Music
Elephantitis: The Good Kind
The White Stripes weren't kidding around when they titled their latest album. Elephant hits like a stampede of blues-injected garage rock, ready to rip and wrangle at the same time.
Disc Ressurection
I have a confession to make. I have a horrible secret, one that may ruin any bits of a social life I have here at Penn, one that I did my best to keep secret, a part of my life I thought closed when I left all those who knew me as a child.
Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown?
Chan, you disappoint. Excited by the prospect of witnessing the spectacle that is the usual Cat Power show/emotional breakdown, in the end all we were treated to was the standard live version of your CD concert.
8 Mile Fling
This year's Fling is going to be a battle. Just like those battles in which Eminem competes in 8-Mile. It's going to be power pop meets hip hop, the Ghetto v.
Here, Kitty Kitty!
Just as Phantom Planet might forever be known as "that band with the guy from Rushmore in it," Boomkat could see the same fate.
30 Second Take
Edwin McCain has not stagnated since his fifteen minutes of pop fame, rolling out twelve reflective songs with a country twang.
They Say It's a Gateway Drug
Like its chemical namesake, the numbing and euphoric music of Morphine makes pain bearable, even pleasurable.
867-5AFI
The Berkeley, California-based quartet AFI crashes back onto the hardcore/punk scene with their Dreamworks debut Sing the Sorrow. AFI, which stands for A Fire Inside, imbued a goth-influenced murkiness into their trademark maelstrom and put a new spin on their melodic version of hardcore.
Spring Fling Preview
Slotted to open the Fling concert, OK Go will be the band playing in the background as overambitious freshman pass out on Franklin Field.
No Silver Lining
Somebody needs to get Vic Chesnutt some Prozac. An accident while driving drunk as a teenager left him a paraplegic, and the pain and agony of his life infects every track on Silver Lake. The music and lyrics are downbeat, and if his voice were not so annoying, the CD could easily put anyone to sleep.
In the Sky With Diamonds
Get ready to embark on an introspective exploration of the musical roots from which Ben Harper has developed in his fifth studio album, Diamonds on the Inside. Backed by his band, the Innocent Criminals, Harper courageously experiments with a wide range of sounds, including reggae, Delta Blues, funk, gospel, hard rock and world music.
The Fast and The Envious
What ever happened to the days when a DJ actually moved crowds with his or her dexterity at the scratching and mixing of records?
You Minus Me ≠ Us
The ambiguities that pervade our fair language consistently astound me. My most recent rendezvous with wooly English occurred during a stroll through the music department of the Bookstore.
Finger Lickin' Bad
Truly excruciating from beginning to end, Crooked Fingers's third full-length album falls embarrassingly short of endurable.
Love Hurts
The Kills are another boy-girl indie band that conjures up memories of the White Stripes, but where their contemporaries failed, The Kills succeed.
The In Crowd
In 1996, High/Low spawned the New York trio's lone hit, "Popular." Quite removed from their comparably glitzy mainstream debut, Nada Surf's minimalist indie-rock sensibilities set the tone for their third album Let Go. Switching record labels, the band relinquished the pretense of snaring mainstream acceptability, instead crafting thoughtful, personal delves into melancholic bliss. The sweet hum of the bass fused with the twinkling guitars nearly lulls the listener into a serene sublime state.
This Ain't Backstreet
Teddy Riley is still a genius. That said, the new Blackstreet album, Level II, is still new-jack swinging like it's 1994.
The British Are So Cool
It's hard to say what it is about the British that makes their music so appealing. Whatever it is, The Coral have got it by the boatload.
30 Second Takes
Hail Social Hail Social (EP) Self-released These days, seemingly every band wants to be the next post-punk talk of the town.
