Music | Wednesday, February 14,2007

Eleni Mandell’s timeless Miracle

She has two killer voices: the singing kind and the writing kind

Untitled Document Eleni Mandell might not be the best singer in the world, at least by American Idol criteria, but she’s got a voice to die for. More precisely, she ha

Music | Wednesday, February 7,2007

A matter of timing

Poor Noah Georgeson may have waited too long

By René Spencer Saller

Untitled Document W hen it comes to zeitgeist, timing is all, and the so-called freak-folk scene, with which Noah Georgeson is perhaps unfairly associated, is due for a backlash.

Music | Wednesday, January 31,2007

Expect the unusual

Hard-to-categorize Menomena catches fans off guard with latest release

By Marissa Monson

Untitled Document Menomena isn’t easily pigeonholed. The Portland, Ore.-based experimental trio doesn’t fit easily into any particular genre; it’s much too comp

Music | Wednesday, January 24,2007

When anywhere is local

This is no Miami sound machine — these Floridians have killed regionalism

By René Spencer Saller

Untitled Document They may hail from balmy Miami, but the Postmarks certainly have a yen for the changing seasons. Their debut full-length boasts such climatologically perverse s

Music | Wednesday, January 17,2007

Limited by the source material

A merciful god would have quit with frogs and locusts

By René Spencer Saller

Untitled Document The Book of Exodus isn’t one of God’s finer moments. From the moment he first appears to Moses in the form of a burning bush, it’s obvious tha

Music | Wednesday, January 10,2007

Don’t fear the reaper

They don’t only embrace death, they revel in it

By René Spencer Saller

Untitled Document When it comes to death, most sane people would prefer to put it off for as long as possible. As Dylan Thomas famously advised, “Do not go gentle into that

Music | Thursday, January 4,2007

Bright lights and dim bulbs

Twenty-one artist tribute to Daniel Johnston a mixed bag

By René Spencer Saller

Untitled Document Maybe you’re thinking that the world doesn’t need another Daniel Johnston tribute album, and maybe you’re right. Regardless of where you stand

Music | Thursday, December 28,2006

Well worth the wait

Scabrous boogies, sad-sack serenades, and weird-even-by-his-standards curios

By René Spencer Saller

Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards, Tom Waits’ three-disc, 54-track tour de force, is more than a cleverly titled collection of outtakes, rarities, and oddball covers. It’s more than

Music | Wednesday, December 20,2006

With friends like these...

Swan Lake takes music to new heights of idiocy

By René Spencer Saller

In the booklet accompanying Swan Lake’s debut is the following epigraph: “Beast Moans is a testament to friendship, eternal and otherwise.” The sentiment is sweet but more than a lit

Music | Thursday, December 14,2006

Stories of sadness and strength

Joanna Newsom’s sophomore effort shows off her narrative powers

By Marissa Monson

The cover art for Joanna Newsom’s sophomore album, Ys (pronounced ees) depicts the folk chanteuse as a Renaissance peasant with a sickle in one hand and a portrait of a butterfly in the other. T