At some point in the Nineties, I became fascinated by “rock” covers of hip-hop songs. For example, there’s the Gourds’ cover of “Gin and Juice,” the Barenaked Ladies’ version of “Fight the Power” and Dynamite Hack’s “Boyz-N-The Hood.” It was around ’91 when rap music really took off nationally, and we started to see artists [...]
Stories that move with purpose
Since 2008, I have been a little obsessed with the topic of sequential narrative, the notion of telling big stories over a long period of time (e.g., see here, here and here). Any TV show that continues for some time needs to tell stories (and it’s nice when those stories add up to something). But [...]
The Impact of Twitter: Too soon to tell
While in Chicago, I got to talk with Maureen Ryan, of AOL TV. We discussed a few things, but in the clip here, we talked about a subject that interested me: How has social media, especially Twitter, influenced those who write about television on a regular basis? A lot of the key reporters and critics [...]
Tuning In, No Longer Plugged In
Okay, that’s it. I’m now feeling completely out of it. So, when I was at SXSW back in March, I “discovered” a new band: Fitz & the Tantrums. The fact is, I didn’t really know who any of the emerging bands at that festival were. I’d read that James Blake, for example, was a big [...]