Music
Addicted to Sobriety
Off the crystal meth and back in the studio, Rufus Wainwright puts forth his most sober and self-reflective album to date.
Death Cock speaks
With the release of You Forgot It In People, Broken Social Scene was catapulted from an unknown Canadian band to one of the most talked about groups in indie rock.
Party Animal
I'm not a metalhead, and as I pushed my way through the bearded and pierced attendees of last Thursday's Andrew W.K.
Country Grammar
Remember that song "Ugly" that had you "throwin' 'bows" at the party and wishing you were from Hicktown, Georgia?
Bump and Grind
Nicholas Payton gets more ass than Wilt Chamberlain -- on one of his better days. And it's not as though this classically trained trumpet player is keeping it a secret.
Mortal Sinners
Ah, the memories... I remember my first step into punk when I heard MXPX covering "Summer of '69." I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Since then, I have ditched Christian pop-punk, and so has MXPX on their new LP, Before Everything and After. That may not be a good thing in their case.
Freeeeedom!
You could make a drinking game out of all the different Scottish inventions. Golf. Adhesive postage stamps.
Dressy For Successy
Attention, indie head-bobbers! Dressy Bessy's self-titled album, their third release, is one of the catchiest albums of the year.
Fall Music Preview
Dave Matthews, Some Devil, September 23 (RCA) Choosing to leave the band out of his name and album, Dave Matthews embarks on the tricky path of creating a solo album.
C'mon, feel the angst
For the music snob, the first concert occupies a sacred space. Whether awful or amazing, we remember that first show, be it grooving to New Kids on the Block or sitting with your parents, suffering through a James Taylor set.
Dismemberment disbanded
Every advertisement was billing it as the Dismemberment Plan's last show ever but when lead singer Travis Morrison walked on stage after Engine Down's serviceable opening set, he set the record straight on the "big fat lie." Turns out that the Plan had one more show, in their hometown of Washington, D.C.
Kelly, where are you?
I knew little to nothing about The Used before writing this review. I knew lead singer Bert McCracken dated Kelly Osborne and throws up on stage, or something like that.
Time to relapse
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Fuck Nirvana. Credit where credit is due, the real impetus for the alt-rock revolution of the early 1990's wasn't Seattle and Nirvana.
Guilty pleasure
Oh man, this one's bad. To you, Linkin Park may be just another top 40 Nu-Metal act, fodder for Y-100.
Weathering the storm
Sure, they lay their dark vocals over sugary pop music, but Guster's true appeal lies in their percussionist, Brian "Thundergod" Rosenworcel.
Guilty Pleasure
The first time I heard "Victory" from Puff Daddy's No Way Out I got so energized that I went to the gym.
Tune in
In 1988, a band called Avant Garde was trying to make waves in the metal scene, lead by singer Kevin Ridel and guitarist Rivers Cuomo.
Digging in the crates
Hip-Hop musicians have never felt a particular tie to the album format. Some purists might have a problem with that, but in some cases, it can work out quite well.
