Alex Rudolph

The Sudden Audience

Daniel Johnston, singing the hymn "Careless Soul" a capella, on his album 1990, has devastated me every time I've heard it and I don't expect there to be a time when it doesn't. I'm not a religious person and don&

My Canon: Longboxes by Nate McDonough

A year or two ago, I was talking with Nate about Longboxes and he told me it was basically his Eltingville Club. I like The Eltingville Club a lot, but Nate was wrong. In fact, I don't think I've ever talked to a person who misunderstood

Twenty Life-Affirming Lyrics from Les Savy Fav

I last saw Les Savy Fav, one of my favorite bands, in June 2024. This was the first time in a decade I'd seen them without having to travel to another city, which would normally just be a nice treat but, now that I have a small child,

My Canon: Going Places by Yellow Swans

So much of it is the title and the album art. In April 2008, Yellow Swans announced they would break up, in June 2008 they played their final show and in March 2010 they released their final album. Some conclusions become consequential with time, when it becomes clear that thing

Here Lies A Minkus

The season one cast photo for Boy Meets World has all of our favorite characters. There's the five members of the Matthews family, the Hunter boy young Cory is so fond of, what's his first name? Shawn? and local hard-ass teacher Mr. Feeny. But who&

My Canon: "The Accident" by David Bruckner, from Southbound

Sometimes you're with an artist for life. Whatever else he does, whatever missteps he may make along the way, I will take the time to watch what David Bruckner directs. His last two features were 2020's The Night House, which I liked well enough and the

My Canon: Why Did Pete Duel Kill Himself? by Mark Kalesniko

The first time I read Why Did Pete Duel Kill Himself?, I didn't know Duel was a real person until the book's end. I can't fully explain why that elevated a great comic to one I end up reading every time I'm

My Canon: Summary by BARR

I'm thinking, today, about BARR. Has anybody been able to discover BARR in the past decade-and-a-half? Beatrix Fowler's website is down, her record label, the great 5 Rue Christine, hasn't been active since 2007, around when she released her incredible album

This was not supposed to be about AI

Last week, I saw Godspeed You! Black Emperor live on Tuesday, for what was the sixth or seventh time, watched the new movie 28 Years Later on Thursday, for what was the first of what will probably be many times and watched 85% of Grizzly Man on Saturday, for the

The True Crime Story I Think About

content warning: there's going to be talk of murder, assault and dismemberment, unfortunately I'm going to touch on a case I've thought about for a decade but haven't written about in a substantial way because the research is pretty hard to come

Eight Long Goodbyes, part 2

5. "This Dust Makes That Mud" by Liars, which closes their album They Threw Us All In A Trench And Put A Monument On Top This is a weird one with a few asterisks. "This Dust Makes That Mud," the last track on Liars' debut

Eight Long Goodbyes, part 1

"It sorta starts off real slow and then fizzles out altogether." Neil Young said that on the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young live album 4 Way Street, introducing the song “Don’t Let It Bring You Down.” The version of that song on that record is three minutes