Features
Friday, September 23 2005
Almost Heaven (Once)
A thing from the past, like the Rockies, but not as grand.
Tuesday, March 18 2003
Material Breach: Against an Absurd War
The idea of a war against Iraq is an absurdity, a blatant and even slightly comical repudiation of the very idea of the 'just war'.
Monday, March 3 2003
2003
I remember as a toddler being damn near being reduced to tears of relief and exhilaration when Mr. Rogers looked me in the eye and recognized my own inner dramas. Through the course of an episode he gently untied all the psychic knots that get twisted in the mind of a troubled childhood.
Columns
Wednesday, March 19 2003
Bigmouth Strikes Again: Eight Mistakes that Music Critics Make
We rock critics should have leathery skins and sore throbbing eardrums and calloused typing fingers, and we should accept little in return but the possibility of more great new tunes coming our way.
Wednesday, January 15 2003
On Fire Like Old Dry Garbage
He was an over-saturated, pungent, weed-choked swamp of words.
Wednesday, November 6 2002
Can You Dig It? Yes I Can!
This was a band that thrived despite being jeered and pissed on by critics, hipsters, jazzbos, even its own ex-members.
Wednesday, September 18 2002
Hello Cruel World: Blogs and Tunes One Year Later
. . . (S)houldn't we be celebrating our collective vain, ironical stupidity just to bug that humorless sobersides Osama bin Laden and his fellow fanatics?
Wednesday, August 7 2002
A Random Walk Down Pirate Street
Indeed, American book pirates of yesteryear are pretty much the same as Asian tape pirates today. The captains of industry hate 'em, but why else do you think damn near every citizen of Jakarta knows the lyrics to Don McLean's 'American Pie'?
Reviews
Thursday, June 5 2008
Danielia Cotton: Rare Child
My hope is that Cotton will become a reverse Rod Stewart -- starting out bland and commercial and then getting looser, more intuitive, and riskier as her career goes on.
Tuesday, January 29 2008
The Lady Tigra: Please Mr. Boombox
Call it Pinkberry music, or call it electroclash: either way, it's great stuff.
Friday, January 25 2008
Hammer No More the Fingers: Hammer No More the Fingers
These songs seem like simple alchemy at first, but they do stick with you, kinda like how the Go-Betweens or the Plastic Constellations worked their magic.
Wednesday, January 9 2008
Gnotes: Rhymes and Beats
A decent, humane, almost ego-free hip-hop record.
