I haven't watched MICHAEL – we already have BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY as a cynical homophobic IMAX/ScreenX version of musical touchstones. Audiences didn't care. And the Michael Jackson estate has ensured that audiences will care about little else but Damaged Eternal Child Michael. wp.me/pzXeC-lge

Thanks, Mike!

I haven't watched MICHAEL – we already have BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY as a cynical homophobic IMAX/ScreenX version of musical touchstones. Audiences didn't care. And the Michael Jackson estate has ensured that audiences will care about little else but Damaged Eternal Child Michael. wp.me/pzXeC-lge

FDR would have the wittiest dunks but always be agreeing with everyone all the time

I presented a paper at Pop Con 2019 on "Deadbeat Club," a song about dancing for hours in the tall trees with friends and strangers, not ready for the deaths, sudden and prolonged, that will come. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2019/04/12/w...

Robust if not brassy, Kate Pierson's voice is one of my favorite sounds in pop, whether backing Iggy Pop and R.E.M. or on the B'52s landmark recordings. Happy birthday. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2018/09/26/r...

She and Cindy together, goddamn.

Robust if not brassy, Kate Pierson's voice is one of my favorite sounds in pop, whether backing Iggy Pop and R.E.M. or on the B'52s landmark recordings. Happy birthday. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2018/09/26/r...

On a week like queer and/or POC kids have had Florida kids it's a wonder we can listen to what Sam Cooke offers in his greatest hits. To quote Otis Redding's Stones cover, "And I try. And I try..." wp.me/pzXeC-lgc

On a week like queer and/or POC kids have had Florida kids it's a wonder we can listen to what Sam Cooke offers in his greatest hits. To quote Otis Redding's Stones cover, "And I try. And I try..." wp.me/pzXeC-lgc

Love this list. I often think of long songs that don’t “feel” long.

An artist leaves beloved group -- or moonlights -- and records solo debut. Here are my favorites. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2019/02/01/t...

The first of these I remember hearing was CCR's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" on my parents' copy of Cosmo's Factory. I couldn't believe how long it was! They must have been exhausted by the end of it, I remember saying. 😆

I wrote about some of my favorite long songs on pop albums. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/04/26/i...

An artist leaves beloved group -- or moonlights -- and records solo debut. Here are my favorites. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2019/02/01/t...

Faye Dunaway plays a Gorgon who lays waste to husbands, lovers, Pepsi-Cola CEOs, casting agents, and interior designers, all of whom function as understudies in dress rehearsals for the violence Joan Crawford unleashes on her children. I love it. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/04/25/m...

One of the worst non-hits of all time. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/04/25/r...

One of the worst non-hits of all time. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/04/25/r...

We critics make fetishes out of "three-dimensional" and "multi-layered performances." Faye Dunaway's Joan Crawford is the strongest case for one-dimensional, single-layered work, the best of 1981, in a movie cut with less purpose than a pizza pie. I go into it here. wp.me/pzXeC-lfO

We critics make fetishes out of "three-dimensional" and "multi-layered performances." Faye Dunaway's Joan Crawford is the strongest case for one-dimensional, single-layered work, the best of 1981, in a movie cut with less purpose than a pizza pie. I go into it here. wp.me/pzXeC-lfO

I bought the Criterion of AN UNMARRIED WOMAN last month and spent a joyous Sunday watching it. I love Paul Mazursky films. He would've celebrated a birthday. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2024/05/19/o...

I bought the Criterion of AN UNMARRIED WOMAN last month and spent a joyous Sunday watching it. I love Paul Mazursky films. He would've celebrated a birthday. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2024/05/19/o...

They weren't Pet Shop Boys but Erasure created a queer canon worthy of respect -- and worthy of dancing to. Happy birthday, Andy Bell. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2017/09/16/g...

They do if they've watched Erasure videos.

They weren't Pet Shop Boys but Erasure created a queer canon worthy of respect -- and worthy of dancing to. Happy birthday, Andy Bell. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2017/09/16/g...

For @sotoalfred.bsky.social as a sterling example of the Poppy Bush Interzone.

As much as I still dig ""Nothin'" and "Stranger in My House," The Killers own this rundown. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/04/24/r...

As much as I still dig ""Nothin'" and "Stranger in My House," The Killers own this rundown. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2026/04/24/r...

Forget showing Gregg Araki films! Say no to homosexual undertones in Hitchcock. Do I teach Phaedrus in my history of rhetoric survey course? Texas Tech declares war on anything LGBTQ-adjacent. wp.me/pzXeC-lfB

Exactly.

Forget showing Gregg Araki films! Say no to homosexual undertones in Hitchcock. Do I teach Phaedrus in my history of rhetoric survey course? Texas Tech declares war on anything LGBTQ-adjacent. wp.me/pzXeC-lfB

Indie perennials who press on, Yo La Tengo have accumulated an impressive run of albums. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2018/10/15/r...

Indie perennials who press on, Yo La Tengo have accumulated an impressive run of albums. humanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2018/10/15/r...

I guess we're tired of "Conga" and "Relax," but listen -- these were epochal hits. I don't even have to mention "Opportunities" and "Don't Get Me Wrong" and "Baby Love" and -- aw shucks, just read. wp.me/pzXeC-lfy

I always listen and am like oh no my guy you sound so sure I almost think it was gonna last (it didn’t)

ALL SO GOOD.

I guess we're tired of "Conga" and "Relax," but listen -- these were epochal hits. I don't even have to mention "Opportunities" and "Don't Get Me Wrong" and "Baby Love" and -- aw shucks, just read. wp.me/pzXeC-lfy

The New York Times failed to quote a transgender person in 66 percent of its stories. I'd say this is a problem. Wouldn't you? wp.me/pzXeC-lfn

The New York Times failed to quote a transgender person in 66 percent of its stories. I'd say this is a problem. Wouldn't you? wp.me/pzXeC-lfn

Roy Orbison must have had some kind of radio station in Wink, Texas. Listening to snatches of this music while he grew up, the line between Grand Guignol and pathos dissolved, cheerfully. Naiveté darkened by knowledge of perversity. No wonder David Lynch responded. wp.me/pzXeC-6rk

Snotty rejoinder about Southbound Jericho Parkway in the replies on the page aside, that track is pretty remarkable. Top list - all killer, no filler.

Roy Orbison must have had some kind of radio station in Wink, Texas. Listening to snatches of this music while he grew up, the line between Grand Guignol and pathos dissolved, cheerfully. Naiveté darkened by knowledge of perversity. No wonder David Lynch responded. wp.me/pzXeC-6rk

Guardians of male unease, The National record music for men who thought they were middle-aged at twenty-three. H appy birthday to Bryce and Aaron Dessner. ehumanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2023/04/23/h...

“People Just Don’t Care”: ‘Leaving Neverland’ Director on Why Michael Jackson Won the Court of Public Opinion

Guardians of male unease, The National record music for men who thought they were middle-aged at twenty-three. H appy birthday to Bryce and Aaron Dessner. ehumanizingthevacuum.wordpress.com/2023/04/23/h...

I wish "Firestarter" had been as epochal in the States as it'd been in the UK; but then we watched George Michael + Queen's "Somebody to Love" become a pre-viral phenomenon. And okay hits like "Change" and "In the Meantime" still charted. wp.me/pzXeC-lfk

“Breathe” was the song of theirs that really sparked for me.

I wish "Firestarter" had been as epochal in the States as it'd been in the UK; but then we watched George Michael + Queen's "Somebody to Love" become a pre-viral phenomenon. And okay hits like "Change" and "In the Meantime" still charted. wp.me/pzXeC-lfk

Camus' novel wasn't existentialist per se, but for millions of high school readers it has become the quintessential fictional distillation of France's most important cultural contribution since Charles Boyer impersonations in cartoons. My review of François Ozon's THE STRANGER. wp.me/pzXeC-lfa

Camus' novel wasn't existentialist per se, but for millions of high school readers it has become the quintessential fictional distillation of France's most important cultural contribution since Charles Boyer impersonations in cartoons. My review of François Ozon's THE STRANGER. wp.me/pzXeC-lfa