Fallback Albums: Tom
Next up in our fallback album series – new writer Tom: Daft Punk – Homework When it comes to the issue of musical timelessness, electronic music gets bum rap. Not…
A Much Needed Trek to Greenland
Anyone who remembers when alternative really meant alternative, they certainly know Camper Van Beethoven. They were a mainstay on MTV’s 120 Minutes with videos for “Pictures of Matchstick Men,” “Eye…
Everything’s Just Fine
Listening to Beck sing about the tears he’s crying, the lies he’s living, and the loss he’s feeling on “Guess I’m Doing Fine” (the second song on his new album),…
Welcome to ‘The Eminem Show’
My initial struggle with this review was to find somewhere between “Damn, he’s got impressive rhymes” and “DAMN, he’s hot” – both of which I feel strongly about. Yes, Eminem’s…
Ok, Get Set, Go
The first time I’d ever heard of Ok Go, they were on stage with the ‘This American Life’ tour at the Town Hall in New York City. Ira Glass deemed…
Fallback Albums: Courtney
After seeking out Velocity Girl’s Simpatico! album for the umpteenth time at work, I wondered why I often go back to it, forsaking so many other tracks on my iTunes.…
10 CDs You Need to Hear in 2004
I’m sure we’ll all remember 2004 as the first year the music industry finally admitted to actually increasing their profits and yet still claims that file sharing is destroying their…
Hot Gossip
Within the past couple of years, there has been a huge influx of indie bands that have had the limelight thrust upon them by various media outlets. Television of late…
Williams Escapes Take That
Messrs. Timberlake and Chasez, take note: Robbie Williams is your future. Once upon a time, when the boyband phenomenon was in its infancy stage and *NSYNC hadn’t even begun their…
All For You
Having a housemate who works for the biggest radio station in the country can be, y’know, a good thing. Like, for instance, when you get a call the last day…
The Pink Pirate, Live
Written by Danielle “An Intimate Evening With Esthero.” “A Very Special Acoustic Benefit With Esthero.” “Drunken Story Telling With the Coolest Pirate Around.” Call it what you will, but it…
Twang
[Caveat: It is true that Meredith Edwards’ CD, Reach, is the first release from Lance Bass’s management company, Free Lance Entertainment. It is also true that Meredith was one of…
Almost Mizguided
I’m sort of mad at Pink. See, the first time I listened to her new album, M!ssundaztood, I got a distinct early-80s vibe from it. In fact, I felt very…
Modern Music Tease
One of my managers is as obsessive about music as I am. However, he is also nearing 40 and was a club DJ in the 80s, so he has become…
Little Chicks, Lots of Dixie
Time has changed Natalie Maines. The once-perky lead singer for the Dixie Chicks has perhaps grown up, or been affected by motherhood, or been dulled slightly by controversy. Whatever it…
Don’t Hate Him Because He’s Fabulous
I have something to say today. It may sound blasphemous, but it is something I can no longer keep to myself. The best concerts I have ever had the privilege…
Down Memory Lane with Toad
I heart Toad the Wet Sprocket. When you’re young and depressed, and writing the lyrics to The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven” over and over again in your diary, there’s nothing…
Become is Stark, Lyrical
I often have conversations with myself. Nothing that would scare passersby or anything – I keep it all internal, and it mostly happens when I’m all by myself. Take yesterday,…
Sufjan Stevens
Written by Alex I had never really gotten into Sufjan Stevens. Of course, I hadn’t ever tried that hard, either. However, my friend Keith, who I trust pretty strongly when…
Soul Punx Unite
Written by P. E. Nelson “SOUL PUNX UNITE,” reads the legend on the illustration on the cover of this disc – an apt clue to what lies in store on…
Fallback Albums: Alex
Written by Alex This was a hard list for me to make, as I am very much a mixtape kind of girl. I tend to pick and choose, as one…
Camper Van Flashback
Way back when there really was a discernable difference in “alternative music,” I came across this odd little television show on MTV. I would rush home on Mondays to watch…
SSPU and Viva Voce Live
Written by Danielle I have a soft spot for bands containing a single female member who is not the lead singer (i.e. a female in a band who plays in…
Odd Little Gems
Two Saturdays ago, I turned on my computer to hear my external storage drive make a horrific grinding noise, cough politely and die, taking with it nearly 10 GB of…
Sonic Youth Rips It Live
Sonic Youth Kool Haus Toronto August 8, 2006 If I recall correctly, for the past couple of tours Sonic Youth has been threatening to call it quits. So every time…
Juliana Hatfield in Exile
Juliana Hatfield was always the girl I thought would have beat up Liz Phair at summer camp, shown her a really wicked guitar riff, and then taught her how to…
Moore, Please
Mandy Moore, despite her onetime status as a blond, has never marched to the same drummer as her teen pop princess contemporaries. She’s never had a video that required editing…
Just Good Music
So, in my attempt to prove to myself that there is still life beyond pop, I have gone through all of my old CDs, hoping to find some I may…
Brit is In The Zone
I always get kind of tense when an artist I like releases a new album. There’s little chance that anything new will stand up to the tried and true favorites…
Let’s Go Team!
The Go! Team Great American Music Hall San Francisco April 27, 2006 Let me say right off the bat and for the record that The Go! Team live is just…