Today, someone told me that Satoshi Kon had passed away.  Kon’s body of work was almost entirely animated, which unfortunately kept those who could have most enjoyed his work away from it.  This is understandable.  The niche of American culture in which Japanese animation resides is sometimes unsavory to film snobs.
But Kon’s  strengths weren’t in the stereotypical areas of Japanese animation – his action sequences weren’t particularly over-exaggerated, nor were designs caricatures of the human form.  His strengths were in his impeccable sense of timing, sound design, and framing.  If …

The Books recently released their fourth full-length album, The Way Out.  Their previous album was released over five years ago, and until earlier this year, I had assumed it would be the last one, since we had heard nothing from them for such a long time.  When they announced that a new album would be coming out this year, I was both excited and apprehensive.  There’s nothing that bums me out more than a band releasing an incredible, game-changing album and following it up with more of the same or, …

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