leave out?

Released one month before Ocean's 11 and The Royal Tenenbaums, David Mamet's HEIST often gets overlooked. But it is a terrific old-school thriller where many seasoned actors are at the height of their seemingly effortless credibility. My @spectrumculture.bsky.social case for revisiting it.

Scene report: Gogol Bordello shakes Vermont on New Year's Day.

Today’s vibe:

Folks who grew up in the '90s - what sort of emotional response do you have when you hear Natalie Merchant sing?

R.E.M. fans! These new reissues sound really, really good. @remhq.bsky.social

Hollow night: A dark ambient touchstone gets a reissue. spectrumculture.com/2026/01/04/r...

Happy New Year! We're looking for writers to review music, film and/or books. Drop a DM if you want more info!

Scene Report: Get Som! spectrumculture.com/2026/01/04/c...

2020 was a weird year and the movies released went through a strange prism before they hit us. @spectrumculture.bsky.social looks back at the best of the bunch and how they feel now.

After a holiday break, @spectrumculture.bsky.social is back with my Marty Supreme review. I am glad I saw it twice before filing, as there are layers of subtext I missed because I was first reeling from the sheer anxiety nightmare of it all.

Today’s vibe:

Without looking - how many movies can you name that came out in 2020?

Keep or ditch?

Look, it has long been moribund but there is something sad about the shuttering of MTV, especially for someone who came of age in the '80s and '90s. RIP MTV.

Today’s vibe:

2025 is the best movie year in a long time.

We are back with new content on Monday!

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The Portland Critics Association announces it year-end awards!! portlandcritics.com/awards/2025-2/ @portlandcritics.bsky.social

Sums up 2025

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Happy New Years to those who celebrate.

A lady in her eighties who lives in my building asked me if she should see Marty Supreme, or as she put it, "the one about the pisher who thinks he's a big shot," and I don't think this movie has anything to teach her that she doesn't already know.

Paring down collection a bit! Ditch or keep!?

THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE is everything that HAMNET could/should have been.

50+ tickets sold to our Boston gig. Crazy to think about it given how many of our early shows had no one there and/or had people calling me and @petridisch.bsky.social clueless idiots.

Listening to THE '59 SOUND by the Gaslight Anthem is like playing spot-the-influence. Barely a moment goes by without a reference to Springsteen, Waits, even Counting Crows. Who else is in there?

Today’s vibe:

Wake Up Dead Man feels like a 2.5 hour episode of Scooby Doo.

Portland Critics nominations are up! Voting this weekend! portlandcritics.com/awards/2025-2/

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We have openings for writers to review music, film and/or books. Send us a DM for more info!