ALBUMS

THEN:

 

Acoustic at the Ryman—Band Of Horses

The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, is called “church” for a reason. Mainly, it started as a church. Secondly, seeing a live band here is close to religious, especially when it’s Band of Horses. You’ll listen to these soaring voices and gorgeous harmonies and wonder. Angels? Maybe? OK. Yes, definitely angels.

NOW: 

 True Sadness—The Avett Brothers

Seth Avett has described the band’s new album as a patchwork quilt. And he’s not kidding. From a letter sent to fans, he describes the quilt thus: "So the quilt is sewn, in part, with the brightly colored threads of Queen, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Jimmie Rodgers, Tom Petty, Nine Inch Nails, Gillian Welch, Aretha Franklin, Walt Disney, Pink Floyd, Kings of Convenience, calypso of the 1950s and country of the 1930s. Rock and roll is here, as always." I’m going all in and saying it’s gonna be good.

BOOKS

THEN:

 

Burr by Gore Vidal

So you’ve caught Hamilton mania. Or, like me, you like to dig into the history of our Founding Fathers around the Fourth of July. Gore Vidal’s fictional portrait of America’s second Vice President Aaron Burr—THAT duel and his strange life after his ignominious claim to fame—absolutely holds up as a work of history and fiction. Burr is, as the saying goes, “a mystery wrapped in a riddle,” but only Vidal comes close to capturing something like the man within. In much the same vein, I’ll fight anyone who says Vidal’s Lincoln doesn’t capture the essence of the man himself. 

NOW:

 

United States of Beer: A Freewheeling History of the All-American Drink by Dane Huckelbridge

While you’re celebrating the birth of our nation with some fireworks and an adult beverage, consider the history of that tasty beverage you’re holding aloft. Dane Huckelbridge explores the colorful history of the amber nectar, from George Washington’s attempt to brew at Mount Vernon to the beer barons of the 19th century and the brewing technology of the Wild West. 

DVDs

THEN:

Superman

 

Whatever happened to Valerie Perrine? Remember her? Lex Luthor’s girlfriend? And can we get some props for Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor? Just a criminally genius real estate baron with a winged yellow collar so huge you could see it from space. And Brando? Superman’s dad is Marlon Brando…OF COURSE HE IS. The meat and potatoes is Christopher Reeves and Margot Kidder. They’re just magic on screen. I want to bottle that magic and use it as a fragrance. Can you tell I’ve only watched this movie a couple hundred times?

NOW:

 

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

If you’re a DC comic fan this might be the movie you’ve been waiting for. If you’re a Zach Snyder fan, it’s a dream come true. For the rest of us? Well, Ben Affleck’s Batman and Henry Cavill’s Superman duke it out between gravelly one-liners while Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor looks on gleefully; and that’s all fine but honestly, don’t we all just want to see Wonder Woman kick some butt? Surely I’m not alone in this.

 Article by Sharon Penny