Pelican are one of my favorite bands. A few years ago I never, ever would have thought I’d be able to say that about an instrumental band. So don’t let the fact that they are vocal-less scare you off. They write songs that are beautiful, haunting, heavy, mellow…gorgeous.

I saw them once a couple years ago and was blown away by their live show. Since then, they’ve come through town a few times, and I’ve always missed them for one reason or another. And it especially weighed on me, since they were always offering to put me on the guest list with a photo pass! When I found out they were doing two shows near me, one in Anaheim and one in LA, and I was again offered a guest pass, I decided to take a couple days off work so I could swing both shows.

It was awesome.
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File under: Schwartzenegger wrestles man in bear suit.

Movies that involve the Greek gods are always problematic. Clash of the Titans, Troy, you name it — they’re all fairly mediocre. Hercules In New York, a 1969 masterpiece and Arnold Schwartzenegger’s first feature film, seems to recognize this problem and confronts things head-on — by deliberately making the film as terrible as possible from the onset.

Some of you may recall the movie Scanners, in which people with telekinetic abilities make other people’s heads explode. Upon viewing Hercules in New York, I have become convinced that either Schwartzenegger or the film’s producer, Aubrey Wisberg, are in fact Scanners themselves, planted among us to snare the unsuspecting and make their heads asplode. (more…)

One week from today, we’ll be able to discuss the season premier. So I thought I’d take this opportunity to get everyone geared up for another season of television greatness and tie up a few loose ends that unraveled during the off-season since my season-two-review post. I won’t (intentionally) post any spoilers, assuming you’ve seen the first two seasons by now, so feel free to peruse the post below at your leisure. (Also, try to avoid spoilers in the comments. It’s way too early for that sort of thing.)

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Back in the day, when Freaks and Geeks was still on the air, but fighting for its life, I stumbled upon teevee.org, a smartly-written blog about, you guessed it, TV. The writing has fallen off of late, but it’s still worth a visit. The best feature used to be the dead pool, where readers could bet on which shows would be cancelled first, justly or unjustly.
From there, it’s a short hop,skip, and a jump to Television Without Pity, or Twop, where you can find recaps of your favorite shows that take longer to read than it does to watch the show (downloading time included). When you’re trying to keep the backstory on Veronica Mars straight, it’s a pretty invaluable resource. Of course, it’s a bad place to get spoiled as well, so be careful where you click.

A television site that has jumped the shark is, well, Jump the Shark. There’s some funny stuff here, but navigating the site is a nightmare.

Any other resources out there (other than KB, the definitive guide to all things pop culture, natch)?

You’ve probably never heard anything quite like TV On the Radio. The foundation of their sound is a dark, dense mixture of fuzzy goth/industrial guitars, propulsive rhythms, and a number of synth and electronic effects, all synergizing with Tunde Adebimpe’s singular voice to make one of the most unique, interesting listens in recent memory. (more…)

Everyone knows that television is the most important thing in our lives. Admit it. Accept it. Love it.

Last year I published a guide to the Fall TV schedule, which met with universal acclaim and widespread fame for yours truly. And so I step once again into the limelight to offer you this, the Bible of the Boob Tube, the Koran of Cable. If you dare question my choices this year, go back and review what I wrote in 2005, and see how my picks stack up with yours. (more…)

I’ve spliced together clips of songs to see how many you can all identify. This week’s clips are all U2 songs. Some were singles/popular tunes, some weren’t.

I’ll give you a day or two to make your guesses, then I’ll post the answers. There are clips from 18 songs this time.

Song clips are in the radio.blog: “Name These U2 Tunes”

NOTE: You might want to listen and make your guesses before reading the comments, or other people’s guesses might spoil your fun.

UPDATE: I’ll paste the answers in down below. If you haven’t had a chance to make your guesses, don’t click on the “more” link until you have!
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1) Jeopardy!
2) The Price is Right
3) Family Feud
4) The Newlywed Game
5) To Tell the Truth

Sorry, Wheel of Fortune doesn’t break the top 50. That show is TERRIBLE and very un-entertaining.

This is a new feature we’re trying out here at Kulturblog, where a few of us post songs based on a certain (personal) criteria, and say a little bit about why they meet that criteria for us. Feel free to chime in with your own opinions and songs.
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Some short reviews of summer releases: 

Chad VanGaalen, Skelliconnection (Subpop): This is folk music by a guy who likes to mess around in his home studio. (more…)

I’ve spliced together clips of songs to see how many you can all identify. This week’s clips are all songs that feature clapping.

I’ll give you a day or two to make your guesses, then I’ll post the answers. There are clips from only 11 songs this time.

Song clips are in the radio.blog: “Name These Clapping Tunes”

NOTE: You might want to listen and make your guesses before reading the comments, or other people’s guesses might spoil your fun.

UPDATE: I’ll paste the answers in down below. If you haven’t had a chance to make your guesses, don’t click on the “more” link until you have!
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…says the BBC.

From BBC News:
Music taste ‘linked to drug use’

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5343598.stm

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1) The Contest
2) The Hamptons
3) The Opposite
4) The Marine Biologist
5) The Outing

Runners Up:
- The Puffy Shirt
- The Switch
- The Soup Nazi
- The Non-Fat Yogurt

Episode guide here.

I’ve spliced together clips of songs to see how many you can all identify. This week’s are clips from tv show theme tunes. I expect this one to be pretty tricky, but maybe not. The sound quality isn’t all that great on some of them.

I’ll give you a day or two to make your guesses, then I’ll post the answers. There are clips from 17 theme songs this time.

Song clips are in the radio.blog: “Name These TV Show Theme Tunes”

NOTE: You might want to listen and make your guesses before reading the comments, or other people’s guesses might spoil your fun.

UPDATE: I’ll paste the answers in down below. If you haven’t had a chance to make your guesses, don’t click on the “more” link until you have!
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Snob = n : a person who believes himself or herself an expert or connoisseur in a given field and is condescending toward or disdainful of those who hold other opinions or have different tastes regarding this field: a musical snob. Dictionary.com

“If everyone were cool, then being cool would be meaningless.” Supergenius

“What really matters is what you like, not what you’re like.” Rob from High Fidelity

Is anyone here a snob? Are we all cool? Is High Fidelity right that that what we like is what matters?

Here’a a killer. I mean, how can anyone possibly separate these? This odious job falls to you, discerning KB-ers:

Empire Strikes Back vs. Raiders of the Lost Ark

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GOAL: maximum efficiency and comfort while traveling underground (more…)

Safely esconced in Vienna, Austria, I am now confronted by the awfulness that is Austrian TV. We don’t have cable, so must gape at ORF 1 and ORF 2, which for three hours in the morning play Alpine vistas with lame lederhosen-musik. OK, OK, I’m in Vienna…VIENNA…so why should I care about TV when there’s all this, er, Kultur?

Well, I do. I’m a Philistine. Bite me, Mozart. (more…)

1) FedEx

2) Apple

3) ABC

4) Nike

5) IBM

UPDATE: I’ll paste the answers in down below. If you haven’t had a chance to make your guesses, don’t click on the “more” link until you have!
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To understand what I’m going to write about this movie you should understand my own personal situation: (more…)