My Nomination
So there are a bunch of movies out there that are really funny, great films, until they realize about halfway through that they need a plot, wherein the rest of the time is filled with boring exposition and resolving of issues rather than more hilarity. I feel that most of these films are much better…

Jack: I don't see how those are hard to reconcile at all, Popular is so clearly ironic it would cause Frink's sarcasm detector to explode, which the video makes clear if the song didn't. Mothers Day (and Robot) are making fun of the jocks from Popular a few years down the road when they were douchey frat boys.

Hmm, I actually thought that the production here was pretty close to The Weight Is A Gift, which is for a me an excellent mixture of gritty and dreamy. As for the Big Star vibe, they actually did a cover of Blue Moon for a tribute album awhile back that's worth checking out.

They started selling at their East Coast shows this spring (where I had a friend purchase and sendspace me that shit), but it won't be out legally for the rest of usbenighted sobs for a while, so I would go the illegal route for now and then hit them back by buying an LP, concert ticket or t-shirt next time they're in…

Word on the Popular thing. It was fifteen years ago, their curse is no longer being remembered solely for a buzz bin hit, but having it referenced at the beginning of every review, even five albums later. My vote for song they should be forever associated with is Blankest Year, amiright?

Now I Do Enjoy The National
But does anyone else ever wish that they didn't make the ennui of the white upper-middle class so damn enchanting?

Very enjoyable stuff…
I wasn't too familiar with most of these songs, so this is my first listen, but they all sound like they fit in the Nada Surf catalog (the way Revolution Rock and Police and Thieves always sound like the Clash). The mix for the band has never sounded better with the perfect mix of hazy, crunchy…

Easily
One of the Best Albums of the 00's.

Fair enough Ellie, I read "not at all familar with" in the most literal way possible, which kinda blew my mind. Hopefully this thread has given you trenchant and timely insight into M.I.A.'s oeuvre and the shaded nuances of all political stances contained therein, specifically in the context of her latest video.…

I don't know scatteredsong (although that adjective could probably apply to your grammar and syntax as well), you do make a pretty incoherent point/rant/accusation(?), but you haven't quite won me over yet.

Yeah, Combat Rock has some weaker moments, but it's three massive singles, Straight to Hell and Ghetto Defendant (dub Clash + Allen Ginsberg = unimpeachable) alone make it a must-own.

I'm sorry, but does no one question how the fuck a registered AV Club member isn't familiar with M.I.A.? Dude, I'm not saying you have to memorize Arular or subjected yourself to her brutally seizure-inducing website, but how the fuck did you miss Paper Planes?

Ah yes
"Buckfast Tonic Wine, originally produced by the Benedictine monks who follow these tenets, allegedly promotes civil disobedience, violence, and insolence among its imbibers."

Hehe, I will say this about Tom McBride, his class was one of the few that were entertaining enough to be worth dragging your ass outta bed at 8 in goddamn morning for (j'accuse, Bill New!) but then again, he did marry a former student soon after she graduated, so… yeah.

The real tragedy there is living in a '69 hall though, am I right?

Beloit College
In the house! We also had the real life Indiana Jones (Roy Chapman Andrews) and that's about it. If you ever want to feel young, however, just go talk with Tom McBride, the person who makes the mindset list and you'll feel like the subject of a creepy Maurice Chevalier song again.

Sounds like a Pitchfork castoff. That is your home friend, you can get a whole article about their conceit or other gimmick that avoids actually dealing with the album until the final paragraph, were it gets a lukewarm review with a ridiculous decimal. Textbook.

Word. That's why both the Simpsons and Animaniacs were brilliant. I loved them as a kid and as I went through life and started getting more and more of the references the more brilliant they became.

It looks like the Red Balloon has become the Dead Balloon.

You're an odd man Seymour, but you steam a good ham.