Weezer: “Raditude”

I love me some Weezer, but even I’m finding it harder and harder to defend Rivers Cuomo. I’m not sure that the man was ever “cool,” exactly, but any hipster cred he may have had he’s been squandering ever since The Green Album. The angsty, scraping proto-emo of Pinkerton now firmly a relic, Cuomo led [...]

Landmarks: The Year 2006

If I my be permitted a bit of revisionist history, I can say with the benefit of hindsight that my favorite record of 2006 is almost certainly Tom Waits‘ Orphans. Talk about an album transcending its modest roots: Originally meant to be a clearing-house for rarities, B-sides, and soundtrack cuts, the album proved such an [...]

Florence and the Machine: “Lungs”

Florence Welch took the simple word Lungs as the title for her debut album with the Machine, and, as big and bloated as the music is, such a spare moniker seems, at first, like a strange irony. But not so fast: Lungs is a fitting banner for this inaugural outing on a couple of levels. [...]

R.E.M.: “Live at the Olympia”

At the start of R.E.M.’s epic-length new live album, Michael Stipe quietly intones that “this is not a show.” In the same way, let me say from the beginning that this is not a review: This is, rather, an opportunity for reflection on a band that I have long loved, and a conjecture on where [...]

Terri Clark: “The Long Way Home”

Terri Clark’s The Long Way Home bears a title that splits the difference between two Dixie Chicks records– Home and Taking the Long Way– which may not be intentional, but it’s illuminating nevertheless: Clark’s album is indeed pitched somewhere between those two recordings, not quite comfortable in either the neo-traditionalist camp of Home or the [...]

Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band: “Between My Head and the Sky”

Since 2001, Yoko Ono has released exactly three recordings, and only one of them can be termed a proper album. The first two, both released in 2007, were Open Your Box– in which vintage Ono tracks were remixed by the likes of Basement Jaxx and Pet Shop Boys– and Yes, I’m a Witch, in which [...]

The List: Country Music in the Aughts

I’m tempted to say that it’s been a good month for country. Within the last couple of weeks, Patty Loveless released her second Mountain Soul recording, celebrating the traditional music of the hills. Kris Kristofferson cut a sparse, poetic set called Closer to the Bone. Miranda Lambert continued her quest to bring a punk edge [...]

Film Break: “Where the Wild Things Are”

Released by Warner Brothers after a long, family-targeted marketing build-up, Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are is nevertheless an indie movie through and through; though Jonze met with acclaim for directing films like Adaptation, a more obvious touchstone for Wild Things is his oeuvre of music videos for the likes of Fatboy Slim and [...]

Film Break: “Law Abiding Citizen”

My review of the new “thriller,” Law Abiding Citizen, is posted at CT Movies. First zero-star review I’ve handed in in ages.

Landmarks: The Year 2005

In the past decade, has anyone done more to enhance the profile of the state of Illinois than Sufjan Stevens? Barack Obama, maybe, but that’s about it. Stevens’ Illinois album was everywhere in 2005, a favorite both in indie rock circles as well many evangelical circles; the album was celebrated both for its musical acumen [...]