Monday, March 5 2012
I Heard You Missed Us (Says Van Halen and Many, Many Others)—We’re Back!
The David Lee Roth-fronted Van Halen returns after a 28-year absence. Who else has made fans wait that long? Quite a few, it turns out.
Tuesday, November 22 2011
The Hush Now: Memos
Boston quintet aims high on their shamelessly massive third LP.
Monday, October 10 2011
Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers: Gift Horse
Featuring some of Kellogg’s strongest melodies and most introspective lyrics yet, this album stands as the best album yet from an artist who seems not to know the meaning of second best.
Tuesday, August 2 2011
‘Busy Monsters’: Losing It, With Glorious Prolixity
William Giraldi’s ravaging way with the language is so dexterous and sure-handed that his comic romp of a novel fairly detonates.
Friday, July 1 2011
Art and the American Evolution: The Arts of the Americas Wing at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts
In America, art tells the story of an early predominance of classical European ideals, the emergence of a national identity amidst civil war, and the melting-pot existentialism that dominated a media-obsessed 20th century.
Monday, June 20 2011
Waxing Nostalgic: The Mantras of the Music Geek
Four music geeks reunite to reminisce over their college days in the late '80s. Bold mantras about what's wrong with today's music ensue.
Friday, June 10 2011
The Submarines: Love Notes/Letter Bombs
The Submarines charm below the surface of their newest album, but get too monotonous as they emerge.
Tuesday, May 4 2010
The Friends of Eddie Coyle (40th Anniversary Edition) by George V. Higgins
Higgins’ message, about crime’s futility and the falseness of its glamour as portrayed by Mario Puzo and Francis Coppola, is an important one, and his book more than succeeds in conveying it.
Friday, April 10 2009
The Little Sleep by Paul Tremblay
In the modern era of the damaged private-eye, Paul Tremblay’s Mark Genevich just about takes the cake.
Friday, October 24 2008
The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell
American Exceptionalism has the potential to spur great innovation and bring about profound change, yet it can also be a destructive, insular force that pits the country against those who dare question its authority.
