Arts & Entertainment
Crime Mob
Crunk ain't dead. At least that's what Atlanta's Crime Mob would have you believe on their latest record, Hated on Mostly.
Modest Mouse
Three years after their last studio release, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank continues Modest Mouse's musical odyssey from where it left off.
Klaxons
Myths of the Near Future is Klaxons' American debut album, lauded as the defining act of the New Rave movement - a term the band describes as "an in-joke that caught on." Hailing from London, where they have a large underground following, the Klaxons' debut starts off slow with the mild "Two Receivers" before picking up speed that doesn't relinquish for the remainder of the album. The band likes to characterize their music as "psychedelic/progressive/pop," with long keyboard solos and subtle use of vocal harmony, which sounds surprisingly versatile.
Barrel full of monkeys
Remember the kid with the mullet from third grade that always wore that Dungeons and Dragons T-shirt?
Catch Me If you can
A man who thinks he can get away with fabricating the autobiography of the most famous man alive deserves everything he gets.
Neil Young
Neil Young follows up last year's release of Live at the Fillmore East with Live at Massey Hall 1971, and the two records could not be any less alike.
YouTube clip of the week
When asked to write about an up-and-coming or a classic jazz performance for this week's column I attempted to find something niche, but when it comes to jazz on YouTube, nothing beats the 1959 CBS performance by the Miles Davis Quintet of "So What." So what?
Lil' Flip
Houston was a necessary step in the evolution of the southern hip hop aesthetic. It allowed the mainstream to digest the truly southern sound - previously only found on "BET Uncut" - rather than the sleeker major label-driven version with little compromise.
Jonny Lives!
Jonny Lives! sounds so much like Weezer, a friend passing by who heard this record playing stopped and asked where this new Weezer single could be found.
YouTube Clip of the week
Any conversation about the changing nature of music in the face of Myspace, YouTube et al.
Rock Academy
A raucous sound will fill the air at the corner of 22nd and Chestnut St. tonight as scores of people line up to see Tokyo Police Club open a sold out show for the Cold War Kids.
Panda bear
Animal Collective band member Noah Lennox's (aka Panda Bear) cheery third solo album, Person Pitch, is a far cry from his previous album, Young Prayer.
Hollywood hotshots
These guys and gals may be all over Hollywood - big screen, small screen, behind the camera, in front of it, possibly on the side of it - but they all come from the same place: the University of Pennsylvania.
Craven family values
In writing the sequel to last year's The Hills Have Eyes, Wes Craven, director of the Scream trilogy, had a little help from someone who possesses a mind as sick and disturbing as his own: his son.
Happy G, We hardly Knew Ye
The problem with being funny in Hollywood is that once you've established your rep as a comedian, you're rarely allowed the chance to do anything except be funny.
Bringing 'pride' To philly
With his Best Actor Oscar nomination for Hustle and Flow, Terrence Howard became a hot commodity in Hollywood.
All hustle, no flow
Pride is so faithful to the sports underdog movie formula that a plot summary seems unnecessary. Let's instead imagine a montage sequence, much like the ones interspersed throughout the movie: begin with the run-down Philadelphia Department of Recreation on the brink of closure.
Youtube Clip of the week
Yoshimi and crew throw away the childish eager-to-please vibe of lead single "UMA," from their latest album, Taiga, with this track, the second single off the album.
A frosty thriller
First Snow Four stars Directed by: Mark Fergus Starring: Guy Pearce, Piper Perabo PG-13, 121 min. First Snow follows a man named Jimmy (Guy Pearce) who's waiting for his death after a fisherman/cowboy/fortune-teller predicts that he will die after the first snow.
