September Favorites

Tom Ford Soleil Lip Balm: Since I love Tom Ford sunglasses, I figured I might as well try out his lip balm. Turns out his lip balm is pretty great. It's lightly tinted, not sticky, stays on for quite a while, and actually feels moisturizing. I went for two shades: L'Odissea is a great barely-there, everyday shade and Pure Shores offers a bit more color, making it ideal for evening occasions. Their small size makes these balms easy to throw into any handbag or clutch. However, the size also made me worry that I might actually use this balm up, and I like L'Odissea so much that I went ahead and bought a back-up of that shade for when I do run out and it's been inevitably discontinued.

Villains, Queens of the Stone Age: This is a proper dance-able rock album. Right out of the gate, "Feet Don't Fail Me" will have you shaking it like you haven't been out dancing for ages. And then "The Way You Used To Do" kicks it up a notch from that with head-bobbing hand claps and a killer guitar riff. Given that this QOTSA line-up was largely present for last year's Post Pop Depression tour, one of the most energetic and inspiring rock shows I've ever been to, it's not surprising that adding Mark Ronson into the mix would produce such a joyous rock album. While I am a huge fan of ...Like Clockwork's brooding aesthetic, Villains is simply a whole lot more fun. Indeed, the floaty ethereality of "Fortress" is as close as Villains comes to ...Like Clockwork. However, the songs from Villains do indeed fit seamlessly with the rest of QOTSA's oeuvre, as I found out first-hand at the first show of their North American tour. "Head Like a Haunted House" has a appealing rockabilly edge, while "Un-Reborn Again" works in some psychedelic keyboards, and "The Evil Has Landed" embodies the dreamy desert-rock sound that is QOTSA's calling card. With Joshua Homme and Ronson at the helm, it's no surprise that this album offers richly layered sounds that leave no detail overlooked.

"The Reason", Brett Eldredge: I love the way "The Reason" moves from somber verses to an upbeat, 60s R&B-tinged chorus, striking an intriguing balance between heartbreak and hope. That catchy chorus and its throwback sound are simply irresistible.

"Go With It", Oliver feat. Chromeo: Since Oliver actually produced a couple of tracks on Chromeo's White Women, "Go With It" is pretty much a Chromeo song, and that is a very good thing. This song has that classic Chromeo upbeat 80s disco groove that inspires sidewalk / subway platform dancing and puts a smile on my face no matter what.

Life Changes, Thomas Rhett: The Popification of Country continues in the best possible way. With the exception of "Drink a Little Beer", which sounds like it could be a Florida Georgia Line song, Life Changes offers up catchy pop songs tinged with a little R&B here and some EDM there. One of the things I appreciate about Thomas Rhett songs is that his lyrics are both meaningful and fully understandable. This lets the personal, and often autobiographical, nature of the stories told in his songs shine through. Life Changes is an incredibly upbeat, feel-good album that hits a nice mid-tempo stride that reflects a maturity that belies Rhett's age (he's only 27!). Standout tracks include "Leave Right Now", "Smooth Like the Summer", "When You Look Like That", "Renegades", and "Unforgettable".

Viceroy's House: This is a well-made, beautiful, and informative film. Despite the generally comprehensive nature of my high school world history curriculum, I didn't really know much about India's independence / partition, so I actually learned quite a lot from this movie. Hugh Bonneville and Gillian Anderson are both very good as the Mountbattens, and the actors portraying the household staff – both British and Indian – brought a lot of humanity to their characters. Viceroy's House does a good job showing the unrest that gripped India at this time, while also portraying just how isolated Viceroy's House was from the hardships facing Indians of all creeds, as well as how many British politicians were not interested in arriving at a truly fair solution. While this film might place a Downton Abbey-esque spin on the whole situation, I still feel that it is a good introduction to a significant series of events in world history.

On the Rocks, Midland: I am full-on obsessed with On The Rocks. The last album I can recall liking this much is Mayer Hawthorne's Man About Town, which I still can't get enough of. I was already sold on Midland based on their self-titled EP, and this album proves that my affection was well placed. With On The Rocks, Midland adds eight songs to their repertoire. Every single one of the songs on this album is a true gem – no cheap rhinestones for these cowboys. "Lonely For You Only" and "At Least You Cried" channel Dwight Yoakam and the Bakersfield sound, while "Out of Sight" somehow manages to remind me of both Billy Currington's "Love Done Gone" and Gwen Stefani's "The Sweet Escape". However, my absolute favorite of the bunch is "More Than A Fever", whose slinky, sexy, dance-able groove is what I imagine it would sound like if the Bee Gees had done a song for the Urban Cowboy soundtrack. In fact, pretty much any song from On The Rocks would be right at home among the late-70s Country featured on that soundtrack, and late-70s / early-80s Texas is a pretty awesome place to be whisked away to.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle: Despite the cynical undertone provided by the deranged villain and her truly disturbing machinations, I found this movie quite enjoyable – mainly thanks to outstanding performances from Teron Egerton, Mark Strong, Colin Firth, and an extended cameo from a flamboyant piano man. There were also several terrific, well-choreographed action sequences set to some rather excellent tunes, which, along with some old-school style spy gadgetry, gave the film a nice throwback James Bond vibe; Golden Circle manages to pay homage to those great spy films of yore without feeling like a copycat or knockoff. As a bonus, they managed to find a totally legitimate reason for Channing Tatum to dance, even though he was barely in the film – and Channing Tatum dancing makes anything better. I left the theater wanting to see more from our two Galahads and eagerly anticipating the third installment in the series.

American Made: This is a real movie like they used to make – i.e. it's a film for adults that entertains by telling a good story with good acting rather than by being flashy and throwing dozens of special effects around. It's been a while since Tom Cruise was in something other than a big-budget (action) tent-pole, and American Made gives him a chance to remind audiences that he can also excel at movies like The Firm, Jerry Maguire, and Rain Man. The scrappy-ness of Cruise's character, Barry Seal, is reflected in the storytelling, the overall style of the film, and the soundtrack, all of which are free-wheeling and devil-may-care up until the powerful final scenes when Seal – along with the audience – is crushingly brought back down to earth. It's nice to see an actor like Cruise, who usually comes across as a guy for whom everything always turns out perfectly, convincingly play a character who doesn't have such good luck.

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth, Col. Chris Hadfield: After reading so many books about the beginning of the space program and the Apollo program, it was enlightening to read a more recent account of what things are like at NASA. Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut, was part of two shuttle crews and also was a commander aboard the ISS. It was fascinating to read about what daily life is like aboard the ISS, as well as how NASA and Roscosmos collaborate to keep this very important scientific venture going. However, I also appreciated Hadfield's pragmatic approach to life as an astronaut and how the lessons he learned during his time with NASA and the CSA impacted his outlook on life and his general comportment. There are so many good bits of wisdom and pieces of advice that I ended up having a pencil on hand to draw giant stars next to all the important bits I wanted to be able to revisit. As someone with great nostalgia for the glory days of Apollo, I was heartened to learn that space exploration is just as magical today as it was back then, even if our destination is the ISS rather than the moon.