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  • Friday, May 31, 2002

    Only one game into the World Cup, and there's already been a stunner of a match. Very exciting game. Give the credit to Senegal, who didn't show France an ounce of respect...

    A two-fer-one weekend...first off, my Doves review is up...believe me, not Rolling Stone on this one. Also, be sure to take a look at the other two reviews (one good...one not-so-good). Kudos to PopMatters for putting up three simultaneous reviews of the same album!

    And how good is The Last Broadcast? Well, the other night, after listening to it, I put on Lost Souls immediately after, and it paled in comparison. This is one of the best albums from 2000 I'm talking about...compared to Doves' new one, it just sounds dull. I can't believe I'm saying it, but it's true...

    Also just put on the website is my review of Wood/Water, the new cd by The Promise Ring. It's one that I really came to enjoy.


    Thursday, May 30, 2002

    Of all places, Salon has produced a very good World Cup primer. Outstanding stuff. Thank you, Andrew O'Hehir...


    Wednesday, May 29, 2002

    My review of Doves' amazing new cd hopefully will be published soon...I'm not going to give too much away, other than its songs I had qualms with have grown on me in a major way, and that Rolling Stone magazine doesn't have a clue what they're talking about. First off, Lost Souls was never the sound of a "British bummer band." Ever hear 'Catch the Sun'? Pat Blashill goes on to describe The Last Broadcast as sounding like "the tiny regret that you feel when you know the cold is coming. If you're into that sort of thing." What an idiot. It's glorious and uplifting, plain and simple.

    It's a month late, but the trees are starting to look green, the days are getting much warmer, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have been eliminated from the playoffs. Yes, spring has finally arrived. The only thing I hate more than that hockey team (good riddance to the Laffs, especially Darcy Tucker) is the Toronto media's obsession with the team that lasts the entire season. All the national networks are based there, but they act like they're two-bit local stations in Toronna. These next two weeks will provide the only decent hockey tv coverage we Canadians can get.


    Tuesday, May 28, 2002

    My review of Ozzy's Tribute live album is now up...the cover art is wrong, but hopefully it'll get fixed soon...(5:00 pm update: yes, it has been fixed)

    The new version of 'Papa Don't Preach' by Kelly Osbourne is actually pretty good. The mp3 quality is a bit realaudioesque, so it's a bit hard to try to hear whether Kelly's voice was digitally enhanced like her dad's voice on the Down To Earth album. Despite the lo-fi mp3 sound, be sure to download it, since it'll probably be the only online version you'll be able to find, what with Sharon's extreme paranoia over mp3 sharing...

    This past weekend marked the end of the Russ Meyer Festival on Canadian tv, one of the best things to sppear on the tube in years (the only one I missed was Blacksnake!, but it's supposed to be embarrassingly awful, so no biggie there). The last movie was his 1976 film Up!, written by Roger Ebert. It's pretty much a waste of time, that is, until the climax, where the two female lead characters Sweet Lil' Alice (Janet Wood) and Margo (Raven de la Croix) chase each other down a river, spouting what amounts to a gut-busting send-up of Shakespearian dialogue, where they breathlessly fill all the many of the story's plot holes. While trying to kill each other. Er, and with no clothes on. It's one of the funniest, most surreal four and a half minutes I have ever seen in a movie, and it ranks among the greatest B movie writing in history. Roger, you demented genius, you...

    It was so great, that I managed to transcribe the best parts, so here, for both posterity and your enjoyment, are the highlights:

    Margo: You?

    Alice: Yes, me, Sweet Lil' Alice!

    Margo: The least likely suspect.

    Alice: A cop? Shoulda guessed you were more than just a waitress. It was too pat, you and that clod Homer.

    Margo: Guess again, murderess! Our relationship was merely a coincidence.

    Alice: That I find difficult to believe...Your death will be the only significant factor!

    Margo: But why you? You murderer!

    Alice: Well, that woman shall be me! Margo Winchester indeed. You and your round, muscular ass! See what advantage it provides you in this fight to the death!

    Margo: And when did I reveal my true identity?

    Alice: True identity, huh? Only the whore that you are!

    Margo: Then if this is the case, why do you catch me now?

    Alice: You must think me a fool to not know of your raping! Yes, raping my beautiful Paul!

    Margo: What? For balling your old man? A weakling if I ever saw one, and a medium lay, at that.

    Alice: Oh, that's only half true. Paul possesses the innocence and stupidity of a child and for that he can be forgiven...It was only last night that he lay lost in blissful fulfillment that he sleepily uttered your name. Margo Winchester, indeed! Yes, your stupid shitty name! While he was still contained within the confines of my beautiful body...now should wear the mantle of a woman.

    Margo: But back to Paul...a victim of his sex, a victim no weaker nor stronger than any other man.

    Alice: Mark this, flatfoot! No one may toy with my old man's affections! I've always protectedhim from bad influences. Even that disgusting fag Adolph!

    Margo: Why attach so much importance to your old man being whupped by Schwartz?

    Alice: Only because he was my father!

    DA-DUM!!!

    Margo: Your father? Then your maiden name was Schwartz...

    Alice: Schwartz, my ass! My true name is Eva Braun, Junior. The bastard daughter of Adolph Hitler and his flaxen-haired mistress!

    Margo: But the charred bodies discovered outside the Fuhrer's bunker...

    Alice: Mom sacrificed herself for the fatherland. besides, she was getting along in years. And she knew that dad was into young chicks and incest as well...I'm just wasting time...where the hell's the knife?

    Margo: But the Holocaust that was Berlin! The Nazi hooligans scurrying like rats leaving a sinking ship!

    Alice: Oh, here it is...

    Margo: The twilight of the Third Reich!...The staggering Russian evidence!

    Alice: Piss on the Russians...nobody likes to bail!...I rubbed out my own father to save my marriage!

    Margo: To save your marriage?

    Alice: Yes, quite true. Besides, Paul and I could never get it on. His scene was young boys...Well, I tried being more borad-minded, heck, my old man couldn't perform at night with all those matinees! Not for love, mind you, but happily for bread! The same dirty rotten money my pop gets from the helpless filthy railroaders, the very money he gave to Paul for favoring his flabby body...not to ignore the sacred rule that financed the saloon rather than the apparent success of Alice's Cafe! Dad deserved to die like the chauvinist pig he was!

    Margo: It's all coming together now. This case slithers for more than meets the eye.

    Alice: The secret of Eva Braun Jr. will die with you, bimbo!

    Margo: I'll make you eat those words, shorty!

    Alice: Margo Winchester sucks! Eternity for you is just around the corner! Prepare to taste the black sperm of my vengeance!

    Margo: To kill in revenge merely compounds the obscenity of Adolph Hitler! It is I, Margo Winchester, who will bring you to your knees!

    Now that's writing...


    Monday, May 27, 2002

    Dylan tix went on sale today. As for yours truly...third row! Third row. Third row. I cannot believe it. Three months to go now...

    Managed to finish up four more cd reviews this past weekend, so that makes eight awaiting publishing. Should happen soon.


    Thursday, May 23, 2002

    The other night I was listening to Radiogram's impressive new album, and their cover of New Order's 'Love Vigilantes' came on. Right there & then it hit me...I have this song on cd somewhere. But I still have no clue where. And it's killing me. Gah!

    The season finale of The West Wing had Jeff Buckley's song 'Hallelujah' (actually a Leonard Cohen cover) figure in prominently. Very well done.

    The pile of cd's in front of me has grown ever the more daunting, with the additions of the promo copy of the new Doves album (getting better and better the more I hear it) and the explosive new Meat Purveyors cd called All Relationships Are Doomed To Fail. Wicked stuff, including a how'dthehecktheythinkofthat cover of Ratt's 1984 classic 'Round and Round'. Take a listen to 'Hey Little Sister', the song that the Dixie Chicks' 'Goodbye Earl' failed to pull off. These people are waaaay too talented to be considered merely a novelty act. A review is coming soon...

    I was playing Iron Maiden's Rock In Rio live album just now...there's a classic Bruce Dickinson moment, right as he introduces 'The Trooper': "Into the valley of death rode the six hundred...cannon to right of them, cannon to left of them, volley'd and thunder'd, The Trooperrrrr!!!" I just love the whole bombast of that...eat your heart out, Alfie.


    Monday, May 20, 2002

    Talk about a hectic weekend...tons of stuff to get done, including a huge pile of cd's sitting in front of me that I have to wade through. Managed to write four reviews in three nights, about 5,000 words in nine hours. Was purt-near ready to die, right then & there. Anyway, hopefully the reviews will be appearing soon.

    A quick advance glance at my cd pile:
        Ozzy Osbourne: Blizzard of Ozz, Diary of a Madman, Tribute: Two real stinkers, one decent one. Watch for more details.
        The Promise Ring - Wood/Water: A very pleasant surprise.
        And You Will Know Us From The Trail Of The Dead - Source Tags & Codes: Phenomenal. Huge. No review being written for this one, but I'll post some thoughts on it in the coming days...
        Sparta - Austere: Very promising EP. Again, more on this later.
        The Charlatans - Songs From the Other Side: Adequate b-sides collection. Not spectacular, but some good moments.
        The Walkmen - Let's Live Together: A UK preview EP of their new album. A grower. I could really like this.
        Iron Maiden - Rock In Rio: My heroes return. A bit sloppy, but I love it still.
        Judas Priest - Priest...Live!: Super-cheesy, but it was fabulous to hear this again.

    I still haven't listened to cd's by the BellRays, Radiogram, three other Priest remasters, and the System of a Down/Slipknot/Mudvayne live disc. Whew!

    So how was Attack of the Clones on Thursday? Good, but yeah, it was pretty cheesily written. C-3PO says two bad jokes that are so awful George Lucas should be strung up and made to apologize to all. He really seems to be losing his touch as a writer, and he might have lost the plot completely as a director. Heck, he didn't direct Empire, something most people forget.

    But there were plenty of cool moments: Jango Fett (played by the Maori guy from Once Were Warriors), little Boba Fett, Jango vs. Obi-Wan, Christopher Lee as Dooku, the weird diner, the planet of rain, that cool Blade-Runner chase at the beginning, and best of all, Yoda. You don't mess with Yoda!

    Caught the new vid for 'Hate to Say I Told You So' by The Hives. Anyone else notice their bass player is a dead ringer for John C. Reilly? On the subject of that great band, the name Howlin' Pelle Almqvist is the best rock & roll name since Roddy Woomble...


    Tuesday, May 14, 2002

    My beloved Habs rolled over and died in pathetic fashion tonight. Sad, but it was a pretty good run...and Jose Theodore's encore in the final minutes was wonderful to witness. But what if they managed to hang on to that three-goal third period lead in Game Four? Aaaaaaagh!

    So I've heard the entire new Doves album. Is it the Album of the Year contender I expected it to be? Erm, almost. Maybe it has to grow on me a bit more, but there are two songs that sound too extraneous, making the album stop just short of great. Also, no other tune on the album manages to reach the euphoric heights the way 'There Goes the Fear' does. That's my first impression, anyway. I might feel different in a week or so.

    James Berardinelli, who, along with Roger Ebert and David Poland, is one of three film critics whose opinion I respect the most, came to the rescue with a positive Star Wars review. How about that buffoon Richard Roeper this past weekend? He had a very good, well thought-out argument with Ebert over AOTC, but proceeded to destroy all his credibility by naming it the best of all the Star Wars flicks. Better than Empire? Come on, man!

    Watched two great new dvd's over the weekend. Richard Linklater's Waking Life gets better the more you see it, and the dvd picture quality blows the theatre version I saw a couple months back. There's a neat feature that allows you to read little notes about what everyone's talking about while the movie's playing, which made my second viewing all the more enjoyable. Gonna have to buy this one straightaway.

    Rintaro's Metropolis is just as great...in fact, it's one of the best anime movies I've ever seen. It's like AI, but without the pretentiousness...deep, thought-provoking themes that echo the original Metropolis movie by Fritz Lang, as well as Dark City in a way. The animation is stunning, just a marvel to behold, and the film utilizes lots of Dixieland and Jazz for its musical soundtrack, which was a very refreshing change.

    So why didn't I get Slayer's God Hates Us All last fall? On their best album since Reign In Blood, they step up and show the likes of Slipknot just how it's done. It's brutal, brutal stuff, and it's not for everyone, and my philosophy on life may differ a bit from that of Kerry King's (wait a minute... do I have a philosophy on life?), but I still listen to this violently compelling album in a state of complete awe.


    Friday, May 10, 2002

    Good grief. Roger Ebert hates Attack of the Clones. He backs up his complaints well (funny sample dialogue: "I don't like the sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating--not like you. You're soft and smooth."), but why wasn't he complaining more about the ridiculous moments in The Phantom Menace, like the rampant overuse of the word "yippee"? His review comes across as grumpy and nitpicking, though his description of the digital images transferred to film is interesting.


    Wednesday, May 8, 2002

    Got an e-mail Tuesday afternoon from bobdylan.com about new tour dates. So I took a look, and lo and behold, there it was:

    August 26 - Saskatoon!!!

    It's been a long four years of waiting, but Bob's returning to the Prairies. The next three and a half months are going to seem like an eternity...


    Saturday, May 4, 2002

    Got my tix for Attack of the Clones today. Thursday, May 16, at noon. Woo-hoo!

    Hey, folks, it's Free Comic Book Day. Head on out!


    Friday, May 3, 2002

    Some miscellaneous music picks:

    'Freak Like Me' - Sugababes: 99.9% of pop singles atop the charts are pure garbage, but every once in a while, you get one that's jaw-dropping. This is one of them, one of the best songs of the year. Interestingly enough, it was originally a bootleg mix (featuring Gary Numan's 'Are Friends Electric') with Sugababes rerecording the vocals, and according to a well-written piece by Boom Selection, it's the first bootleg mix to hit #1 in the UK. Deservedly so, too. If it ever crosses the Atlantic, it'll be huge this summer.

    'Without Me (BRK Mix)' - Eminem: I haven't heard the original version, and I don't care to, neither. This obviously mediocre new single by the much-overrated Eminem is snazzied up with layers of horns and funky beats from Michael Jackson's 'Burn This Disco Out' and Angie Stone's 'Wish I Didn't Miss You', and it literally cooks. Proof, once again, that Eminem's best stuff is done by bootleg remixers.

    'Green Grass of Tunnel' - Mum: It's both beautiful and creepy, with pretty vocals that don't make any sense. It's gotta be from Iceland. This one has really grown on me this past week, and it reminds me of a wackier version of 'heaven', by Lamb. Some may find it annoying; I find it entrancing.

    'Disco 2000' - Nick Cave: Nick's slowed-down version of the Pulp classic goes headlong into the misery of the tune. Where Jarvis Cocker's version sounded a bit cheeky, here, Cave wallows, wallows, wallows in self-pity.

    'Hotel Yorba' - The Diff'rent Stripes: Yeah, it's a cheesy gimmicky muzak rendition of the White Stripes tune (see their version of The Strokes' 'Hard To Explain'), but it's such a snappy little tune, I find it impossible to hate.

    'Highly Evolved' - The Vines: I've been listening to this song for the past month, a great example of the 'New Garage' sound that's currently breaking, ninety seconds of searing rock & roll, lifted straight from The Stooges or Nirvana.


    Wednesday, May 1, 2002

    Now that was quick...my Weezer concert review has been posted. Take a look.

    For pure, gut-busting hilarity, go no further than Beatallica! This just killed me last night...Beatles covers done in the style of Eighties Metallica (with a dead-on Hetfield impersonation), with hilariously tweaked titles & lyrics, like '...And Justice For All My Loving'. My favourite lyric quote? "Cuz when I see you it’s nice/To play you 'Trapped Under Ice'" (from 'A Garage Days Night')

    However, things go a bit too far in the fictional, satirical liner notes: "They are shortly to tour England and mainland Europe (even Sweden where the roads are very, very icy) in a bus equipped with self-releasing emergency exits built into the windows where Cliff will sleep." Stick to the music, guys. That stuff's funny.

    Sticking to the metal topic, my review of the rerelease of Megadeth's Killing Is My Business... is up today. For sheer improvement of sound quality, this has to be the rerelease of the year, 'bleeps' aside.


    Tuesday, April 30, 2002

    L e s    C a n a d i e n s    s o n t    l a ! ! !

    Unbelievable. Wow, what a game...

    My review of Amy Jane's halfway decent debut album is up.

    Today I stumbled across a used dvd copy of Tom Tykwer's The Princess & the Warrior, after weeks of futilely looking for a copy. Great movie, one that will have more staying power than Run Lola Run (which is stupendous in its own right). I can't wait to see Tykwer's new movie Heaven, which was the last screenplay Krzysztof Kieslowski wrote before he passed away.

    Speaking of Kieslowski, the past three nights I revisited his Trois Couleurs trilogy. I've long professed a passion for the guy's films, but I was surprised to notice it was going on five years since I watched all three movies. Now I'm glad I did...there is no more rewarding movie experience than watching a Kieslowski film...the metaphysical and philosophical questions, the stories that gently unfold, the subtlety and droll humour, the pure beauty in the way each film is photographed, and best of all, the awe-inspiring feeling you get after watching one of his fims, be it all ten episodes of The Decalogue, The Double Life of Veronique, Blue, White, or his masterful Red. I only hope Heaven works just as well...

    While writing this, I've been listening to Zbigniev Preisner's soundtrack for Red, and I noticed, much to my surprise, that track #13 is actually the opening theme music that was used in nine of the ten decalogue episodes. The song on the cd is credited to Van Den Budenmayer, which is an in-joke in Kieslowski movies. He's just a fictitious composer who pops up in many of his films.


    Friday, April 26, 2002

    Edmonton Weezer pics...
    1 2 3 4 5(this one is a good example of my terrific view of the show...hmmm...is that my head in the foreground?)

    Darnitanyway! The dvd for Waking Life comes out on May 7, and I had no idea. There's a good review of the dvd here.


    Thursday, April 25, 2002

    Don't you hate it when you're in a city and you buy the mother of all lawn rakes, only to wind up leaving its supercool handle behind, and making this realisation the second you hit the freeway?

    So, back home. Some Weezer highlights:

    - Our spot on the floor was great (many thanks to Erin for the prompt tix buying!). About fifteen feet removed from the horde, we stood back and leaned on the railing in front of the sound booth, and just dug the tunes. Never was one for much exuberance at concerts, and besides, I'm too old and sensible to crowd surf. Saw everything well and heard everything well...the silly AgriCom is like a concrete, rectangular warehouse with a hockey rink stuck in it, and if you turned your head ninety degrees, you heard and awful reverb echoing from the back wall. Still, though, from where we were (the best place for sound in the arena), it sounded very good.

    - Pete Yorn was great, very solid, with an ace band. The performance was hindered by the typical opening act sound mix, but they still managed to impress. Best of the set was an amazing cover of The Smiths' 'Panic' which segued right into 'Strange Condition', the song I'd been looking most forward to hearing.

    - Rivers Cuomo came onstage and very sarcastically said, "Edmonton, city of champions." That city will never live that down.

    - Loved the crowd singing along to 'Surf Wax America'. The whole Blue Album content got the best reaction, with 'Only In Dreams' seeming otherworldly, all backlit and smoky.

    - Rollicking cover of 'Happy Together'. Fitted perfectly, and showed Weezer are more than just a mopey band.

    - 'Burndt Jamb', a neat little tune from Maladroit, was met with polite indifference.

    - Great show all around...the crowd was surprisingly polite and good-mannered. Fun was had, with no idiots.

    Two reviews of the show: a decent one, and a pretentious, durn-awful one that reads like it was written a week before the show with small snippets tossed in for authenticity. Just pompous and horrible.

    Conversely, here's a Calgary Sun review of Weezer in Cowtown...now that's how you write a concert review (Mike Bell's a good music writer). I'll be doing a big write up this week, so stay tuned...


    Wednesday, April 24, 2002

    Great show by Weezer & Pete Yorn last night...here's the setlist, which seems pretty right:

    Dope Nose
    Photograph
    My Name is Jonas
    The Good Life
    Superstar (new song)
    Island in the Sun
    Surf Wax America
    Tired of Sex
    Burndt Jamb
    Knock Down Drag Out
    Undone
    Why Bother
    Don't Let Go
    Say it Ain't So
    Hash Pipe
    Only in Dreams
    encore:
    Happy Together
    Buddy Holly

    More to come, when I arrive back at home later today...


    Tuesday, April 23, 2002

    Dispatch From Edmonton...

    Headed to see Weezer tonight...looking forward to it. Hope they go heavy on the Maladroit stuff. Pete Yorn as the opener should be great. Been digging his latest album the past few days.

    My Louise Goffin review appeared this past weekend. Good little album, one you have to let grow on you.

    YES!!! On Saturday I finally, finally found the dvd of Robert Altman's Nashville. The pan & scan version available for the past twenty-odd years was so lame, with half the picture cut off, so at last, I can see the movie the way you're supposed to.

    NME just put out a ripping great review of the new Doves album. I'm really hoping this'll be a contender for my Album of the Year. Gotta wait two or three weeks...however, NME is doing a special preview of it starting tomorrow. I'll post the link tomorrow.


    Thursday, April 18, 2002

    Two-for-one special today! First up, my review of the astoundingly mediocre Craving Theo album, and best of all, an extensive write-up of the new Badly Drawn Boy cd.

    I'm off to visit Erin & Steve in Edmonton for a bit of weekend Weezering...


    Saturday, April 13, 2002

    My review of the excellent Tribute to Robert Altman's Nashville cd is is now available for your perusal...


    Wednesday, April 10, 2002

    This bootleg remix thing is getting so out of control, and I'm loving it. The genius mix du jour this time is DJ Spec's 'Red Mix Part 4', which is a seamless combination of Iggy Pop's 'Lust For Life', the Beastie Boys' 'Sure Shot', The Strokes 'Last Nite', and The Smiths 'This Charming Man'. Wow! Play this one very loud.

    I was so darn proud of my Habs last night. Been a tough season again, but what tenacity they've shown...their hard work got them into the playoffs, while the league's most expensive player will be twiddling his thumbs after this weekend. Love it!

    Got the brand-new Badly Drawn Boy cd yesterday, his soundtrack for the movie About A Boy. Like I said a few weeks ago, it's outstanding. It really holds up on its own...you don't have to know the book or the movie to love the album. Doesn't hurt though, since all the lyrics are inspired by Hornby's book (plus, I love the Dead Duck artwork, which hints at the story). It's more focused than the excellent Bewilderbeast album, and is a fitting follow-up, proof that Damon Gough is no flash in the pan. It's one of the year's best albums so far...I'll be reviewing it soon, so keep your eyes peeled to this page.

    Interesting how Weezer's having a big feud with Interscope Records over their distribution of album demos to radio stations last month. Typical that a company with capitalist-in-rebel's-clothing Fred Durst as one of its head guys would feel this way. So is Weezer barely putting in an effort, rushing two albums to get out of their contract? Who's to say...they might not care about the new stuff, but I like it, for what it's worth.


    Monday, April 8, 2002

    So I have the new Weezer album, Maladroit, in its entirety. Very, very good. Much better than the Green album...not just guitar pop, a bit more depth, and considerably heavier. There's great pop stuff, like 'Dope Nose', 'Slave', 'Fall Together', and the pogo-happy 'Possibilities'; a phenomenal ballad in 'December'; and a kooky little tune called 'Burndt Jam' that really stands out. Best of all, though, is the heavy stuff, where they combine great metal riffs with contrasting, sensitive guy lyrics, best exemplified in the roaring 'Take Control' and the powerful 'Slob'. Thirty-three minutes long, it's another gem from Cuomo & his cohorts. Album #5 is being recorded as I write this...it's great to be able to count on those guys to consistently put out quality stuff on a regular basis. There's no such thing as a bad Weezer album. Maladroit, though, could be their first great one.

    This t-shirt floored me the other night...it's a dead-on perfect parody of a Slayer shirt from the mid-80s (it said 'Slaytanic Wehrmacht'). I kinda doubt that many little kiddies born after 1980 will know that. Good in-joke for ex-metalheads.

    While on the subject of Weezer, kudos to the Prince Albert rock radio station for playing 'Dope Nose' so early (last week), something the idiots who run Saskatoon's rock station have yet to do. Dunderheads.


    Saturday, April 6, 2002

    My review of the so-so Natalie Imbruglia cd appeared on Friday...

    That 'Dope Nose' song by Weezer...catchy catchy catchy.


    Wednesday, April 3, 2002

    I moved my March blatherings into the archive. Link's on the right...

    My review of the outstanding new Departure Longe cd is up. Just a great album...I had three days to get to know the cd before reviewing it, and it just got better the more I played it.

    Wow, do I ever have issues with Rolling Stone's list of the 50 Coolest Albums of All Time...it has no validity whatsoever. How, how, how the heck do you justify choosing Massive Attack's Protection over the far, far superior No Protection remix album? Blithering idiots. And what of their obsession with mediocre headbanger Andrew WK? According to them, he's a New Artist to Watch For, a Cool musician, and someone worthy of a four star review. Sounds like his label did a bit of, er, spending, on Andrew's behalf. It's a magazine version of payola...

    So I finished Franzen's The Corrections last week. Loved it. Is it the perfect novel the hype machine claims it is? I dunno about perfect, but it's thoroughly engaging, and compulsively readable, with five of the most memorable characters I've ever come across in a book. That mother...hoo, boy.

    I'm reviewing a great little cd, A Tribute to Robert Altman's Nashville, so I watched the movie, for the umpteenth time. I can watch that thing a thousand times, and it'll still seem fresh. And what this little cd does is show how great so much of the film's music was. Carolyn Mark, Kelly Hogan, and the incomporable Neko Case are but a few of the contributors...it's very loyal to the film, even quoting dialogue from the movie.


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