Music | Thursday, December 9,2004

sound patrol 12-9-04

Tired Eminem rolls another rock up a hill

Eminem Encore (Aftermath/Interscope) If you're curious about how Eminem's art has evolved during the two-and-a-half years since his last full-length, The Eminem Show, the Encore cover andbook

Music | Thursday, December 2,2004

sound patrol 12-2-04

Chicks have cake and eat it, too

By René Spencer Saller

Chicks on Speed 99 Cents (Chicks on Speed Records) The shopping season is upon us, a grim reminder that ours is a fat, frivolous, reckless nation, drunk on debt and self-destruction. Still, eve

Music | Wednesday, November 24,2004

sound patrol 11-25-04

Soul-scorching redemption

By René Spencer Saller

Arcade Fire Funeral (Merge) Funeral, the first CD from Montreal's the Arcade Fire, came out in September, and already it's induced scores of worshipful music writers to churn out drool-slick

Music | Thursday, November 18,2004

sound patrol 11-18-04

Another reason to bone up on French

By René Spencer Saller

Carla Bruni QuelquÕun mÕa dit (Na•ve/V2) Don't hate Carla Bruni because she's beautiful. If you're going to hate her, there are plenty of other, better reasons. The 36-year-old Italian-born, Fr

Music | Wednesday, November 10,2004

sound patrol 11-11-04

Consolation for these moments of darkness

By René Spencer Saller

Various Artists The Late Great Daniel Johnston Discovered Covered (Gammon) History will prove you poor enlightened blue-staters right someday, but that's cold comfort now, when Christian nutjob

Music | Thursday, November 4,2004

sound patrol 11-4-04

Sweet vindication for well-read rockers

By René Spencer Saller

Augie March Strange Bird (spinART) Don the bard mantle at your peril, rockdudes. Before you break out the thesaurus, think of the sick-making excesses of Rush. Think of Lou Reed's recent Edgar

Music | Thursday, October 28,2004

sound patrol 10-28-04

Asthmatic robot monkeys can’t solve this riddle

By René Spencer Saller

Björk may be the most unpopular pop star alive. Sure, she had a gigantic hit single in her native Iceland when she was 11 years old, and she's sold millions of records over the subsequent decades.

Music | Thursday, October 21,2004

sound patrol 10-21-04

Can’t stand by as the world burns

By René Spencer Saller

Tom WaitsReal Gone (Anti) At 54, Tom Waits is weirder than he's ever been, which is quite an accomplishment when you consider that he's been weird -- deeply, uniquely, unrepentantly weird --

Music | Thursday, October 14,2004

sound patrol 10-14-04

Delivery Man delivers several firsts

By René Spencer Saller

Elvis Costello and the Imposters The Delivery Man (Lost Highway) On the title track of his latest album, Elvis Costello sings, "I want to be your delivery man." True to form, he's layered the l

Music | Thursday, October 7,2004

sound patrol 10-7-04

The world of men

By René Spencer Saller

Sally Timms In the World of Him (Touch and Go) Sick unto death of so-called security moms and their effect on the upcoming election? Are women the new white men? The latest solo CD by Mekons singe