Douglas Markowitz Archives

All content by Douglas Markowitz

Why Neutral Milk Hotel put on the best concert of 2015

Douglas Markowitz | Dec 11, 2015

The legendary indie folk troubadours performed in Ponte Vedra in May, and we're still reeling with joy.

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Kitchen fire causes evacuation at Osprey Fountains

Douglas Markowitz | Dec 2, 2015

It took about an hour for officials to clear out the smoke and let people back inside.

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UNF’s resident string ensemble performs at Recital Hall

Douglas Markowitz | Nov 30, 2015

The Lawson Ensemble trio hit the stage at UNF's Fine Arts Center for a performance to be remembered.

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Spinnaker Record Club: Enter the Garden of Delete

Douglas Markowitz | Nov 25, 2015

Also this week: Arca, Sophie, Lotic and Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood.

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Spinnaker Record Club: DJ Paypal makes the next great footwork record

Douglas Markowitz | Nov 17, 2015

Also this week: Floating Points, J Dilla, Rustie and Car Seat Headrest.

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Spinnaker Record Club: Majical Cloudz get sentimental on Are You Alone?

Douglas Markowitz | Nov 10, 2015

Also this week: Deerhunter, Beach House and side projects from Ty Segall and the National.

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Now Playing: Sicario brings the Drug War home

Douglas Markowitz | Oct 16, 2015

Emily Blunt stars in the gripping new thriller from director Denis Villeneuve.

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Spinnaker Record Club: Run the Jewels’ cat remix album is pawsitively vicious

Douglas Markowitz | Oct 13, 2015

Also this week: Kelela, DJ Spinn, Protomartyr, Zomby and Nicolas Jaar.

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Anatomy of a show: Death Grips bring down the house at Freebird Live

Douglas Markowitz | Oct 12, 2015

The underground band is cult in more ways than one. Our music critic investigates.

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Spinnaker Record Club: Force and fury await on Deafheaven’s New Bermuda

Douglas Markowitz | Oct 6, 2015

Also this week: CHVRCHES, Autre Ne Veut, SEXWITCH, The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die and more.

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Spinnaker Record Club: Why Ought’s Sun Coming Down is the most crucial rock album of the year

Douglas Markowitz | Sep 29, 2015

Also this week: the Front Bottoms, Girl Band, DJ Earl, Skylar Spence and more.

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Spinnaker Record Club: Battles holds Lana Del Rey at bay

Douglas Markowitz | Sep 22, 2015

Also this week: Petite Noir, Bikini Kill and Ratking's Sporting Life.

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Spinnaker Record Club: The Weeknd doesn’t know what to say on Beauty Behind the Madness

Douglas Markowitz | Sep 15, 2015

Also this week: Micachu and the Shapes, Beirut, Deradoorian and more.

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Spinnaker Record Club: Foals refine their signature style with What Went Down

Douglas Markowitz | Sep 8, 2015

Plus: new music from Destroyer, FKA twigs, Panda Bear and Aphex Twin.

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UNF ranked in Princeton Review’s “2016 Best Colleges”

Douglas Markowitz | Sep 3, 2015

UNF's small school feel and professor accessibility gets regional recognition.

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Album Review: Beach House steps out of its comfort zone with Depression Cherry

Douglas Markowitz | Aug 26, 2015

The Baltimore dream pop duo gets experimental (but not too experimental) on their latest LP.

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TV Review: What happened with ‘True Detective’?

Douglas Markowitz | Aug 21, 2015

HBO ruined its hit drama with a disastrous second season. Here’s the autopsy.

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Now Playing: ‘Mission: Impossible’ gets better with age in ‘Rogue Nation’

Douglas Markowitz | Aug 6, 2015

Want to see Tom Cruise dangle off the side of a plane? Yes, yes you do.

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Titus Andronicus invents punk opera with The Most Lamentable Tragedy

Douglas Markowitz | Jul 30, 2015

The Most Lamentable Tragedy is a 29-song story about manic depression, and it might be the most positive album of the year.

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Now Playing: ‘Trainwreck’ and the misuse of funny women

Douglas Markowitz | Jul 23, 2015

Movie Review: Hollywood doesn’t know what to do with its comedic talent, and the new film with Amy Schumer proves it.

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Album Review: Tame Impala proves that nostalgia is killing indie

Douglas Markowitz | Jul 16, 2015

The Australian rock band’s new album is bad, but more importantly, it’s part of a trend.

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In Vince Staples’ Summertime ’06, the living is anything but easy

Douglas Markowitz | Jul 8, 2015

The glamorization of crime and drugs usually found in hip-hop is turned on its head in Vince Staples' most recent album.

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Now Playing: Pixar gets emotional with Inside Out

Douglas Markowitz | Jul 1, 2015

While animation has been claimed by studios as a medium for children, Pixar has refused to be limited by that once again in Inside Out, now in theaters.

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Now Playing: Jurassic World and the new breed of blockbusters

Douglas Markowitz | Jun 24, 2015

Are we in a new era of franchise filmmaking? The dinosaur-size hit says yes.

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Mad Max: Fury Road is the best film of the summer

Douglas Markowitz | May 28, 2015

Why the post-apocalyptic action movie is the blockbuster we need.

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Movie review: You’re going to see Avengers: Age of Ultron, and you’re going to like it

Douglas Markowitz | May 1, 2015

The highly anticipated sequel to Avengers has arrived and it was worth waiting for.

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Movie Review: ‘It Follows,’ a horror movie for your mind

Douglas Markowitz | Apr 9, 2015

"It Follows" puts a new spin on the teen horror slasher with the menace "It."

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Furious 7: A big dumb action movie with heart

Douglas Markowitz | Apr 3, 2015

Movie Review: Furious 7 earned my respect with its focus on the relationships of the characters. Plus, with the amazing explosions, fight scenes and car stunts, James Wan has cooked up one of the most hyperkinetic action films of the year...

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Album Review: Death Grips’ Jenny Death is worth the wait

Douglas Markowitz | Mar 27, 2015

It’s been nearly a full year since Death Grips, the most exhilarating band of this era, released the first part of a planned double album, then unceremoniously “broke up.” In the span of the last ten or so months, its crazed, devout followers combed the Internet incessantly for some, any clue as to when the second disc would appear, and in what form.

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Five television shows worth watching this season

Douglas Markowitz | Mar 23, 2015

Five suggested TV shows to be watched this season.

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Movie Review: Birdman — four Oscars, no substance

Douglas Markowitz | Feb 24, 2015

"Birdman" is a case study in vapidity with an inane script and poached cinematography. Alejandro González Iñarritu's film about a washed up actor struggling to find relevance is unoriginal and uninspired.

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Oscar Preview: Your guide to who will probably win the night

Douglas Markowitz | Feb 20, 2015

Spinnaker's preview for the Oscars: who will win, who should win and who got snubbed. Read about what movies the Academy recognized as a great and the less visible ones that are still worth your attention.

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Set the mood: Valentine’s Day tracks for the in-love, the out-of-love, the bitter and the sweet

Douglas Markowitz | Feb 12, 2015

Whether you’re sad, heartbroken, in love or anywhere in between, this Valentine's Day playlist has songs to suit the occasion.

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Album Review: Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper

Douglas Markowitz | Jan 26, 2015

The Animal Collective member’s latest solo album is all about death – or so it would seem. Noah Lennox's new album is not as straightforward as the title Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper appears.

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Inherent Vice: a hilarious, paranoid romp through 1970s Los Angeles

Douglas Markowitz | Jan 14, 2015

Director Paul Thomas Anderson adapts Thomas Pynchon's hippie-noir novel into a hilarious, paranoid romp through 1970s Los Angeles.

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The Interview: the controversial comedy about killing Kim Jong-un isn’t worth the trouble

Douglas Markowitz | Jan 8, 2015

Despite the controversy surrounding the movie's release, "The Interview" fails to deliver any substantial entertainment. Instead, it delivers low level humor to disappointed audiences. However, Randall Park gives a glowing performance as the Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un.

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A long time coming: UNF ousts JU

Douglas Markowitz | Oct 7, 2014

The UNF men's soccer team shut-out JU in this year's River City Rumble, winning 2-0.

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Lady Ospreys continue to struggle

Douglas Markowitz | Sep 30, 2014

The UNF women's soccer team suffered a 3-0 loss to the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles in their first conference game of the season on Sept. 26.

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Album Spotlight: Rustie’s Green Language has a track for all

Douglas Markowitz | Aug 29, 2014

Scottish producer Rustie’s new album, Green Language is EDM for people who hate EDM. Unlike the popular electronic music produced by Zedd, Avicii and their peers that sounds similar, Rustie's album offers a distinctive sound that stands apart from the rest.

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Album Spotlight: Joyce Manor’s fresh take on pop punk

Douglas Markowitz | Aug 7, 2014

Judging from the band's third LP Never Hungover Again, Joyce Manor's refreshing, off-the-wall band expresses its punk rock roots with a power pop and Midwestern emo spin, while still managing to focus on having a good time.

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Local band Herd of Watts isn’t quite what it could be

Douglas Markowitz | Jul 16, 2014

Jacksonville’s local music scene doesn’t exactly have a shining reputation. The most successful artist to come out of the city in the last 20 years is Limp Bizkit, and today we play host to a school...

Album Spotlight: American Football & Slint

Douglas Markowitz | Jun 17, 2014

Two classic indie albums were recently reissued. Here’s why you should consider adding them to your collection.

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Album Review: Parquet Courts’ Sunbathing Animal

Douglas Markowitz | Jun 12, 2014

It takes a few listens to get into, but Parquet Courts’ latest album Sunbathing Animal is the musical ride of the summer.

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Album Review: Swans’ To Be Kind

Douglas Markowitz | May 27, 2014

The legendary band’s latest album is their most accessible – and possibly their best yet.

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Album Spotlight: Sisyphus

Douglas Markowitz | Mar 27, 2014

This new collaborative project uniting three seemingly disparate indie voices holds many surprises. Sufjan Stevens became an immensely important artist in the early 00s with a lilting voice...

Album Spotlight: St. Vincent

Douglas Markowitz | Mar 11, 2014

Texas native Annie Clark, better known by her stage name, St. Vincent, has garnered a reputation as one of the most interesting indie pop artists of the last decade.

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Album Spotlight: Broken Bells – After the Disco

Douglas Markowitz | Feb 10, 2014

Four years after their first album, Danger Mouse and James Mercer reunited to produce After the Disco, an LP that combines several eras of music to create a unique but bland sound.

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Daily Discovery: Too True

Douglas Markowitz | Feb 4, 2014

Dum Dum Girls’ excellent 2012 EP End of Daze hit all the right notes thanks to its atmospheric blend of indie-pop and garage-rock. Their newest album, Too True, delves heavily into goth-rock. This territory is familiar to the band, yet never exploited by them this much.

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Daily Discovery: Mogwai

Douglas Markowitz | Jan 22, 2014

On their latest LP Rave Tapes, the veteran post rock group discover the power of the synthesizer.

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Daily Discovery: Flying Lotus and Four Tet release collections

Douglas Markowitz | Jan 15, 2014

UNF Spinnaker selects the choicest cuts from Flying Lotus' recently released compilation of unreleased songs, Ideas+drafts+loops, and Four Tet's "Sendspace."

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Spinnaker Radio’s favorite albums of 2013

Douglas Markowitz | Jan 15, 2014

The end of the year marks the beginning of the annual music journalism tradition: “best of…” lists. Bands with zero resemblance whatsoever are pitted against each other in a musical battle royale....