Music | Tuesday, July 3,2007

One big glorious grin

How Battles utterly beguiled the indiescenti

Untitled Document In his essay-cum-manifesto “The Fullness of Time,” the composer Carl Nielsen cautioned against the pursuit of novelty for its own sake: “. . .

Music | Wednesday, June 27,2007

A ganache of tweeness

Lavender Diamond, despite itself, is an amazing band

By René Spencer Saller

Untitled Document Once you get past the stupid name, the simplistic songwriting, and the almost uniformly abysmal lyrics, Lavender Diamond is a really great band — but isn&

Music | Wednesday, June 20,2007

Melancholy man

Paul McCartney proves it’s hard work, being happy

By René Spencer Saller

Untitled Document Starbucks references have become an indie cliché, a form of slackerist shorthand whereby privileged whites rag on the economic class that spawned them. T

Music | Wednesday, June 13,2007

Takes a weirdo to understand weird

Joni Mitchell gets a long-overdue tribute album

By René Spencer Saller

Untitled Document It seems unimaginable that Joni Mitchell, one of the most influential singer/songwriters of the latter part of the previous century, hasn’t received the t

Music | Wednesday, June 6,2007

Rock’s romantic

Ian Hunter’s back, at age 67, with another fine album

By René Spencer Saller

Untitled Document At 67, perennial cult hero Ian Hunter isn’t likely to snag the mainstream fame that has eluded him for 40 years. The former Mott the Hoople frontman has a

Music | Wednesday, May 30,2007

Surrender, monkeys

The French are different, Charlotte Gainsbourg even more so.

By René Spencer Saller

Untitled Document The French, to paraphrase F. Scott Fitzgerald, are different from you and me. They take their dogs to cafés and leave their kids at home with filles au p

Music | Wednesday, May 23,2007

Doing it, the old fashioned way

Wilco stops being squirrelly, and gets even better

By René Spencer Saller

Untitled Document The backlash has landed: Wilco, the little indie band that could, isn’t getting a free pass from the press anymore. Sky Blue Sky, the Chicago outfit’

Music | Wednesday, May 16,2007

Delayed rite, done right

Patti Smith finally gets around to covering her favs

By René Spencer Saller

Untitled Document Whether it’s to allay the anxiety of influence, honor important forebears, or simply work through a case of writer’s block, most musicians consider

Music | Wednesday, May 9,2007

Cover-up

Detroit Cobras make a career of playing other people’s music well

By René Spencer Saller

Untitled Document To call the Detroit Cobras a cover band is not inaccurate, but it misses the point. Although it’s true that the Cobras’ repertoire consists almost e

Music | Wednesday, May 2,2007

Weird sisters

CocoRosie runs the gamut from awful to awesome

By René Spencer Saller

Untitled Document Are Bianca and Sierra Casady the geniuses that their admirers (John Darnielle, David Byrne, countless blognerds) say they are, or are they simply the newest nak