Steve Erickson
It may not be one of ambient music’s masterworks, but this 2007 album deserved far better treatment than utter neglect from Lou Reed fans.
“Concrete Utopia” echoes “Parasite”’s sharp critique of class exploitation, but it applies a faster pace and more restless energy to its vision of economic meltdown.
The cultural critic’s wrestling with the compromises that the pleasures of mass culture inevitably demand is heartfelt. In a word, it’s normal.
The unpleasantness of the film’s first sex scene turns out to be a foreshadowing of a refreshingly curdled vision of insecurity in the 21st century.
“The Mother and the Whore” is a film about failure: its characters are pushed towards misery not only by their own flaws, but by the failure of the ‘60s to deliver a promised revolution.
“Bad Things” tries out a lot of ideas, many of them good, but a crisis in identity results in slapdash execution.
Despite its depressing worldview, “Werckmeister Harmonies” is an exhilarating work of art, full of moments of grace, beauty, and even humor.
It’s easy to mythologize “The Days of Wine and Roses” because this album documents a band whose lineup splintered almost immediately.
Despite the fragmented nature of the protagonist’s memories, everything comes together in Revoir Paris. It is as though her life was a puzzle to be solved.
Asteroid City is hard to pin down, largely because it holds its ideas about nostalgia and grief at arm’s length.
Recent Comments