IT IS THE MINIATUR WUNDERLAND MIT OUT NAZIS!  JAWHOL, WEEKENDERS! Hitler’s autobiography Mein Kampf (which I believe is German for “My LIFE, You Guys!”) is banned in Germany.  Yes, the book that was common (required?) to be found on the mantel in every German household, next to Der Bible Wurds, will be confiscated from your hands [...]

By Guest Writer P.C. Anderson Admit it: you’re a hipster about something. It might be a French-Canadian film fetish, a penchant for mid-’90s video games or perhaps you long for the days of the early seasons of Project Runway before Lifetime actually made it about fashion, but you devoutly care about particular cultural movements for [...]

“Nobody’s Dirty Business” and “The Plank” by The Devil Makes Three. My friend Drew has recently given me a thorough schooling on modern bluegrass music.  Across two of those mixes, the clear Non-Avett Brothers leader here is The Devil Makes Three.  The key to bluegrass here is the tickling of the ear.  It must fall [...]

“West Coast Time” by The Gregory Brothers When comedians move their work into a territory that’s not as wacky, the results can be tricky. For me, Adam Sandler got more charming in Punch-Drunk Love. However, Jim Carrey becomes less charming to me. Not that he’s bad is serious films, but he’s just got less pizazz. [...]

“Christmas with the Devil” by Judith Owen   Judith Owen is a fixture of Los Angeles to me.  For the past decade, she’s performed Christmas shows at little LA theatres with her husband, veteran comedy star Harry Shearer (Simpsons, all Christopher Guest movies).  While Ms. Owen plays piano and sings, Harry plays the upright bass, [...]

“Restless Feeling” by Nick Lowe If you haven’t heard Nick Lowe’s complicated, blustery-in-a-good-way heavy-hearter “The Beast in Me,” then you will be most pleasantly surprised by the man’s newest album “The Old Magic.”  Rare.  Very very rare, is the only word I have for this album.  I almost never listen to a whole album.  I [...]

“HEARTBREAKER BABY” by MSTRKRFT feat. Justin Bieber & Ludacris I’ve previously listed the traditional version of MSTRKRFT’s “Heartbreaker” feat. the warm-feeling-inducing John Legend in the playlist.  Today is a mashup of that song with the previously thought evil boy wonder Justin Bieber.  The new technical term for a mashup is “VS” (as imagine this pairing [...]

“DON’T SLEEP IN THE SUBWAY” by Petula Clark Petula Clark of the “When you’re alone and life is making you lonely, you can always go…Downtown” Petula Clarks is a diamond on today’s playlist.  Here she is with “Don’t Sleep in the Subway,” another song that’s just her telling a friend in New York City not [...]

“WOLFMAN” by The Real Tuesday Weld Books, in their ever-defiant bid to live, have begun bleeding into new forms of media to promote themselves– and it’s working.  Did anybody ever see the 3 minute “trailer” for “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls”?  It’s here! Author Glen Duncan continues to pair himself with [...]

“CUPID” by Amy Winehouse One of the cleverer series of covers was done for the album “Rhythms Del Mundo.”  Modern celeb singers take old pop standards and give them a vacationing calypso beat.  One of the most successful was the late Ms. Winehouse’s cover of Sam Cooke’s “Cupid.” It’s a song pulsing with life and [...]

“HEARTBREAKER” by MSTRKSRFT feat. John Legend Yes, occasionally, I will listen to some pop music.  And this is the best kind of pop.  The kind of music you want to drive into Vegas with.  The kind of music that soaks up your smiles when you’re in love.  Plus, it’s got one of my (very few) [...]

I already miss The White Stripes.  Although they announced the group was finito in February 2011, they hadn’t released an album since pretty darn good Icky Thump album in 2007.  Things looked bleak when they cancelled their tour halfway through because of Meg White’s anxiety problems.  They only made one big public performance after that. [...]

“I Know You Got Soul”, and not The Carpenters’ “Close to You”, is the song I use to turn my frown upside-down on days like today, where the blues inexplicably runs ramshod over my thought.  Is it the small depressions I visit on myself when I start each morning by pulling up my Gay News [...]

It’s late in the week.  For those of us out west, it’s getting too damn hot.  For those back east, it’s still too damn cold.  Summer’s almost here, but not really.  The news sucks as usual. We all need a pick-me-up! Partake in “Delicious” AKA The Laughing Song, from the “comedy” album by professional TV [...]

My Summer playlist for three years running (that glorious first summer in South Beach!) has been that artistically vibrant, morally questionable funhouse of the Verve Remixes:  Old book standards and jazz rarities remixed with the choicest electronica meats.  New artists like Fink, Mint Royale, Brazilian Girls, and The Postal Service provide a melodic pulse to [...]