Music
A Long December
It's a brave new world for Decemberists fans. The release of their new album, The Crane Wife, marks the group's shift to Capitol Records from indie Kill Rock Stars.
Home at Last
Political activism and artistic integrity go hand in hand," said a calm and composed Salim Washington over the phone from his New York office.
No Man is an Island
By all accounts, life on the road is nasty, brutish and long. And on the eve of a North American tour, Islands' Nick Diamonds is sick in a Toronto hotel room, speaking in low tones to protect his voice.
Weird Science
Beck is a man known for wearing many hats at once. He has built his career upon shapeshifting, evading classification, seamlessly blending the unlikely with the illogical.
Emily Haines
Some good CDs make you smile, some make you dance, and some make you cry. Emily Haines's Knives Don't Have Your Back belongs in the last category: bittersweet, but infectious all the same.
Sorority Life
At a time when pop culture phenomena like Paris Hilton and Hulk Hogan's daughter are relentlessly promoting their debut albums, the idea of the remake doesn't sound all that bad. Take Johnny Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt," for instance.
A two-hour vigil with student radio
The outer room of WQHS is the most organized it's been in a long time. Rows and rows of CDs and LPs stand ordered alphabetically and by genre.
Sandi Thom
Smile... It Confuses People is the kind of record that really makes you wonder. Whatever happened to the idyllic, innocent rebellion of our parents' generation?
Sparklehorse
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. It's a motto that most aptly describes Sparklehorse's latest, a merely competent album that explores little new ground.
Mad Tea Party
If you thought that the twang of country couldn't be combined with tedious sound effects and mild musical enthusiasm, then the monotonous sounds of Mad Tea Party's latest, Big Top Soda Pop, will quickly prove you wrong.
Music Reviews of: The Slats, The Mooney Suzuki, Kasabian, The Avett Brothers, Alexisonfire
The Slats Boom Patrol 4.5 Stars If you're on the prowl for something epic, progressive, and tasteful, don't look to the Slats.
Separation anxiety
After three years of collaborative projects and live albums, Will Oldham returns with his first proper solo album since 2003's Master and Everyone.
Applaud and agree
The second coming of 2005's indie darlings Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is upon us. And while the alt-rock prophets will wait with baited blogs until the January 30 release date, don't expect lead singer and Philadelphia native Alec Ounsworth to indulge their rapture.
All things must pass
Scott Ansill remembers selling 120 copies of Radiohead's Kid A at midnight the night it was released.
Veloci-rapture
A scene in the endearingly obnoxious 2002 movie, The Rules of Attraction, shows a small college's "End of the World" party, and the background tunage is the Rapture's "Out of the Races and onto the Tracks." Shindigs that feature burning wicker men as their main attraction are usually fodder for that Wicca guy you met once (and never again). But with that kind of booty-shakin' song playing in the background, you'd be a fool not to go.
Rock musings
From the time I left campus last spring until June 14, I had Radiohead on my mind. Mine was an obsession that verged on downright mania, transforming my usually tepid opinions into axioms and outright platitudes.
Stroke This
Teenagers filled the Electric Factory on Sunday, April 23 to see a band that hipsters would say is so out they might even be considered pastiche.
Five Bands Team Up To Fight Suicide
In 2001, Louis Posen thought up the Take Action! Tour, rounded up some punk rock bands, and sent them across the country to promote suicide prevention.
Artist to Watch
After opening for indie rock sensations the Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, it was only a matter of time before the Atlanta-via-Athens, Georgia group Snowden got picked up by a prominent independent label.
