One recent development few could have predicted is the critical fondness for ‘90s bubblegum pop and R&B. While most of the bloggers currently praising the virtues of TLC wouldn’t have been caught dead with a copy of CrazySexyCool, they have made apparent peace with the fact that churning out glossy singles isn’t as easy as it looks.

The Smashing Pumpkins’ 1996 box set release, The Aeroplane Flies High, represented the end of Pumpkins era mark one. After culminating their ‘90s dominance in 1995’s epic double album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Billy Corgan and company released The Aeroplane Flies High, a box set of singles from Mellon Collie and assorted B-sides cut during the album sessions.

When Chris Laufman blasted onto the indie scene in 2011 it felt like a star was rising. The Pittsburgh producer/vocalist’s efforts under the Wise Blood moniker raced to a fusion of beats, bleeps and bombast, culminating in the remarkable These Wings EP. At that point, the future was Laufman’s for the taking. And then he vanished.

Chronic overachiever Brandy Klark (Aubrey Plaza) has done everything she can to prepare for college. She’s the head of both her student newspaper and her own self-published feminist magazine; she’s a champion mathlete, and the valedictorian of her Boise, Idaho high school. She’s also a virgin.

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong is a nifty story, written by Prudence Shen and illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks, that largely concerns a couple groups of high school rivals teaming up to compete in a robot arena battle competition in an effort to raise money for various school programs.

Take a tour of the 2013 festival circuit and you will find definitive proof, if any were still needed, of the rejuvenation of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s shoegaze movement.

Woody Allen’s latest is mostly dour, its few laughs often coming from discomfort and uneasiness rather than humor. Former socialite Jasmine (Cate Blanchett) has lost everything after her rich, shady businessman husband (Alec Baldwin) is revealed as a crook. Recovering from a breakdown, she moves in with her divorced sister, Ginger (Sally Hawkins), and tries to pick up the pieces of her life in a brand new city.

The latest album by Mike Kinsella (aka Owen) is a step away from the lush orchestral ruminations of 2011’s fantastic Ghost Town. While Ghost Town was more of consistent tone, L’Ami du Peuple is more variegated in texture, held together by Kinsella’s introspective songwriting.

The 18 months or so since the release of his pop debut, Crazy Clown Time, have apparently not been kind to surrealist indie god David Lynch.