California State University Northridge math professor Tihomir Petrov was arraigned last Thursday for urinating on the office door of a math-department colleague. Yes, that’s right: there really are security cameras everywhere. And yes, the dude must have been really “pissed.” Surely “colleague” doesn’t quite capture the tenor of the relationship, one imagines; if we can [...]
So I’ve promised to write about a couple of smackdowns: “Our House” (CSN) v. “Our House” (Madness), and also “Green Eyes” (Coldplay) vs. “Green Eyes” (Husker Du). And I will: need a couple more days, though. In the meantime, another train of thought inspired by A Rush of Blood to the Head. I argued, or [...]
To the best of my knowledge, I’ve never heard Kings of Leon. I admit this to my shame. In my head, I’ve confused them with Fountains of Wayne, in that small category of [Random Common Noun] of [Boy’s Given Name] bands. (I’m thinking of starting a band called Urinals of Glenn. Please attach no significance [...]
Thanks to fcrp reader Emily, who suggested the first video in today’s post—which led me, old guy that I am, to think of a couple of earlier examples of this kind of thing. So to begin at the beginning: here’s the video that Emily pointed me to, a subtle but instructive piece of performance art. [...]
Well, this is an interesting problem to have: the comments on yesterday’s post, from Ken, Scott, Susie, Tim—they’re just wonderful. Between them, amongst them, they’ve effectively stolen my “thunder”—and seem, without having seen it, to be running through Steve’s outline on the topic, as well. I’d thought it would take a couple more posts to [...]
Hey there, RadioHeads! I’ve had a number of folks, seemingly persuaded by what I’ve been saying about Radiohead’s greatness, writing to ask me what they should listen to. So that’s today’s post: What Radiohead to listen to. In the event, I’m giving you what in the trade is called a “Kevin’s dozen”—18 tracks. Kevin’s a [...]
[Just a reminder: this is the fourth in a five-part series exploring the greatness that is Radiohead. If you haven't read the first three, skip down the page to Saturday, June 12, and work your way forward.] Four quick time-cue beeps sweep us into “Paranoid Android.” If the popular long-running BBC radio program has taught [...]
[Just a reminder: this is the third in a five-part series exploring the greatness that is Radiohead. If you haven't read the first two, skip down the page to Saturday, June 12, and work your way forward.] On Radiohead’s second album, The Bends, the same mythic battle plays out in songs like the first single, “Fake [...]
[Dear fcrp readers: Today, and for the next four days (through Wednesday), I’ll be attempting to answer the musical questions, "Kevin, Why do you care about Radiohead? And why should I?" These aren’t purely rhetorical questions; indeed, I have to say, they aren’t even ones I would have thought required an answer, since the answer [...]
Faithful readers of fake chinese rubber plant will know by now that while the blog is generally about contemporary culture—its delights and discontents—I find myself coming back time and again to the fertile intersection of contemporary music and everyday life. It’s my Crossroads (though I haven’t sold my soul to the devil; nor can I [...]