The Sad End of Google Reader and What it Says About The Music Business
With Google retiring Google Reader, anyone who uses any of the company’s other services should be a bit concerned. read more
A Farewell Transmission: Thoughts on Jason Molina's Passing
I received an email at 10:54 a.m. yesterday that succinctly read: "Jason Molina is dead. I'm gutted." read more
Hopslammed: The Double IPA That Causes a Nationwide Frenzy
Every January, Bell's releases a seasonal double IPA called Hopslam, and it sells out immediately. We take a look at why. read more
Three Rock Bios Worth Reading
It's been a good year for rock bios. George Howard shares his favorites. read more
Remembering Ravi Shankar (1920 - 2012)
Ravi Shankar was born into a world that has disappeared. When he was born two years after the end of the first World War in 1920, India was still a part of the British empire and the culture to which he belonged was often considered backward and undeveloped. read more
The Half Light: Five Great Oral Histories
It occurred to me yesterday, as I was reading Live From New York, a book about the history of Saturday Night Live, that I had become addicted to oral histories. read more
Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master: The View from Planet Teegeeack
Anderson’s movie is short on the inexplicable. Does he mean to suggest that all faith in things not seen is just so much wankery? read more
The Producer's Chair: Ed Ackerson of BNLX
Paul Q. Kolderie (Radiohead, Pixies, Uncle Tupelo) interviews his fellow music producers to find out what's coming next. This week, Ed Ackerson sits in The Producer's Chair. read more
The Leaderboard: Runnin' Down A Dream With Driver: San Francisco
Robert Zacny looks at how dreams, reality and muscle cars merge in last year's overlooked driving game. read more
The Half Light: Obama and the End of Nonviolence
Before we begin, I’d like to apologize in advance for getting political. I tried to avoid it, and failed miserably. But I am trying to be fair. Okay? Okay. Now then… There’s an excellent essay by Thomas Frank in the September issue of Harper’s exploring President Obama’s tactics in his first term as President. Frank is an avowed liberal and the author of books like What’s the Matter with Kansas: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America and Pity the Billionaire: The Hard-Times Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right. You can tell by those titles where his allegiances... read more
The Half Light: The Trip and the Loneliness of Friendship
I kept meaning to see “The Trip,” Michael Winterbottom’s road movie starring British comedians Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon, back when it was in theaters in 2010. read more
Giving Back: Stephen Kellog and the Sixers
The first time I saw Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, Goose stripped down on stage. The next time they raised $150 with me for the UVA Children’s Hospital. And the third, we were all backstage at Madison Square Garden. read more
The 20 Best Belle & Sebastian Songs About Troubled Young People
When you’ve been as obsessed with a band like Belle & Sebastian as long as I have, and when that obsession proves unshakable, it’s inevitable that you begin to notice some thematic similarities between songs. read more
The Curmudgeon: Music Machines
Last month I found myself in Traverse City, Mich., at the Music House Museum. The museum started as a collection of pre-1930s music-making machines stored in a farmer’s barn amid the area’s omnipresent orchards. read more
The Half Light: The Terrible Pressure of Choosing Wedding Music
The task set before me, three weeks out from the biggest day of my life, was to bite the bullet and choose the songs that would score our wedding. read more
Conflicted Thoughts About Seeing The Dark Knight Rises
Like everyone else, I woke up to the horrific news coming out of Colorado. I started by thinking about the families, their loss, their terror, the questions that are flooding their heads, the answers they won't find. Then I thought about the story itself. read more
Delocated, Eagleheart and the New Wave of Absurd TV Comedy
Here’s a description of Delocated, the comedy series that airs on Adult Swim (Cartoon Network’s late night programming), taken straight from the Wikipedia page: Jon Glaser plays a man in the Witness Protection Program who moves his family to New York City so they can star in a reality TV show, forced to wear ski masks and have his voice changed at all times. There are a few ways to respond to this premise. First, you could be baffled, which is how I imagine most Americans reacting. When you start to parse the specifics, the logical flaws become obvious, and... read more
What's Wrong With Apple & How They Can Fix It
Anyone who knows me, knows I'm what the kids call an Apple fanboy. I got my first Apple—a Centris—back in the early '90s and have never owned a computer by any other manufacturer since. read more
Eating Jam Out of a Jar: Food in Mountain Goats Lyrics
Even the most casual Mountain Goats fan knows that John Darnielle is a master of describing intense, complicated relationships fraught with tension and passion. What not everyone realizes, though, is the meaningful role food plays in the lives of these characters read more
The Curmudgeon: Down With Downloads
I make the following argument knowing full well that it’s in vain. Music is going digital, and there’s nothing I can do about it. In the future most music will arrive via downloads or more likely will reside in a sky full of clouds. Physical recordings—whether CDs, DVDs, vinyl or tape—won’t disappear completely, but will became a very small niche market. As a result of these changes, however, something valuable is being lost—and an argument must be made on that something’s behalf. The most obvious casualty is sound quality. I’m sorry, but mp3s sound like shit. The sampling rate loses... read more
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