Category Archives: Uncategorized

Sonny Rollins With The Modern Jazz Quartet. Sonny Rollins’ debut album as band leader features recordings as early as January 1951 with Rollins, of course, on tenor sax, and the rest of the Modern Jazz Quartet consisting of piano man John Lewis, Percy Heath on bass, Kenny Clarke keeping rhythm on drums and Milt JacksonContinue reading “The Sound of 1953.”

Stalag 17. December 1944. 630 US Air Force Sergeants occupy the German prison of war camp, Stalag 17. Manfredi and Johnson, two such prisoners from Barracks 4, attempt an elaborate escape during the night through a trapdoor and tunnel system their comrades helped establish. All of the occupants of Barracks 4 are optimistic of theContinue reading “The Cinema of 1953.”

Stalag 17. Él. I Vitelloni The Wages of Fear. From Here to Eternity. Sonny Rollins With The Modern Jazz Quartet – Sonny Rollins. The Duke Plays Ellington – Duke Ellington. Inca Taqui – Yma Sumac and Moises Vivanco. Black Coffee – Peggy Lee. Moondog and His Friends – Moondog.

Pop. Much like Yellow Magic Orchestra last week, German DJ Wolfgang Voigt aka Gas, is an artist I hadn’t heard of prior to their inclusion on my shortlist, but again I’m beyond glad I opted for their album; their fourth record under the Gas moniker, Pop, is an ambient classic. Initially soothing in it’s effervescentContinue reading “The Sound of 2000.”

January: Twenty Coptic Christians are massacred by Muslim villagers in Kosheh, Egypt The last natural Pyrenean ibex is found dead, apparently killed by a falling tree AOL announces an agreement to purchase Tim Warner for $162 billion, the largest ever corporate merger Dr Harold Shipman is found guilty of murdering 15 patients between 1995 andContinue reading “The News of 2000.”

Dancer in the Dark. Selma, a Czechoslovakian immigrant, cheats on an eye test in order to keep her factory job in 1960’s Washington. She suffers from a degenerative eye disease that will render her blind within a year; an affliction that is unknowingly inherited by her twelve year-old son, Gene. Selma saves up her payContinue reading “The Cinema of 2000.”

Dancer in the Dark. Magnolia. In the Mood for Love. The Insider. Bringing Out the Dead. Figure 8 – Elliott Smith. Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea – PJ Harvey. Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven – Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Deltron 3030 – Deltron 3030. Pop – Gas.

Risqué. Writing partners Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards produce probably one of the most enjoyable albums I’ve listened to over the course of this blog, Chic’s Risqué. Though the lyricism is simple and mostly concerns dancing and having a good time, the infectious rhythm renders the lyrics almost redundant, as they serve only to hypnotiseContinue reading “The Sound of 1979.”

January: The United States and the People’s Republic of China establish full diplomatic relations The People’s Army of Vietnam and Vietnamese-backed Cambodian insurgents announce the fall of Phnom Penh, Cambodia and the collapse of the Pol Pot regime The French tanker Betelgeuse explodes at the Gulf Oil terminal at Bantry, Ireland killing 50 The MusicContinue reading “The News of 1979.”

The Lord of the Rings. During the Second Age of Middle Earth, smiths forged three Rings of Power for the Elven-kings, seven for the Dwarf-lords and nine for Mortal Men. The Dark Lord Sauron, however, crafted the One Ring, a ring more powerful than the others, and intended to use it to conquer all ofContinue reading “The Cinema of 1979.”