Sure, I understand that. It's just the publishing world as we know it. But I would disagree about the traffic making websites obsolete. What's the alternative? (rhetorically speaking). Newspapers are dead. I've worked in advertising for one for about a year. The readership are just the elderly at this point.…

She was. She's not an amazingly dynamic actress, but she knows what she's doing. The comparison doesn't quite work, but it's like saying there's no way Jennifer Lawrence could be a good actress because those X-Men movies are so dumb. They can only work with what they are given.
"Clouds" isn't a "Stewart" movie, anyway,…

Is there any indication that Hemsworth is a box office draw in any way? I actually think he's a pretty good actor, and he's clearly really handsome, but there's no indication he's a star at all. Starring in franchise movies don't mean you are a big box office draw. It just means people like the franchise. Downey…

Then, um, yeah, knowing all that, what's the answer in a situation like this? Because I'd guess with a lot of the more mainstream artists where there will be a need for the instant gratification of a review, especially if more and more decide to set their own release dates, like we've seen with this and Beyoncé and…

In the past, critics got advance copies of records to listen to, "live with", and then write a review. When the band just releases an album on a Sunday, with no promo copies, then the critic is going to have to rush to review it to keep up with all the other outlets. He/She can't "live with it" because, after a couple…

Yeah, I get that. Eno, as far as his influence, is more about musical textures and sounds, not really about "songs". The famous ambient stuff was really just meant to be background music ( which is why the most well known is called "Music for Airports"). I'd guess you'd find the vast majority of it to be pretty boring…

Considering the director and the star, seems like it's just as well

That's not really where the "argument" leads at all, actually. This band is not the first to cast themselves in a "mysterious" light, nor will they be the last. You don't have to choose between "cryptic" or "messianic", to use your Kanye description. Whatever the reason, them acting the way they do has been to their…

Look forward to his enormous, rabbi-like Michael Stipe beard

Yeah, the True Love Waits song at the end is, I think, what gave him this notion.

Swans, but, in fairness, that's really just Gira and whatever new incarnation of the band he puts together.

Ex-AV stalwart Steven Hyden, who is praising the album, is wondering if this album might be their final one. Curious if anyone else has that vibe about it.

Look at all the attention this is getting. They played it perfectly. This is a compliment, not a criticism. Yes, it would have gotten attention anyway, but twitter et al is filled with "It's out now!" Perfect marketing.

Kudos to them for somehow convincing Glenn Medeiros to come out of retirement. Adds a certain something to the proceedings.

I think you did. It looks like it is available over here for pretty cheap, so that's something I'll definitely look in to acquiring. Cheers.

Yeah, I had to do a bit of searching for "90s Comedian", and the best I could find was a pretty shaky version which was somewhat out of sync ( I just had to listen like it was a radio broadcast, which was fine), but it was definitely worth it. The IRA stuff was great, as you say, and I assume the Jesus bit was a "fuck…

I've been catching up on all the Stewart Lee stuff I could find on youtube, and I think I've finally exhausted the trove. Enjoyed them all, think that "You May Prefer a Milder Comedian" was my favorite of the sets, although '90s Comedian" was very good, too. Fascinatiing character all around, was delighted to see Stew…

Eno's most famous records are generally his stuff from the 70s, which go from a certain neo-glam (like Roxy Music), to his ambient series (famously "Music for Airports"). You may enjoy something like "Taking Tiger Mountain" but it's not 'electronic', and the ambient stuff is, well, ambient. Really quiet and minimal,…

Pretending Ryan is a man of "principle" is amusing, but he's not, and he'll come around sooner than not. He's trying to establish himself as "the guy" for 2020, under the assumption that Trump loses. It's not like he's come out and said "You must refute your racist statements", it's more "I'm not sure he's a 'true…

Maybe, although that term has been around for decades in some form or another. It seems more of a denigrating thing than in the past, although there was always an eye-rolling component to it, I suppose.