Author: John B. Moore

Posted on: September 29, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Porter Block – The Gowanus Yacht Club (CD)

Written as a love letter to his Brooklyn neighborhood, The Gowanus Yacht Club was a bit of an experiment for Porter Block. For his fourth record, the pop rocker sought the help of 11 diverse song writers to collaborate on the record.

Posted on: September 28, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

The Big Bang Theory – The Complete Second Season (DVD)

There is no reason that The Big Bang Theory should be as funny as it is. It has all the markings of a traditional, run-of-the-mill sitcom: wacky characters, the hot neighbor, the laugh track. It also doesn’t help that the series was created by Chuck Lore, who forced the groan-inducing Two and a Half Men on the world.

Posted on: September 17, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 2

Kill the Music by Michael G. Plumides, Jr. (Book)

Chances are, unless you were part of the early 90’s music scene in North Carolina, you have no idea who Michael Plumides, Jr. is. That doesn’t make his memoir Kill the Music any less interesting. The book is Plumides’ reflections on the late 80’s and early 90’s when he worked in South Carolina as a deejay at an influential college radio station and eventually moved on to become the owner…

Posted on: September 16, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

In Cadeo – Making Our Graves (CD)

Yet another indie band from Brooklyn? Yup, only this one seems to have placed a stronger emphasis on the songs than their image. In a music scene as cluttered as Brooklyn, it takes a pretty amazing band to stand out above the fray, and In Cadeo just happen to have the songs to back up all the adulation that should be coming their way shortly.

Posted on: September 15, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Fringe – The Complete First Season (DVD)

Like trying to live up to its extremely popular older brother, Fringe was unfairly being compared to Lost even before the first episode aired. Because of its co-creator – JJ Abrams – Fringe had the impossible task of having to live up to the cult built around that other Abram’s show. On its own, Fringe held up quite well, as the first season on DVD shows. Though it took a…

Posted on: September 12, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers – The Bear

Stephen Kellogg goes a little more country on his latest album, but that is far from being a bad thing. Songs like “A (With Love)” and “Satisfied Man” could have come straight out of Nashville’s Music Row, rather than from the mic of Massachusetts’ native Stephen Kellogg.

Posted on: September 4, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Blur – Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide to Blur (CD)

It’s easy to forget just how long Blur has been around. Thanks to the handy timeline tucked inside the liner notes of the anthology Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide to Blur, you realize that they started before the EU was officially established, before the Soviet Union broke up and just one month after the Internet was opened to the public. The 25 tracks that make up the release – a collection…

Posted on: September 4, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses 20th Anniversary (2CD/1 DVD Deluxe Edition)

You’d be forgiven for taking the Stone Roses for granted a bit. They only had one remarkable album (their self-titled debut) and it was released in 1989, at the beginning of alternative rock’s heyday, forcing them to compete with everyone from Depeche Mode to Nirvana. But thanks to Legacy Records, the Manchester-based band gets another shot. Because of the infectious, if a bit mopey single “I Wanna to Be Adored,”…

Posted on: September 2, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Smile Smile – Blue Roses (CD)

Despite only having two members, the folk-inspired indie pop duo Smile Smile – comprised of Ryan Hamilton and Jencey Hirunrusme – manage to make some fairly expansive songs on their debut. Blue Roses, originally released in 2006 and re-released this summer, is remarkable in its simplicity.

Posted on: August 26, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Doug Gillard – Call From Restricted (CD)

As sometime guitarist for Dayton’s favorite sons Guided By Voices and Robert Pollard’s post-break-up solo work, Doug Gillard delivered album after album of satisfying jangly lo-fi pop. On Call From Restricted, his own latest solo effort, Gillard delivers more the of that familiar jangly guitar pop, but with impressively accessible vocals.

Posted on: August 26, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Mad Men: Season Two (DVD)

You’d be hard pressed to find any characters as cool as the suit-sportin’, booze-swillin’ ad men (and women) that populate AMC’s incredibly original series Mad Men. The second season, just released on DVD, followed through on all the promises set out in the debut.

Posted on: August 24, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Seven Mile Beach by Tom Gilling (Book)

Australian novelist Tom Gilling may not be that well known outside of his native Australia, but if his latest book is any indication he surely should be. The surprisingly funny mystery/thriller Seven Mile Beach is far more interesting than any of the last few Grisham and Patterson tomes lining the book shelves.

Posted on: August 22, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

The Hooters – Both Sides Live (CD)

A live album by a band that’s been missing from radio for a good two decades is usually a bad sign. A gimmicky half acoustic, half plugged in record is even more ominous. But Philadelphia’s once-favorite sons have managed to pull of the difficult, putting out a nostalgia record that is just as good, if not better than anything they have done before. The first disc was recorded live in…

Posted on: August 22, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Vanilla Ride by Joe R. Lansdale (Book)

There are certain liberties authors are granted. Only David Mamet can get away with stringing together seemingly unrelated explicatives into believable dialogue the way he does; only Stephen King can make Maine seem like the third circle of Hell; and only Joe Lansdale, Texas born and bred, can get away with the often goofy quotes his duo Hap Collins and Leonard Pine spout off on just about every other page…

Posted on: August 20, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

The Silent Years – Let Go (CD)

The only really disappointing thing about Let Go, The Silent Year’s latest EP is the length. At six songs, the band’s latest is an appropriate follow up to last year’s decent full length The Globe, managing to eclipse those songs both musically and lyrically. The group delivers unpretentious indie pop in the vein of What Made Milwaukee Famous and Vampire Weekend (without the goofy prep school kid attitude). The album…

Posted on: August 18, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Frank Turner – Love Ire & Song (CD)

There’s something about acoustic guitars that draws former punk rockers like moths to a flame. Frank Turner, former member of Million Dead, unplugged after his band dissolved about three years ago and decided to go the route of Billy Bragg, writing lyrically smart, occasionally politically-tinged folk rock songs. On Love Ire & Song, his second full length (he’s also released a couple of EPs and a new LP is just…

Posted on: August 12, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 1

Lowside of the Road: A life of Tom Waits by Barney Hoskyns (Book)

It’s amazing this book ever made it to print. Music writer Barney Hoskyns was shut out at just about every attempt to interview anyone who was even remotely close to the notoriously media shy Tom Waits. In fact, the end of the book comes with a collection of often humorous e-mail transcripts from a slew of Waits’ friends, collaborators and associates explaining why they would not be able to answer…

Posted on: August 11, 2009 Posted by: John B. Moore Comments: 0

Black Whales – Origins EP (CD)

With just seven songs, the Black Whales manage to make a damn fine introduction to the world. With influences that are as varied as The Clash, The Beach Boys, Talking Heads and The Kinks, Origins manages to incorporate a myriad of influences while still sounding starkly original.