Features
Thursday, January 10 2008
Sufficiently Forward-Looking: An Interview with Einstürzende Neubauten
The singer and lyricist gives his take on the music-industrial complex, including the challenge of visiting the United States.
Friday, November 30 2007
Frank Sinatra: A Voice in Time (1939-1952)
Sinatra's reputation was a victim of the changing times, and I don't think it's possible to overstate the effect that this transition has had upon the perception of his music.
Thursday, August 16 2007
The Implacable Progress of 'Porn'
Porn appears inherently inhospitable to subtext, context, or artistic aspirations, cruel, mechanistic, and antithetical to sustained narrative. Porn filmmaking is practically a contradiction in terms: any "artistic" obfuscation of the action on display risks alienating the genre's core audience.
Friday, August 10 2007
Genesis: 1976-1982
Genesis is slightly different from typical prog rock. Yes, they had the 20-minute song "cycles" and the classical allusions all up in their lyrics, but they also had a few other things that their proggy peers did not: specifically, Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins.
Thursday, July 19 2007
Master P: Ghetto D
You'd be hard pressed to make an argument for Ghetto D as one of the great rap albums of the '90s, or even, really, a very good album at all.
Best Electronic Music of 2006 [11.Dec.06]
Jewishness [16.Dec.05]
Too Brief By Far [3.Nov.05]
Bring Warm Socks; or, 2004 in Review [28.Dec.04]
Man of Steel: Christopher Reeve 1952-2004 [15.Oct.04]
Reviews
Friday, September 4 2009
Amanda Blank: I Love You
Her desire to dominate the rhetorical battlefield of her sexual conquests is entirely convincing.
Wednesday, August 12 2009
Orbital: Orbital 20
Sloppy and superfluous -- a poor reflection on just how intricate and essential the band were and are.
Friday, February 20 2009
The Matthew Herbert Big Band: There's Me and There's You
It's an interesting album, just not interesting in a way that particularly compels me to listen to it again.
Wednesday, November 26 2008
R.E.M. : Murmur (Deluxe Edition)
It all began with one weird little album with a weird little cover, with weird little songs sung by a weird guy who couldn’t even enunciate properly.
Thursday, September 11 2008
The Chemical Brothers: Brotherhood
Brotherhood does a passable job of attempting to reconcile the two increasingly disparate sides of the Chemical Brothers’ split personality.
Tricky : Knowle West Boy [9.Sep.08]
Girl Talk: Feed the Animals [23.Jun.08]
Clark: Turning Dragon [26.Mar.08]
Daedelus: Live at the Low End Theory [19.Mar.08]
ESG: A South Bronx Story 2 [28.Jan.08]
Comic Art 9 [25.Jan.08]
Various Artists: The Kings of Electro [23.Jan.08]
Little Louie Vega: Back In The Box [21.Jan.08]
Various Artists: Downtown 81 [17.Jan.08]
Henrik Schwarz: Live [11.Jan.08]
Various Artists: EXPANSION / contraction [10.Jan.08]
X-Press 2: Makeshift Feelgood [7.Jan.08]
White Williams: Smoke [3.Jan.08]
Modeselektor: Happy Birthday! [21.Dec.07]
Einstürzende Neubauten: Alles Wieder Offen [20.Dec.07]
Daft Punk: Alive 2007 [4.Dec.07]
Blue States: First Steps Into... [19.Nov.07]
The Miles Davis Quintet: Steamin [13.Nov.07]
Dave Gahan: Hourglass [6.Nov.07]
New Young Pony Club: Fantastic Playroom [24.Oct.07]
Underworld: Oblivion With Bells [16.Oct.07]
Photek: Form & Function 2 [15.Oct.07]
Klute: The Emperors New Clothes [27.Sep.07]
Modeselektor: Boogy Bytes Vol. 3 [18.Sep.07]
Stereo Total: Paris-Berlin [12.Sep.07]
Thomas Fehlmann: Honigpumpe [6.Sep.07]
The Tuss: Rushup Edge [30.Aug.07]
Sebadoh: The Freed Man [24.Aug.07]
Miles Davis: Evolution of the Groove EP [17.Aug.07]
Junior Senior: Hey Hey My My Yo Yo [13.Aug.07]
UNKLE: War Stories [1.Aug.07]
Overlord (1975) [27.Jul.07]
The Chemical Brothers: We Are the Night [16.Jul.07]
They Might Be Giants: The Else [13.Jul.07]
Ellen Allien: The Other Side: Berlin [3.Jul.07]
Avril Lavigne: The Best Damn Thing [31.May.07]
Armand Van Helden: Ghettoblaster [24.May.07]
Motor: Unhuman [22.May.07]
Brute Force (1947) [18.May.07]
Dntel: Dumb Luck [18.May.07]
Matthew Herbert: Score [30.Apr.07]
Nine Inch Nails: Live - Beside You in Time [DVD] [23.Apr.07]
Pole: Steingarten [16.Apr.07]
Kaito: Hundred Million Love Years [2.Apr.07]
The Alan Parsons Project: I Robot [28.Mar.07]
Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid: Tongues [19.Mar.07]
!!!: Myth Takes [6.Mar.07]
The K Street Gang by Matthew Continetti [26.Jan.07]
T. Raumschmiere: Random Noize Sessions Vol.1 [26.Jan.07]
Dave Clarke: Remixes & Rarities 1992-2005 [24.Jan.07]
31 Days by Barry Werth [15.Jan.07]
Why the Jews Rejected Jesus by David Klinghoffer [10.Jan.07]
Various Artists: Crunk Hits Vol. 2 [3.Jan.07]
The Twilight of Atheism by Alister McGrath [15.Dec.06]
Various Artists: Science Faction: Grime [14.Dec.06]
Cut Copy: Fabriclive 29 [13.Dec.06]
Various Artists: Chrome Children [6.Dec.06]
Heaven 17: Penthouse and Pavement [1.Dec.06]
Laurent Garnier: Retrospective [22.Nov.06]
Cerrone: Cerrone by Bob Sinclar [14.Nov.06]
Various Artists: Do You Copy? [7.Nov.06]
Moby: Go: The Very Best of Moby [3.Nov.06]
White Rat by Gayl Jones [18.Oct.06]
Urban Tribe: Authorized Clinical Trials [16.Oct.06]
Various Artists: Pop Ambient 2006 [12.Oct.06]
The War Game (1968) [6.Oct.06]
Elton John: The Captain & The Kid [6.Oct.06]
Motor: Klunk [5.Oct.06]
Persian Fire by Tom Holland [28.Sep.06]
DJ Shadow: The Outsider [27.Sep.06]
Emmanuel Santarromana: Fab4Ever [26.Sep.06]
Blowfly: Punk Rock Party [15.Sep.06]
TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain [15.Sep.06]
Sascha Funke: Boogybytes Vol. 2 [14.Sep.06]
Outkast: Idlewild [30.Aug.06]
Steve Lawler: Viva [30.Aug.06]
Charlemagne by Derek Wilson [30.Aug.06]
Ziggy Kinder: Akrobatik [29.Aug.06]
Various Artists: Total 7 [25.Aug.06]
Alec Empire: Futurist [23.Aug.06]
Caribou: Up In Flames [18.Aug.06]
Tomcraft: Hyper Sexy Conscious [24.Jul.06]
Thomas Brinkmann: Lucky Hands [20.Jul.06]
Tamerlane by Justin Marozzi [18.Jul.06]
Aoki Takamasa & Tujiko Noriko: Twenty-Eight [18.Jul.06]
Steve Reid Ensemble: Spirits Walk [13.Jul.06]
Wiggle: Fabric28 [29.Jun.06]
Four Tet: DJ Kicks [27.Jun.06]
Abe Duque: American Gigolo II [26.Jun.06]
Daedelus: Daedelus Denies the Day’s Demise [23.Jun.06]
Various Artists: GommaGang 3 [22.Jun.06]
Various Artists: Global Underground 10 [20.Jun.06]
Fatboy Slim: The Greatest Hits: Why Try Harder [19.Jun.06]
Muallem: Frankie Splits [12.Jun.06]
The Greenlanders by Jane Smiley [1.Jun.06]
DMX Krew: Wave: CD [19.May.06]
Black Hole by Charles Burns [10.May.06]
Massive Attack: Collected [27.Apr.06]
Various Artists: Hefty 10 Digest [12.Apr.06]
South Park: The Complete Seventh Season [3.Apr.06]
Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Show Your Bones [27.Mar.06]
Secret Mommy: Very Rec [24.Mar.06]
Liam Howlett: Back to Mine [23.Mar.06]
Stereo Total: Juke Box Alarm [21.Mar.06]
The Herbaliser: Fabriclive 26 [15.Mar.06]
daKAH Hip Hop Orchestra: Various [8.Mar.06]
Nightmares on Wax: In a Space Outta Sound [7.Mar.06]
Alif Tree: French Cuisine [22.Feb.06]
Ryoji Ikeda: Dataplex [13.Feb.06]
Sasha & Digweed: Delta Heavy [DVD] [10.Feb.06]
Mozez: So Still [6.Feb.06]
Various: Compost 200 [2.Feb.06]
Darondo: Let My People Go [1.Feb.06]
The Notorious B.I.G.: Duets: The Final Chapter [20.Jan.06]
Solu Music featuring Kai Martin: Affirmation [19.Jan.06]
Go Betty Go: Nothing Is More [17.Jan.06]
Sutekh: Born Again [16.Jan.06]
The Tent by Margaret Atwood [12.Jan.06]
iD and Sleeper: Displacement [12.Jan.06]
Various Artists: Brazilectro: Session 7 [11.Jan.06]
Static: Re: Talking About Memories [9.Jan.06]
Matthew Herbert: Plat du Jour [6.Jan.06]
Various Artists: I Like It Vol. 2 [6.Jan.06]
Hot Chip: Coming on Strong [4.Jan.06]
Harald Sack Ziegler: Punkt [3.Jan.06]
Skalpel: Konfusion [7.Dec.05]
Audion: Suckfish [5.Dec.05]
Ulrich Schnauss: Far Away Trains Passing By [29.Nov.05]
Save the Tiger (1973) [28.Nov.05]
Peter Grummich: Club Maria Berlin: Dirty Floor [23.Nov.05]
She Wants Revenge: She Wants Revenge [22.Nov.05]
The Complete Short Novels by Anton Chekhov [21.Nov.05]
Various Artists: Pingipung Plays the Piano [21.Nov.05]
Various Artists: Freude-Am-Tanzen: Compilation 1 [18.Nov.05]
Perfect Example by John Porcellino [14.Nov.05]
Richie Hawtin: DE9: Transitions [14.Nov.05]
Various Artists: Total 6 [3.Nov.05]
Venetian Snares: Meathole [2.Nov.05]
We're No Angels (1955) [31.Oct.05]
Soulive: Break Out [31.Oct.05]
South Park: The Complete Sixth Season [27.Oct.05]
The Beta Band: The Best of the Beta Band: Music [26.Oct.05]
DJ Koze: Kosi Comes Around [21.Oct.05]
Senor Coconut: Coconut FM [20.Oct.05]
Chikinki: Lick Your Ticket [19.Oct.05]
Face (2004) [18.Oct.05]
Heiko Voss: Two Sides [18.Oct.05]
Clever: Breakbeat Science Exercise 5 [17.Oct.05]
Count Duckula - The Complete First Season [14.Oct.05]
Master P: Greatest Hits - Remix Classics [14.Oct.05]
Dub Gabriel: Bass Jihad [13.Oct.05]
TG Mauss: Mechanical Eye [12.Oct.05]
Modeselektor: Hello Mom! [11.Oct.05]
Mouse on Mars: live04 [10.Oct.05]
VHS or Beta: Le Funk [7.Oct.05]
Salomé de Bahia: Brasil [4.Oct.05]
Shakespeare: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd [3.Oct.05]
Various Artists: Layered Sounds 2 [30.Sep.05]
Turn That Down!: A Hysterical History of Rock, Roll, Pop, Soul, Punk, Funk, Rap, Grunge, Motown, Met [28.Sep.05]
Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005) [28.Sep.05]
Paul Van Dyk: The Politics of Dancing 2 [28.Sep.05]
How Mumbo Jumbo Conquered the World: A Short History of Modern Delusions by Francis Wheen [22.Sep.05]
Alex Gold: Backfromabreak [22.Sep.05]
Melodium: La Tête Qui Flotte [21.Sep.05]
A.R.E. Weapons: Free in the Streets [20.Sep.05]
Gabin: Mr. Freedom [20.Sep.05]
DJ Craze: Miami Heat [19.Sep.05]
The Roads to Modernity: The British, French and American Enlightenments by Gertrude Himmelfarb [16.Sep.05]
Various Artists: Bargrooves: Cosmopolitan [15.Sep.05]
Kevyn Lettau: Bye-Bye Blackbird [13.Sep.05]
DJ Language: Real Music For Real People [12.Sep.05]
Satoshi Tomiie: ES / ES-B [7.Sep.05]
Armand van Helden: Nympho [30.Aug.05]
Damian Lazarus: Bugged Out Presents Suck My Deck [29.Aug.05]
Andy Caldwell: Late Night With Andy Caldwell [26.Aug.05]
Superchumbo: Wowie Zowie [25.Aug.05]
Hiltmeyer, Inc.: Sendling 70 [24.Aug.05]
T. Raumschmiere: Blitzkreig Pop [22.Aug.05]
Shantel: Bucovina Club Vol. 2 [16.Aug.05]
Various Artists: Atlantiquity [11.Aug.05]
Chaucer: Ackroyd's Brief Lives by Peter Ackroyd [10.Aug.05]
Various Artists: Motown Remixed [8.Aug.05]
The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann [5.Aug.05]
Duke Ellington: The Essential [5.Aug.05]
Meat Katie: Fabriclive 21 [1.Aug.05]
The Inheritance (2003) [29.Jul.05]
S.E.V.A.: S.E.V.A. [28.Jul.05]
Tosca: J.A.C. [27.Jul.05]
Einsturzende Neubauten: 1/2 Mensch [DVD] [26.Jul.05]
Adam Beyer: Fabric 22 [26.Jul.05]
The Aquabats!: Charge!! [22.Jul.05]
Fauna Flash: Worx: The Remixes [20.Jul.05]
Radio Massacre International: Emissaries [19.Jul.05]
Jorane: The You and the Now [19.Jul.05]
Be Cool (2005) [18.Jul.05]
10:01 by Lance Olsen [18.Jul.05]
Damon Aaron: Ballast [18.Jul.05]
Monolake: Polygon Cities [15.Jul.05]
Boy Robot: Rotten Cocktails [12.Jul.05]
Miss Kittin: Mixing Me [8.Jul.05]
Flunk: Morning Star [7.Jul.05]
Richard Davis: Details [6.Jul.05]
Richard's Poor Almanac by Richard Thompson [5.Jul.05]
Hanin Elias: Future Noir [5.Jul.05]
e:gum: Keyboard Lies [30.Jun.05]
Soul Coughing: New York, NY 16.08.99 [29.Jun.05]
Jeff Parker: The Relatives [28.Jun.05]
Hellraiser: Deader (2005) [27.Jun.05]
Eluvium: Talk Amongst the Trees [27.Jun.05]
DJ Shadow: Endtroducing... [Deluxe Edition] [10.Jun.05]
Pole Folder: Zero Gold [9.Jun.05]
Nine Inch Nails + The Dresden Dolls [6.Jun.05]
Autechre: Untilted [2.Jun.05]
Us3: Questions [1.Jun.05]
Moby: Hotel [31.May.05]
Various Artists: Alt+F4 [5.May.05]
Goldie Lookin' Chain: Straight Outta Newport [2.May.05]
Exergonic: Sonic Adventure Project [30.Apr.05]
John Tejada: Logic Memory Center [29.Apr.05]
Herbie Hancock: Speak Like a Child [27.Apr.05]
Z-Trip: Shifting Gears [26.Apr.05]
Trafik: Bullet [20.Apr.05]
My Sister Eileen (1955) [14.Apr.05]
Klute: No One's Listening Anymore [14.Apr.05]
Soulive: Steady Groovin' [13.Apr.05]
Robot Chicken [11.Apr.05]
Tarentel: We Move Through Weather [7.Apr.05]
Eroica (1957) [31.Mar.05]
Spiritual Voices (1995) [31.Mar.05]
Confession (Povinnost) (1998) [31.Mar.05]
John Digweed: Fabric 20 [29.Mar.05]
Kaiser Chiefs: Employment [22.Mar.05]
The Golden Republic: People [EP] [18.Mar.05]
Home Video: Citizen EP [17.Mar.05]
Bowling For Soup: A Hangover You Don't Deserve [15.Mar.05]
Hybrid: Hybrid Presents Y4K [10.Mar.05]
Rammstein: Reise Reise [9.Mar.05]
The Mystery of Charles Dickens [7.Mar.05]
Death in Vegas: Satan's Circus [1.Mar.05]
Laurent Garnier: The Cloud Making Machine [21.Feb.05]
Sister Helen (2004) - PopMatters Film Review
) [17.Feb.05]
Mystikal: Greatest Hits - Screwed & Chopped [31.Jan.05]
The Chemical Brothers: Push the Button [28.Jan.05]
My Robot Friend: Hot Action! [27.Jan.05]
Morcheeba: From Brixton to Beijing [DVD] [17.Jan.05]
The Chemical Brothers: "Galvanize" [14.Jan.05]
Lemon Jelly: '64-'95 [13.Jan.05]
Hermitage Masterpieces [10.Jan.05]
J-Zone: A Job Ain't Nothin' But Work [6.Jan.05]
Luther (2003) [28.Dec.04]
Hi, Mom (1970) [22.Dec.04]
The Prodigy: Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned [14.Dec.04]
Star Trek: The Original Series - Season Three [13.Dec.04]
Mayonnaise: self-titled [7.Dec.04]
Nirvana: With the Lights Out [3.Dec.04]
The Three Faces of Eve (1957) [29.Nov.04]
Fatboy Slim: Palookaville [17.Nov.04]
Daddy G: DJ Kicks [16.Nov.04]
Garfield: The Movie (2004) [15.Nov.04]
King of Woolworths: Rediffusion [11.Nov.04]
Roni Size: Return to V [10.Nov.04]
Bonk: Western Soul [8.Nov.04]
Awol One: Self-Titled [5.Nov.04]
Brand Nubian: Fire in the Hole [4.Nov.04]
Patricia Barber: A Fortnight in France [4.Nov.04]
High Contrast: High Society [2.Nov.04]
TV on the Radio: New Health Rock [29.Oct.04]
Positive Flow: Can U Feel It? [27.Oct.04]
R.E.M.: Life's Rich Pageant [26.Oct.04]
Various Artists: For the Lady [25.Oct.04]
Azeem: Show Business [18.Oct.04]
Intermission (2003) [18.Oct.04]
Killradio: Raised on Whipped-Cream [15.Oct.04]
Green Day: American Idiot [15.Oct.04]
Keren Ann: Not Going Anywhere [13.Oct.04]
Swayzak: Loops from the Bergerie [12.Oct.04]
Roy Davis, Jr.: Chicago Forever [11.Oct.04]
Sweetback: Stage 2 [8.Oct.04]
Gabriel & Dresden: Bloom [8.Oct.04]
Young Buck: Straight Outta Ca$hville [7.Oct.04]
Lil' Wayne: The Carter [6.Oct.04]
Shyne: Godfather Buried Alive [5.Oct.04]
MC Lars: The Laptop EP [4.Oct.04]
Various Artists: Queer Trax [4.Oct.04]
Dalminjo: Fjord Fusioneer [1.Oct.04]
Herbie Mann and Phil Woods: Beyond Brooklyn [1.Oct.04]
White Mud Free Way: Last Year's Junk [30.Sep.04]
Jukeboxer: In the Food Chain [28.Sep.04]
Various Artists: Afrique C'est Chic 2 [24.Sep.04]
Diplo: Florida [23.Sep.04]
DJ Krush: Jaku [22.Sep.04]
2Pac: Live [21.Sep.04]
Orbital: The Blue Album [20.Sep.04]
Various Artists: Simply Good Music - Volume One [14.Sep.04]
Even: Downpayment on Future Glories: 1995-2003 [13.Sep.04]
The F-Ups: self-titled [10.Sep.04]
Amp Fiddler: Waltz of a Ghetto Fly [1.Sep.04]
Buffseeds: The Picture Show [30.Aug.04]
Nana Mouskouri: Nana Mouskouri in New York [27.Aug.04]
Sluts of Trust: We Are All Sluts of Trust [26.Aug.04]
Various Artists: Crunk Classics [24.Aug.04]
Avril Lavigne: Under My Skin [24.Aug.04]
Technova: Electrosexual [23.Aug.04]
X-Ecutioners: Revolutions [23.Aug.04]
Milosh: You Make Me Feel [13.Aug.04]
The Rurals: Messages [13.Aug.04]
DJ Dara: The Antidote [12.Aug.04]
MC Lars Horris: Radio Pet Fencing [10.Aug.04]
[re:jazz]: [re:jazz](re:mix) [9.Aug.04]
Cottonbelly: X Amounts of Niceness [9.Aug.04]
Bob Marley and The Wailers: Legend: The Best of Bob Marley and The Wailers (Sound+Vision Edition) [9.Aug.04]
Ming & FS: Back to One [6.Aug.04]
Goodie Mob: One Monkey Don't Stop No Show [6.Aug.04]
Gary Numan: Live in London [5.Aug.04]
The Orb: Bicycles & Tricycles [29.Jul.04]
Rodney Hunter: Hunter Files [26.Jul.04]
Julius Papp: Neodisco 1: Gotta Keep Movin' [19.Jul.04]
Lamb: Best Kept Secrets: Best of Lamb 1996-2004 [15.Jul.04]
Aya: Strange Flower [14.Jul.04]
Jamie Cullum: Twentysomething [12.Jul.04]
Blue States: The Soundings [9.Jul.04]
Ezekiel Honig: People Places & Things [9.Jul.04]
Pan Sonic: Kesto [8.Jul.04]
Kid 606: Who Still Kill Sound? [7.Jul.04]
Wagon Christ: Sorry I Make You Lush [6.Jul.04]
Aeroc: Viscous Solids [6.Jul.04]
Madvillain: Madvillainy [2.Jul.04]
Armand Van Helden: New York: A Mix Odyssey [1.Jul.04]
Blaze: Found Love [28.Jun.04]
Überzone: Überzone Presents Y4K [25.Jun.04]
Theo Parrish: Parallel Dimensions [23.Jun.04]
Kaskade: In the Moment [8.Jun.04]
João Gilberto: In Tokyo [7.Jun.04]
Sofa Surfers: See the Light [7.Jun.04]
Chicken Lips: DJ Kicks [17.May.04]
Greyboy: Soul Mosaic [13.May.04]
Various Artists: reMixed [11.May.04]
Squarepusher: Ultravisitor [28.Apr.04]
The Race: If You Can [3.Aug.03]
