Author Archive

Pass The Popcorn: “Final Destination 5”

A good critic is essentially a reductionist, distilling popular art and entertainment into its most basic components and highlighting which parts add to and which parts detract from the final product. It’s easy to take a movie like The Social Network and sing high praises for the hauntingly ambient soundtrack, the laser precise direction, and the compelling performances, just as it is easy to take a movie like Vampires Suck! and rake it over the coals for terrible writing and […]

bLISTerd: Happy Anniversary, MTV!: The Top 50 Videos of the ’90s (30-21)

In case ya missed ’em, check out

bLISTerd: Happy Anniversary, MTV!: The Top 50 Videos of the ’90s (40-31)

Check out the first ten entries in our list here , and let’s move on… 40. Slayer “Seasons in the Abyss” (1990) I don’t know exactly why, but it makes absolutely perfect sense to set Slayer up in a desert with temples looming behind them while they perform this song. One can practically see Karl Sanders from Nile sitting on a couch, guitar in hand, writing riffs for songs that would eventually appear on “Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka” while watching […]

bLISTERd: Happy Anniversary MTV! The Top 50 Videos of The Eighties! (40-31)

40. “New Sensation”-INXS (1988) INXS were not new when the reemerged with Kick in 1987, but they were certainly a sensation.  The album was an international success and went 6x Platinum, in large part due to the series of videos that accompanied the four of the album’s hit singles.  “New Sensation” was the third video from the album, featuring the band’s performance intercut with neon stop action animation to match the driving energy of the song.  Among other things, […]

bLISTerd: Happy Anniversary MTV!! The Top 50 Videos of the Eighties

Turns out that the revolution WOULD be televised. The musical revolution, that is. On August 1st, 1981, MTV was launched. It was the first TV channel to devote itself exclusively to music videos. When it debuted (with The Buggles’ “Video Killed the Radio Star”), I don’t think anyone had the slightest idea that MTV would turn into the cultural phenomenon it became.  Within a few short years, the video age began. The era of the faceless, unphotogenic rock star was […]

The Blerd & Gonzo Cover Convo: “Family Man”

Dr. Gonzo: BLERD, I’M A BUSY MAN Blerd: Ha! i didnt even see you there! My fault…i was deep into the book i was reading. So, I thought about five different songs we could use today…at least! Kept changing my mind. G: It’s good to have options. B: Oh man, you’d have had PLENTY of em. But in the end, I narrowed it down to one song. So, without further ado… G: bddddddddddddddddddddd (ed. note: I believe this is supposed […]

bLISTerd: The Best of 2011 Continued: Andrew (Not Drew)’s List

Halfway home, everybody! Here are my favorite albums, so far, this year: 1. Moving Mountains – Waves “Waves” does something that I didn’t think was possible: It combines the luscious atmospherics of a post-rock record with soaring vocals. Not an easy feat, making for a remarkable album. 2. Mogwai – Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will Proving that some things only get better as they get older, Mogwai return with yet another album to write home about. 3. Touché […]

Spin Cycle Plus: Beyonce’s “4”

Beyonce’s 4 has been quite the subject of discussion over at Popblerd HQ. With so many opinions about the pop star’s work and the controversy surrounding the album (after several songs from the album underperformed and the entire set leaked about a month before release, it was rumored that Beyonce’s record company asked her to go back into the studio and retool the album. These rumors have been categorically denied all around), it was only right that we gave you […]

bLISTerd: Top 10 “Chappelle’s Show” Skits

Practically from the second “Chappelle’s Show” debuted on Comedy Central in 2003, it was a classic. Take one comedian who clearly didn’t give a fuck, fantastic writing from the likes of Neal Brennan, and a team of players that included Donell Rawlings, Charlie Murphy, Rashida Jones, Billy Burr, Mos Def and many others. Add in musical performances from the best of hip-hop and R&B, and “Chappelle’s Show” became must-see TV for lots of people, with each season becoming more anticipated […]

The Blerd & Gonzo Cover Convo: “Girlfriend” (MJ Edition)

Gonzo: So last time, you alluded to your selections for our next cover convo, and I’ve been waiting with curious anticipation ever since. Blerd: Well, we just finished up a lengthy conversation that was primarily about the King of Pop, so we’re gonna continue in that vein. Although neither version of this song is ESPECIALLY well-known, we’re gonna go with the reasonably popular version first-which, in this case, is the cover. G: Ah yes. B: one of the more incidental […]

bLISTerd: The 20 Best Michael Jackson Songs (Part 1)

With today being the second anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death, our next bLISTerd column was a no-brainer. Initially, we gathered the troops to put together a list of the ten best MJ songs, but after some internal discussion, we increased the size of the list from 10 songs to 20, and even THAT didn’t feel like enough. Since we bumped the list up to 20, we’re giving it to you in two parts. Look for part two tomorrow. Ultimately, the […]

bLISTerd…The 10 Best Stevie Wonder Songs

Welcome to bLISTerd-where the Popblerd! gang comes to argue about shit. Let me explain… Everyone that writes for this blog is here because they love music and pop culture. We love having discussions about music and pop culture. Therefore, once we got an appreciable-sized staff together, it only made sense that we made lists of things we liked. Hence bLISTerd (list+blerd. Like it?) For our first list, it only made sense to pay tribute to a singer and songwriter that’s […]