The new album by Swedish pop collective I’m From Barcelona, Who Killed Harry Houdini?, is tickling my sensitive spot despite my better instincts. VW commercial music? Sure. But it’s hard to argue with its appeal. Read my review here.

Larry Bishop’s Hell Ride was released on DVD a few weeks ago. This Tarantino-inspired exploitation flick isn’t really worth the 80 minutes you will never reclaim when you watch it. But take five minutes and read my review.

Another Anticon release, another 45 minutes of pretentious boredom. Restiform Bodies serves it up fresh and stinking this time around. Read all about it here.

This past month, Fox Reality Channel aired Long Way Down, a reality show following actors Ewan MacGregor and Charley Boorman on a motorcycle trip from Scotland to South Africa. Hate reality shows? You might actually like this one. Read my review here.

I, for one, would love to know. Since their debut, Youth and Young Manhood, and especially on their second album, Aha Shake Heartbreak, I championed these Southern-rock-via-post-punk good ol’ boys. But their new album, Only By the Night, is inexcusably bad. Find out why here. Let’s remember the good old days.

Kiss of the Spider Woman, the 1985 film from director Hector Bebanco, was released on DVD and Blu-Ray this week. The nuance of the story and the impressive acting of stars William Hurt and Raul Julia made me sorry I had waited almost 25 years to finally see this movie. Read my review here and watch the trailer below.

Deerhoof’s new album, Offend Maggie (Kill Rock Stars), takes off where The Runner’s Four left off, as I explain in my review for Blurt Magazine. I would call this record one of their best, perfectly melding their classic rock and pop sensibilities with their most art-damaged rock.

It just came to my attention that my War on Drugs review was recently reprinted in the Dallas Observer. This album is definitely in my top five of the year. If you haven’t checked them out yet, please do so immediately, and read my review here.

Karl Blau‘s latest, Nature’s Got Away (Kelp Monthly), came out a few weeks ago, but my review is running today. Blau makes charming twee-influenced indie pop that is as intelligent as it is playful. This is normally not my bread and butter, but this album hits me in all the right spots.

Brooklyn’s Parts & Labor have a new album out called Receivers (Jagjaguwar). It’s noisy, it’s tuneful, it’s epic, it’s concise, and it’s interesting all the way though. Read my review here.

“Nowheres Nigh”