Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 (Xbox 360)
Developers: Vicarious VisionsPublisher: ActivisionPlatforms: Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, DSMarvel fanboys rejoice! From the time Spider-Man first appeared as a pixilated, web-slinging blob on the Atari 2600, it seems that Marvel Comics' spandex-clad pantheon of superheroes have been systematically pimped out to one video game developer after another, with the end result being a slew of depressingly bland adaptations. Fortunately, video game-loving Marvel fanboys have a new reason to celebrate thanks in part to Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, a game bursting with enough heroes, villains and nods to obscure Marvel lore to send most comic book geeks into anaphylactic shock. That... read more
Wolfmother: Cosmic Egg
When Australian trio Wolfmother hopped onto the scene in 2005, many were quick to draw Led Zeppelin comparisons... read more
How I Met Your Mother Review: "The Sexless Innkeeper" (Episode 5.04) and "Duel Citizenship" (Episode 5.05)
Air Dates: October 12, 2009 (“The Sexless Innkeeper”); October 19, 2009 (“Duel Citizenship”) Writers: Carter Bays and Craig Thomas (“The Sexless Innkeeper”), Chuck Tatham (“Duel Citizenship”) Director: Pamela Fryman Even with Lily’s excessive urination and insistence on playing a book-on-tape, Ted and Marshall’s road trip became a much-needed detour for Season Five, if not a near reversal of all that went wrong in “The Sexless Innkeeper.”... read more
Dollhouse Review: "Belonging" (Episode 2.4)
The fourth episode of Dollhouse’s second season is the series’ best since the last episode written by Jed Whedon (Joss’ brother) and his wife, Maurissa Tancharoen—the unaired “Epitaph One.” read more
Devendra Banhart: What Will We Be
“Please destroy me!” pleads freakfolk flagbearer Devendra Banhart on “First Song for B,” one of the many... read more
Orenda Fink: Ask the Night
Achingly beautiful melodies as a cure for the restless blues Orenda Fink’s sophomore album leaves behind the sonic experimentation of her debut LP, Invisible Ones. Ask the Night is, instead, a nod to the singer’s Southern roots in a pared-down combination of guitars, strings and banjos that harkens back to another era: “Sister” showcases a clanging piano in a Frontier saloon, and “The Garden” is driven by the mournful violin of a Victorian folk song. What results is a deliciously melancholic mixture, epitomized in “Why is the Night Sad,” which laments, “And you know that you’re not safe here, through... read more
The Office Review: "The Lover" (Episode 6.06)
“The Lover” marks the sixth season’s most spot-on episode, mainly, the well-executed schticks and screaming matches that inevitably ensue when an employee (Pam) discovers that her boss (Michael) has been sleeping with her mother— Michael’s latest exposé in inappropriateness that sparked from Jim and Pam’s wedding in “Niagara.”... read more
Wildbirds & Peacedrums: The Snake
Wildbirds & Peacedrums’ 2008 debut _Heartcore_ introduced an odd line-up... read more
Port O'Brien: Threadbare
Sparks fly on California band’s second album Port O’Brien’s second studio album sounds just fine coming out of computer speakers or iPod headphones, but the best way to appreciate these darkly ambient, heartily ramshackle indie-folk songs is around a campfire. Working with Earlimart’s Aaron Espinoza, the band stitch together threads of hearty Pacific Northwest indie, West Coast rock, and rustic creak-folk to create a loose, at times uneasy intimacy that allows for murky ambience as well as raucous sing-alongs.... read more
Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970
When you consider the whole package (words, melody, chord structure), Bob Dylan may very well be our greatest songwriter, but... read more
Butterfly Boucher: Scary Fragile
Rock chanteuse draws from ’80s pop Butterfly Boucher slid onto the scene in 2004 with the release of her debut album, Flutterby, but at the time garnered more press for her fascinating biography than her killer voice. This time around, things are different. Boucher has plenty to say on her second LP Scary Fragile, all of which is more interesting than her name (yes, it is real), her six sisters, or her childhood in Australia.... read more
Fuck Buttons: Tarot Sport
Ten-minute songs, pounding drones, synths on endless loop, vocals nowhere to be found, and that charming band name—this one really sells itself, doesn’t it? read more
Noisettes: Wild Young Hearts
An international buzz band upon the release of... read more
Lyle Lovett: Natural Forces
Lyle Lovett is the ultimate AAA artist in a ten-gallon hat... read more
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson: Summer of Fear
In case you were wondering, Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson is not a new supergroup featuring... read more
Flight of the Conchords: I Told You I Was Freaky
Kiwi comedy duo falls flat A musical comedy record where the tunes are more memorable than the actual jokes makes for an Eeyore of an album, as HBO’s Flight of the Conchords are the latest to prove. Following up 2008’s self-titled full-length, as well as their 2007 Grammy-winning Distant Future EP, the New Zealand humor-folk duo takes a cue from another successful musical-comedy act, The Lonely Island, exchanging much of its previously low-key hilarity for the latter’s throbbing Timberlake/Timbaland beats.... read more
Atlas Sound: Logos
Deerhunter frontman releases finished version of leaked demos Proving it’s dangerous to be a prolific artist in the MP3 era, Bradford Cox suffered some self-inflicted damage in August 2008 when he unintentionally made public an entire album’s worth of demos. Initially he was so dejected by this self-inflicted leak that he threatened to scrap everything, but he eventually released the songs—and they now comprise Logos.... read more
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Review: "The Waitress is Getting Married" (Episode 5.05)
It took five episodes, but it feels like the Gang has finally hit their stride again. It’s not that the fifth season’s previous episodes have necessarily come up short, but they’ve lacked that certain kinetic frenzy that made the show so addictive.... read more
30 Rock Review: "Season 4" (Episode 4.1)
The question as each subsequent series of 30 Rock has aired is whether or not the show is as good as it used to be. Like a lot of classic groups, the show will always have its fans who say that they liked the early stuff but then it became too commercial, too pandering, or whatever else that’s code for too mainstream. 30 Rock’s increasingly ridiculous number of Emmy nominations has done little for its cult status as the heir apparent to Arrested Development and with this, has given it a fair share of haters. Surely, the logic goes, if... read more
Community Review: "Advanced Criminal Law" (Episode 1.5)
One of my main complaints with Community so far had been that, while it did a pretty good job recreating the feel of actual college life, it wasn’t a very distinct place. In fact, it rarely even felt like a community college and was more of an every college. That’s not bad, as it made the experience a lot more universal, but the lack of distinction was starting to make the show a bit blander and less interesting with every passing episode.... read more
The 20 Best Gadgets of the Decade…
The 17 Best Romantic Comedies This Decade
The 50 Best Albums of the Decade…
The 25 Best Movie Performances of the…
Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard
Kim Taylor - Days Like this
B.O.B. - Put Me On
Gregory Alan Isakov - The Moon Song
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
Elvis Perkins in Dearland - Stay Zombie…
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like
David Bazan - Hard To Be
