The past holds a wealth of media, the backbone of everything we know today.
My father is a music lover and always has been, from his college days playing in his band Beggar’s Farm to today. Some song is constantly blasting out of his speakers. He constantly makes suggestions to me as to what music, and other forms of entertainment , I should listen to and how much I am missing.
A few days ago, I was sitting at Highland Coffee and the new Hold Steady album ended. I began looking through my iPod at all the recycled music I had gotten tired of listening to. Finally, I decided to give Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” a chance, an album my dad has bugged me to listen to for years (an embarrassing admission for me, being that I am the entertainment editor of The Daily Reveille without having listened to one of Springsteen’s most renowned albums).
The music pumped into my ears, and I felt like I was discovering God. I think I now understand what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity, as everything I had ever thought about music was changing before my eyes. “Born to Run” is one of the most perfect albums ever created from the funky horns and piano lines to the everyman lyrics Springsteen so perfectly places. I could see the influences of so many of my favorite artists in this album.
And that is what this entertainment section is all about.
There is too much media for us to consume it all. Albums are dropped every week, and the radio is cluttered with more artists than anyone can name. With the Internet, even smaller indie bands have a chance to break into Billboard’s Top 40, such as The Shins and Arcade Fire.
But the foundation for everything I like was sitting on my father’s CD shelf for my entire life, and I never took a moment to listen to it.
Our generation has a tendency to be convinced we know what is best. Our music, our movies and our television shows are the epitome of art. Nothing written in 1975 could ever be as good or as meaningful as what we enjoy today.
I catch myself thinking such ignorant thoughts more often than I should.
The simple fact of the matter is the greats who came first are considered great for a reason. From Mozart to Neil Young, “Citizen Kane” to “Casablanca,” “Cheers” to “The Gong Show” and “The Razor’s Edge” to “Slaughter-House Five,” there is a plethora of media that has existed long before we were born.
Your favorite band just might be sitting on your father’s shelf, collecting dust, waiting to be discovered.
So the entertainment section decided to do throwback reviews, choosing proclaimed media of every type and approving or disapproving it.
I am not always in the best position to say this, but opening up your mind to the hits of yesteryear might just prove to be one of the best decisions you ever make.
It was for me.
And here is a list of today’s media.
MUSIC
May 7
Send Away the Tigers by Manic Street Preachers
May 8
Keren Ann by Keren AnnPROG by The Bad PlusStrength and Loyalty by Bone Thugs-n-HarmonyThe Beatific Visions by BrakesGod Save the Clientele by The ClienteleNo Shouts, No Calls by ElectrelaneHuman the Death Dance by Sage FrancisThe American Dream by Mike JonesImagine our Love by Lavender DiamondOur Earthly Pleasures by Maximo ParkMice Parade by Mice ParadeZootime by Mystery JetsAre You Listening? By Dolores O’RiordanEverybody by The Sea and CakeNew Moon by Elliott SmithSpider Smile by TarwaterThe Shapes we Make by Mary Timony BandThe Boy with no Name by TravisHats off the Buskers by The View (U.S. release)
MOVIES
May 4
NATIONAL
Spider-Man 3Lucky You
LIMITED
Away from HerCivic Duty
DVDs
May 8
Because I said SoBreaking and EnteringCatch and ReleaseComedy of PowerDeliver Us from EvilFur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane ArbusMusic and LyricsThe Painted VeilThe Secret Life of WordsThe Tiger and the Snow