Author: John B. Moore

Posted on: January 17, 2011 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Ricky Gervais Show: Complete First Season (DVD)

Only someone as side-splitting funny as Ricky Gervais could successfully take a podcast – a purely audible phenomenon – and take it seamlessly to TV. The HBO show takes the comic’s wildly successful podcasts – which set records for the amount of downloads it racked up in 2007 – and brings them to life via Hanna Barbera-style cartoons. The show revolves around Gervais, his longtime collaborator Stephen Merchant (who helped…

Posted on: January 3, 2011 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Poison – The Poison Collection (Capitol/EMI)

Let me state up front that this review is not meant to be ironic in anyway and while sarcasm is the major form of communication for anyone between 12 and 25, I’m in my late 30’s so am (almost) capable of going more than 15 minutes without a single snarky retort. OK, I’m just as cynical as your average tween, but I’ve at least lived long enough to justify the…

Posted on: December 15, 2010 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Sacred Triangle: Bowie, Iggy & Lou 1971 – 1973 (DVD)

Hard to believe, but 1971 was not a good year for Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and David Bowie, three of the most influential rockers to come out of that decade. The doc Sacred Triangle does a decent job of telling the story of how the trio of rockers nearly fizzled out at the beginning of the decade and how all managed to collaborate in various forms leading to great (and…

Posted on: December 13, 2010 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris (Book)

Humorist David Sedaris manages to fill in the animal characters in his latest collection of short stories with more color and facets than many fiction writers devote to their human characters. Despite being a series of short stories being told by animals, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk is actually pretty much what you’ve come to expect from Sedaris, via his New Yorker essays, NPR stories and collection of autobiographical writings. Filled with…

Posted on: December 3, 2010 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

The Mommyheads – Finest Specimens (CD)

You’d be forgiven if you have never heard of The Mommyheads. A definitive example of a cult band, the San Francisco, by way of New York, indie band had a handful of small label releases throughout the 90’s, one shot at the majors with a Geffen release, then disbanded shortly after in 1998. During their time together, the band did manage to collect a slew of positive reviews from critics…

Posted on: November 29, 2010 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

AC/DC: High Voltage Rock ‘N’ Roll – The Ultimate Illustrated History by Phil Sutcliffe (Voyageur Press)

For those about to rock… might want to pick up this bio/coffee table book on AC/DC. There have been few rock bands as polarizing as AC/DC that have managed to stay relevant across three decades. Call them juvenile, sophomoric, three-chord rock stars or see them as one of the last few torch barriers for unpretentious rock, but there is no denying that Australia’s biggest musical export knows how to write…

Posted on: November 25, 2010 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

LENNONYC (DVD)

To commemorate what would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday there was a slew of re-releases (including updated versions of his solo records) and box sets last month. Among the barrage of remembrances to honor the former Beatles is the little-talked about documentary LennoNYC. The doc, just released on DVD, is a fascinating look at Lennon’s post Beatle life when he left behind his native England for New York in…

Posted on: November 16, 2010 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Starstruck: The Business of Celebrity by Elizabeth Currid-Halkett (Faber and Faber)

Prior to Starstruck, I think it’s safe to assume there had never been so much in depth research put into why Paris Hilton managed to become frighteningly famous when Tara Reed didn’t. On the surface they could almost be doppelgangers: blonde-haired party girls with extremely questionable talent, both thrust into the spotlight. But while Hilton has managed to thrive, building a mini-empire of realty shows and perfume, Reed has become…

Posted on: November 12, 2010 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Marcy Playground – Indaba Remixes From Wonderland (Capitol/EMI)

I have always viewed remixes as an unnecessary and often cynical move by record labels to milk the music –buying public one more time, buying slightly reworked – and in most cases weaker versions of songs they already own. I view it akin to George Lucas tossing out a new edition of Star Wars DVDs every couple of years.

Posted on: November 11, 2010 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Bob Dylan – The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (The Bootleg Series Vol. 9)

For those Dylan fans who have never quite recovered from the musician temporarily putting down his acoustic guitar to plug into an amp at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, The Witmark Demos, the latest in Dylan’s stellar Bootleg Series, is a godsend. Forty-seven songs spread out over two CDs, featuring the artist formerly known as Robert Zimmerman accompanied only by acoustic guitar, and occasionally harmonica and piano, this collection…