print
Dec 03/Jan 04 Issue
The Dec 03/Jan 04 issue will is now on the newsstand. Pick up a copy at Borders, Barnes & Noble, Tower Records, Books-a-Million or your favorite independent retailer. read more
Found in: Music, Features20 Signs of Life From 2003
Transatlanticism, the fourth album from Death Cab For Cutie, starts with a bang. “So this is the new year,” sings Ben Gibbard, his voice and the exuberant song brimming with possibility... read more
Found in: Music, FeaturesChip Taylor and Carrie Rodriquez
The duo of Chip Taylor & Carrie Rodriguez is one of the hottest new acts on the Americana scene, if you can call an act with a 63-year-old songwriting legend new... read more
Found in: Music, FeaturesThe Three Lives of David Ryan Harris
“Hate” is a strong word. But there are definitely things that singer-songwriter David Ryan Harris resents. Cell phones ringing at his shows, for one. “Hey, watcha doin’?” the beefy black musician mocks in a reprimanding falsetto, bringing his music to a halt. “I’m at the show. Where are you? Why aren’t you guys here?” People cower in the audience, a few slink out, digging in purses or unsnapping phone holsters. He continues in a prissy, breathless way that brings the Olsen twins to mind: “Oh, no, I gotta go, he’s making fun of me…” Then Harris chuckles and tells the... read more
Found in: Music, FeaturesTravis: No More Flowers in the Window
Fans familiar with sunny, uplifting melodies like “Driftwood,” “All I Want To Do Is Rock” and “Flowers In The Window” will most likely be stunned by the melancholy tones, descending chords and mournful invocations... read more
Found in: Music, FeaturesJuliana Hatfield: Some Girls Like to Rock
At Rhino’s, an all-ages music club in Bloomington, Ind., the kids are ready to rock. And so are their parents... read more
Found in: Music, FeaturesSwitchfoot: File Under Alt-Rock
“Our music lives and dies in the sweaty rock club,” says Jon Foreman, frontman for Switchfoot, a San Diego rock band that’s been surfing a wave of popularity recently... read more
Found in: Music, FeaturesUrban Hillbilly Quartet
The affable Erik Brandt was surprisingly specific when asked to describe what his group’s name, The Urban Hillbilly Quartet, means. “‘Urban’ describes the rock; ‘hillbilly’ is the Americana, folk and country; and ‘quartet’ is jazz, improvisation and our instrumental music, with tinges of eastern European melodies. Some are the Israeli, funky minor melodies that all of us like.” As it turns out, the Quartet’s versatile music is sui generis: “Our diversity is a blessing and a curse,” says Brandt. “Record stores don’t know where to shelve us, radio stations don’t know where to play us.” Short of live performance, UHQ’s... read more
Found in: Music, FeaturesMojave 3: Seduced by the Bad News Muse
“I think I’ve only ever written one song in my life,” confesses Neil Halstead, principal voice and pen behind the spaced-out, countrified fauxlk-rock of Mojave 3, whose album Spoon And Rafter was recently released on the 4AD label. Halstead may be onto something. The 10 variations of this one song that appear on Spoon And Rafter indeed continue in the tradition of the past few Mojave 3 albums, creating the feel of a jilted lover trying to slit his wrist with a feather. Ethereal, blissed-out canvases full of pedal steel, heartbreak and Halstead’s whispery vocals drift across like the fading... read more
Found in: Music, FeaturesRaving On With The Raveonettes
After a late-night performance at Seattle’s Crocodile Café and post-show partying with The Kills, The Raveonettes look remarkably well this afternoon. Sune Rose Wagner, lead singer and songwriter of this duo from Denmark, sits comfortably in his chair. The darker of the two, Wagner is impeccably dressed in black — from his pointy boots to his jet black crown. In contrast sits the statuesque, six-foot-tall blonde, Sharin Foo, quietly sipping on a Perrier. She’s dressed for the unusually warm September day. The Raveonettes are touring in support of their new album, Chain Gang of Love, and six hours before they... read more
Found in: Music, Features
The 20 Best Gadgets of the Decade…
The 20 Best Live Acts of the…
The 17 Best Romantic Comedies This 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
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
David Bazan - Hard To Be
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like
