A Pop ♥
Pop Culture Reviews
Greatest Albums, 2012
December 23rd, 2012
The Rough Guide to Highlife (Second Edition)
Azealia Banks: 1991
Spoek Mathambo: Father Creeper
Todd Snider: Agnostic Hymns & Stoner Fables
Loudon Wainwright III: Older than My Old Man Now
Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Americana
P!nk: The Truth about Love
The Mountain Goats: Transcendental Youth
Serengeti: CAR
My Bloody Valentine: EPs 1988–1991
Withered Hand: Heart, Heart
Fiona Apple: The Idler Wheel Is Wiser than the Driver of the Screw, and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More, than Ropes Will Ever Do
David Greenberger: Tell Me That Before
Ani DiFranco: ¿Which Side Are You On?
Iris DeMent: Sing the Delta
Dinosaur Jr.: I Bet On Sky
Travis Barker & Yelawolf: Psycho White EP
PS Eliot: Sadie
Corin Tucker Band: Kill My Blues
Saint Etienne: Words and Music by Saint Etienne
Carolyn Mark: The Queen of Vancouver Island
The Rough Guide to the Music of Morocco (Second Edition)
Bob Mould: Silver Age
Himanshu: Nehru Jackets
Bruce Springsteen: Wrecking Ball
Taylor Swift: Red
Divine Fits: A Thing Called Divine Fits
Madonna: MDNA
A Place to Bury Strangers: Worship
The Magnetic Fields: Love at the Bottom of the Sea
Frank Ocean: Channel Orange
Pet Shop Boys: Elysium
Cloud Nothings: Attack on Memory
Big Baby Gandhi: No 1 2 Look Up 2
Low Cut Connie: Call Me Sylvia
Lee Ranaldo: Between the Times & the Tides
Dabke: Sounds of the Syrian Houran
Leonard Cohen: Old Ideas
Heems: Wild Water Kingdom
Elle Varner: Perfectly Imperfect
The Coup: Sorry to Bother You
Allo Darlin’: Europe
Kendrick Lamar: good kid, m.A.A.d city
Homeboy Sandman: First of a Living Breed
Homeboy Sandman: Subject: Matter
Beach House: Bloom
Sleigh Bells: Reign of Terror
Thomas Anderson: The Moon in Transit
Kid Koala: 12 Bit Blues
The xx: Coexist
Andre Williams & the Sadies: Night and Day
Burial: Street Halo/Kindred
Death Grips: The Money Store
Plug: Back on Time
Japandroids: Celebration Rock
Ab-Soul: Control System
Saigon: The Greatest Story Never Told Chapter 2: Bread & Circuses
David Greenberger with Jupiter Circle: Never Give Up Study
Balkan Beat Box (BBB): Give
The Rough Guide to the Music of Ethiopia
s / s / s: Beak & Claw
Big Boi: Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors
Big KRIT: 4eva ‘n’ a Day
Jamey Johnson: Livin’ for a Song: A Tribute to Hank Cochran
David Greenberger: How I Became Uncertain
Amadou & Mariam: Folila
Donald Fagen: Sunken Condos
Jack White: Blunderbuss
Songs for Desert Refugees
Francis Bebey: African Electronic Music 1975–1982
Bhi Bhiman: Bhiman
Serengeti: Kenny Dennis EP
David Greenberger & Ralph Carney: Oh, Pa
Karantamba: Ndigal
Linkoban: Super into on It
Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded
Greatest Christmas Films
December 23rd, 2012
The Apartment
It’s a Wonderful Life
Fanny and Alexander
A Christmas Story
Mon Oncle Antoine
Lethal Weapon
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
The Polar Express
A Nightmare Before Christmas
Disney’s A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Tale
Die Hard 2: Die Harder
Trading Places
Bad Santa
It’s All in the Melody
November 13th, 2012
The Mountain Goats: Transcendental Youth A
Iris DeMent: Sing the Delta A−
Taylor Swift: Red A−
Donald Fagen: Suken Condos A−
Old-Skool Platformers
November 13th, 2012
Croc: Legend of the Gobbos A−
Hercules B+
Spyro: Year of the Dragon ✰✰
Native Fodder
November 12th, 2012
Smallville
Who knew Superman could be so mainstream? ✰✰
The Inbetweeners
Funny bones are tickled—but rather poorly. ✰
Hollyoaks
You know it’s a melodrama; what you’ll notice here is the lack of acting. ✰
Head Bashing
November 1st, 2012
The Walking Dead A−
Dead Island
What makes this game so enjoyable is the lifelike environment and gameplay. Whether it be how you interact with the world and its inhabitants (although wooden mission-givers), or the way your and the zombies’ health points seem to add up, the whole scenario seems plausible. Yes, this game steals a lot, quite shamelessly, from Fallout 3 amongst others, but it works for this plot, so why shouldn’t it? The graphics, while not state-of-the-art, are on par, and the map, while not large enough for extended game time, is right for the location. The problems I have with the game are: The quests seem inconsequential, and don't tie in with the overall plot, and the gameplay is essentially button-mashing. B+
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
This game has some of the worst controls and camera angles I can remember. Let me put this into context: I was playing co-op with a friend, and it took us an hour do half of one level, ‘Flame Core’—the one with all the lava. Now, some of you may say I am blaming the game, for my inability to play it, but the game is extensive in its poor design. Invisible objects block your path, you’re unable to hit certain boost pads by default; you can boost so far, and it is extremely hard to turn back on yourself. Add onto that the overbearing amount of monster fodder you have to chew your way through, and you have one horrible game. You need only compare this to the latest edition, Sonic Generations, (which I gave an A–) and you’ll feel sick at the thought of having purchased this. The graphics are nice, sure, but you are so closed in you hardly get to see them. No wonder Sonic fans are notoriously love-hate with the franchise. C+
Greatest Films, 2012
October 12th, 2012
Cloud Atlas
The Impossible
Argo
Prometheus
Samsara
End of Watch
Chicken with Plums
Looper
Oslo, August 31st
The Well-Digger’s Daughter
A Simple Life
Arbitrage
Searching for Sugar Man
The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Silence
October 9th, 2012
Silent Hill 2
Excuse the shoddy voice-overs and the clunky controls; this game is all about the atmospheric horror. Silent Hill 2 is a genuinely scary game—a mixture of slow spookiness and direct horror. For 2001, the graphics are up to par; I especially like the colour scheme, as it adds a layer of realism to the game. The grittiness, wide-sweeping camera angles, indistinct monsters and mysterious plot that ground this, and, while the game is far less scary than it would have you believe, its superb design gives it its subtle edge. There are characters you meet throughout the game who range from helpful to completely useless (one obnoxious, overweight man-child is found eating a pizza in a bowling alley; how he cooked it is unknown); one thing ties them all together: The lack of reasoning to why they are all there. Maybe that’s meant to add to the spookiness. A
Driving Fast
October 7th, 2012
Dirt 3
Earns points for realism; looses points for being overly complicated and stuffy—like all car games. ✰✰✰
Cars 2: The Video Game
Surprisingly good graphics but the juxtaposition of difficulty—the driving is too easy and the effects of weapons too severe—ruins the overall enjoyability. ✰✰
Why Do Hunters Hunt?
October 7th, 2012
Hunted
You know those dramas, that aren’t based heavily off corny dialogue and one-liners? No? This is one of those. Expertly crafted camera angles add to the spooky plot, and allow the characters to be—rather than a plethora of other shows which are are full of clichéd moments. The acting may not be great, but it’s very close. I think, the only thing holding this back is it’s simplicity. That being said, this is the best thing on British television at the moment.games. A−
The Funnies
October 7th, 2012
Beaver Falls
Cursing adolescents are humorous—and the zany characters are pulled off—but episodes should be condensed, and plots honed.games. ✰✰✰
How I Met Your Mother
Their reminiscing gets tiring fast, but mild funnies and the acting hold it all together.ility. ✰✰✰
Franklin & Bash
Two funnymen wasted. ✰
Closing the Loop
October 4th, 2012
Looper
This film is almost brilliant in so many ways: The cinematography is well-shot, the costume and set design is inspired, the casting intelligent and the plot incendiary. The key word here is ‘almost.’ There were certain moments where I thought a slightly more focused technical output could have propelled this to excellence. Imagine this film, with the sweeping camera angles of The Dark Knight, for example. Now, don’t get me wrong, this Blade Runner-esque film has the best sci-fi writing since Inception; I hope I have not been to contradictory. What really takes you here are the set pieces—2044 seems so realistic and fantastic—the acting is more than above par—I heard Gordon-Levitt (one of the most underrated and underused actors now) studied all of Willis’ films, to get his persona matched (which is evident)—and a plot which, I’m sure, will go down in history as a cult classic. But, boy, do I wish it went that extra mile—I know the ending makes logical sense in the arc of the film, but it seems flat, and the city-based part of the story is far more involving and interesting.games. A
How Many Make a Conglomerate?
September 3rd, 2012
The Left: Gas Mask (Deluxe Edition)
The true, 21st century, American standard. Beats, rhymes and flow: standard. (‘The Melody’ & ‘Desperation’) ✰✰✰
Real Life Gangsters’ Soundtrack
Too many rappers rapping about the same thing. Maybe, that’s why it’s under-focused. (‘Hustlers’ Anthem,’ ‘Show Me Some Respect’ & ‘I’m On’) ✰✰
