about contributors submissions book series advertising contests Media Center PopMatters Picks
|
|
Grand MalLove Is the Best Con in Town(New York Night Train) US release date: 1 August 2006 UK release date: Available as import by Zeth LundyPopMatters Music Columns/Features Editor As the pianos and keyboards saturating its cover art suggests, Love Is the Best Con in Town, Grand Mal’s fourth LP, is less “rock” than the band’s previous records. Trading in the glam and garage for more mid-tempo piano-based frolics and pocket-sized orchestrations, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Bill Whitten leads a supporting cast of 20-plus musicians through bared-knuckled drowsers like “Cold As the Stars” and “Not a Penny to My Name”. Despite its long list of contributing credits, Love Is the Best Con maintains an intimate sound, emphasizing the sober calculation of Whitten’s songs. Still, there’s always room to rock: Whitten kicks out some mangy Stones-struck riffage on “Count Me In!”, asking, “Do you wanna go for broke tonight? / Do you wanna rock ‘n’ roll? / Well, c’mon!” C’mon, indeed, but prepare for less bruises on this particular jaunt.
— 11 January 2007
|
Features | recent
:. “Great Music Comes from Losing Your Fear”: An Interview with Keane :. Does Video Game Criticism Need a Lester Bangs?
Columns | recent
Blood and Thunder: Tearing Down the Pillars Lowbrow Literati: There Was No Way to Tell This Man Was a Monster
Blogs | recent
Consuming Consumables: “Have You Seen…?”: A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films Media Center: Top 5 Videos of 2008: Josh Timmermann Short Ends and Leader: Critical Confessions: Part 12 - Embar-a-Go-Go! Moving Pixels: ZA Critique: Okami Re:Print: National Ambassador for Children’s Literature Sound Affects: 20 Questions: Spam Allstars Marginal Utility: Vive Tanta Notes from the Road: M For Montréal: Day 2, Part 1
Music | recent | short takes | archive
:. The Killers: Day & Age :. Magazine: The Complete John Peel Sessions :. Eleanoora Rosenholm: Ala Kysy Kuolleilta, He Sanoivat :. Herman Dune: Next Year in Zion :. Edie Sedgwick: Things Are Getting Sinister and Sinisterer :. Terrence Howard: Shine Through It
DVDs | recent | archive
:. Star Trek: The Original Series – Series 3 Remastered :. The Beatles: Composing the Beatles Songbook: Lennon and McCartney 1966-1970 :. Doctor Who: The Five Doctors (25th Anniversary Edition)
Books | recent | archive
:. Dusty! Queen of the Postmods by Annie J. Randall :. The Letters of Allen Ginsberg by Allen Ginsberg |
