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Myst
Platform: Nintendo DSDefinitive point-and-click, first-person adventure jumps from CD-ROM to DS—newly tiny, still impossibleAlthough Myst is an undisputed classic I’d never played, I approached this DS port cautiously. For every gamer who raves about its immersive mystery and austere storytelling, another laments its withering difficulty and austere storytelling. The player must discover the secrets (why are these two brothers trapped in, like, magic books?) of an eerily unpopulated island. It turns out Myst’s boosters and detractors are both kinda right. Wandering the island alone—trying to make sense of various bizarre objects and arcane clues—is a one-of-a-kind experience. But I found... read more
Found in: Games, ReviewsThe Political Machine 2008
Platform: Windows XP and VistaI will stop at nothing when electioneeringI’ve cast a ballot in two presidential elections so far, and both times, my guy lost. Surely, I’m not the only luckless voter who’s spent the past eight years bemoaning democracy’s lack of a do-over option. Fortunately, fantasy trumps reality once again, thanks to The Political Machine 2008, a turn-based strategy game that puts players on the campaign trail in a quest for electoral dominance.... read more
Found in: Games, ReviewsRainn Wilson: My First...
The veteran actor—best known for playing geeky megalomaniac Dwight Schrute on NBC’s The Office—moves out of his perennial supporting-actor niche with new big-screen comedy The Rocker. It’s his first starring role, a natural opportunity to inquire about some of his other firsts... read more
Found in: Movies, FeaturesRodney Crowell: Sex and Gasoline
Maybe it’s the Dylanesque qualities of his voice that... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsSarah McLachlan: Fumbling Towards Ecstasy: Legacy Edition
Fumbling indeedIn 1993, Liz Phair, Björk, PJ Harvey, Belly, and The Breeders all released well-received albums, heralding that the decade of Women in Rock was underway—no matter how dubious that designation seems today. Yet none of them boasted the sales figures or overwhelming influence—ill or otherwise—of Sarah McLachlan’s third album, Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, which inspired not only the Lilith Fair tours but also the eventual sanitizing of that very movement. Fifteen years later, these dozen songs haven’t aged particularly well. Against programmed beats that sound tinny and lifeless, her vocals—artfully restrained on previous albums—sound bluntly emotive, and her once incisive... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsTobias Froberg: Turn Heads
Previously unassuming Swede makes stab at over-the-top pop“A Swedish massage to your ear”—those are the words that greet you at Tobias Froberg’s MySpace page, and his third full-length release works hard to exemplify this tagline. Always pleasant, often soothing and entirely innocuous, Turn Heads begins with a rollicking bit of twee pop on the appropriately titled “Blissful” and then shuffles into a series of dainty, soft-rock ballads and swirling piano-pop epics that threaten to leave you asleep on the masseuse’s table. Having garnered resolutely positive press for the ’60s folk-pop of 2006’s Somewhere in the City, here the shaggy Swede... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsBeautiful Losers
No one as interesting as the artists in this... read more
Found in: Movies, ReviewsRandy Newman Burns On
Randy Newman’s sardonic first album covered father/son dynamics, childhood obesity and pork-barrel politics, and in less than four minutes told the story of a young couple from marriage to death. The record’s trenchant humor and chamber-pop melodies created a... read more
Found in: Music, FeaturesMatthew Sweet: Sunshine Lies
Bob Dylan may have famously said... read more
Found in: Music, ReviewsStefan Fatsis
Wall Street Journal sportswriter and NPR commentator Stefan Fatsis sets out to... read more
Found in: Books, Reviews
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
Frightened Rabbit - Good Arms Vs. Bad…
Gregory Alan Isakov - The Moon Song
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like
David Bazan - Hard To Be
