Music | Thursday, September 15,2005

Doveman's gentle hodgepodge

The mood is melancholy, not desperate

Most musicians hate to be categorized, rejecting any attempts to label, contextualize, or otherwise rape their divine muse. Because they are, like, totally unique, they

Music | Thursday, September 8,2005

Love, indispensable and inadequate

Pixel Revolt sounds so fantastic you might miss the rich lyrics

By René Spencer Saller

In "Exodus Damage," one of 14 quietly harrowing tracks on his fifth and finest CD, John Vanderslice sings, "No one ever says a word about/So much that happens in the world." If this is true, it'

Music | Thursday, September 1,2005

Every track a money shot

Twin Cinema, the New Pornographers’ third CD, is a triumph

By René Spencer Saller

Although no one can define it, most of us know pornography when we see it, and we do not approve. Never mind that we’re consuming it in record quantities; we still frea

Music | Thursday, August 25,2005

Rescued from obscurity

The latest from the Flamin' Groovies and Puerto Muerto

By René Spencer Saller

Flamin' Groovies Shake Some Action (DBK Works) Was there ever a phrase more redolent of rock than “shake some action”? In the annals of horndog eloquence, itR

Music | Thursday, August 18,2005

A glimpse into a cosmos

Turning the Prairie State into an emotionally authentic work of art

By René Spencer Saller

There’s a fine line between “concept” and “gimmick,” and Sufjan Stevens straddles it admirably on Illinois, his fifth album and the second insta

Music | Thursday, August 11,2005

Lizz Wright gets it right

Don't call her a jazz singer, and don't call her the New Norah

By René Spencer Saller

Lizz Wright isn’t the first jazz singer to embrace gospel, blues, folk, and rock, nor is she the first jazz singer to tell interviewers that she’s not really a ja

Music | Thursday, August 4,2005

Yoakam proves he’s the real deal

Dwight Yoakam's Blame the Vain packed with exquisite melodies

By René Spencer Saller

Dwight Yoakam is a purist and a reactionary, but that doesn’t make him any less of a rebel. Despite his old-school Bakersfield twang and unabashed reverence for golden-

Music | Thursday, July 28,2005

A bit of a pill

Stina Noderstam's so good, you'll forget she's annoying

By René Spencer Saller

According to the press release for The World Is Saved, Stina Nordenstam’s sixth CD, “This is some of the most hopeful music Stina Nordenstam has ever recorde

Music | Thursday, July 21,2005

sound patrol

Balancing contrary forces

By René Spencer Saller

For the past decade, Joe Pernice has practiced the art of pop chiaroscuro, crafting sunny songs with sudden shadows and dark songs that dazzle. With its buoyant hooks,

Music | Thursday, July 14,2005

sound patrol

Son Volt’s back, with new urgency

By René Spencer Saller

The first new Son Volt full-length in seven years, Okemah and the Melody of Riot boasts exactly one original member: Jay Farrar, the band’s founder, frontm