Music

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[Wed, 10.Mar.10]
The Morning Benders: Big Echo

Their arrival on the big stage of modern underground pop music feels lived-in and warranted, an inevitable yet overdue pay off for this zealously determined and persistent band of underachievers.

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B. Dolan: Fallen House, Sunken City

The plucky Providence poet dodges the sophomore album slump with a poignant conscious hip-hop record, backed by huge beats from Alias.

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Serj Tankian: Elect the Dead Symphony: Featuring the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

Just when you thought Tankian was capable of putting together a dignified solo career, this happens.

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Josh Turner: Haywire

Turner has a way of making pedestrian lyrics feel meaningful, or at least of getting us to ignore the clichés because he sounds really good singing them over this music.

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Myra Melford and Be Bread: The Whole Tree Gone

The melodically free pianist presents her best-ever recording, crafting an accessible jazz adventure.

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Will Hoge: The Wreckage

After being nearly killed on his scooter, Will Hoge returns with The Wreckage, a song cycle about the mess that lovers tend to get themselves into.

Short Takes
[Wed, 10.Mar.10]
:. Midaircondo: Curtain Call
:. The Abstract Truth: Totum Silver Trees
:. Sonos: SONOSings

Events

[Wed, 10.Mar.10]
Next Fall: 11 March 2010 - New York
While the play is well worth watching for its lighter side, audience members may leave the theater with their hearts unsatisfyingly intact.

[Mon, 8.Mar.10]
St. Vincent: 11 February 2010: Phoenix, AZ
St. Vincent (AKA Annie Clark) is a magnificent performer with a talented, intelligent group of musicians by her side. I defy anyone with blood still flowing through their veins to remain still and unmoved during her performances.

Mixed Media

POPWIRE
News, Reviews and Commentary from the World of Popular Culture

[Tue, 9.Mar.10]
:. INTERVIEW:Angelique Kidjo brings African experiences to her craft
:. The never-ending game: World of Warcraft’s impact on Borderlands
:. OK, they won , so what’s next?
:. Oscar gets biggest audience since 2005
:. ‘The Hurt Locker,’ Oscars’ dream film
:. Ability to convey thought process can make or break a performance
:. INTERVIEW:Actress prefers to be on, rather than looking at, a Broadway stage

[Mon, 8.Mar.10]
:. Late-night host opens up about going on the road, Conan off the air and pants on the ground
:. ‘We Live in Public’ is a revealing, cautionary tale
:. ‘Alice’ takes in $210.3 million worldwide, tops ‘Avatar’ premiere
:. ‘She’s Out of My League’ hotties share secrets, but they’re still out of our league
:. Still blogging? It’s old news
:. Kathryn Bigelow and ‘The Hurt Locker’ make Oscar history

 
TOUR DATES
FEATURES
[10.Mar.10] :. Having just released a new double-disc album, BT sits down to talk about writing songs in code, Avatar, his 400-pount chrome pony, and -- yes -- those many "tight jean moments" he's prone to.

By the Book: Strange Days Indeed: The 1970s - The Golden Age of Paranoia
By Francis Wheen
[10.Mar.10] :. They say the darkest hour is just before the dawn, and caliginous thoughts often swirled through President Nixon's murky, insomniac mind.

COLUMNS
By Shaun Huston
[10.Mar.10] :. In comics not everyone can write nor draw (nor ink, color nor letter). So, there will always be 'great' works that cannot be attributed to a single talented contributor.

Lowbrow Literati: Diorama-Rama: Can Playtime Produce Art?
By Monte Williams
[10.Mar.10] :. Are toy photography "dios" a new art form, a different breed of fan fiction, or nothing loftier than playtime for the stunted?

IN THE BLOGS:
Notes from the Road: Muse: 8.March.2010 - Toronto
Marginal Utility: Subsidized homeownership
Short Ends and Leader: Go Ask ‘Alice’: The Meaning of $116 Million
Graphic Novelties: Missed Directions: Brand New Day
Sound Affects: Hey, Hey, etc… Why I Love the Monkees

Books

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[Wed, 10.Mar.10]
:.
The Devil Gets His Due: The Uncollected Essays of Leslie Fiedler. Ed. Samuele F.S. Pardini

Whatever the subject at hand, nearly every page of this collection evinces Fiedler’s intelligence, erudition, panache, and combativeness.

:.
The Essential Engineer by Henry Petroski

New technologies come with problems that become evident with use. It falls most often to the engineer to solve these problems.

Multimedia / Comics

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Multimedia

[Wed, 10.Mar.10]
:.
Shadow Of Destiny

You will die, die, and die again.

Comics

[Tue, 9.Mar.10]
:.
Sweet Tooth #1-5

In his latest opus, Jeff Lemire cries out for help. If only he were crying wolf.

Film / TV

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Television

[Tue, 9.Mar.10]
:.
Southland: Season Two Premiere

Ben's experience is partly immediate and partly refracted by fellow patrol officers and a few detectives whose storylines sometimes intersect and whose reactions range from exhaustion to rage to cynicism.

Film

[Mon, 8.Mar.10]
:.
American Jihadist: The Life and Times of Isa Abdullah Ali

As he tells his story in American Jihadist: The Life and Times of Isa Abdullah Ali, Isa sounds matter of fact and self-knowing.

DVDS

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[Wed, 10.Mar.10]
:.
Howards End

Long and unjustly forgotten, Howards End comes roaring back to life with this beautiful restoration.

:.
The End of the Line

This makes the dire consequences of current fishing practices very clear: if current fishing levels continue unchecked, by mid-century many species of fish millions of people eat every day will be gone.

MOVING CITATIONS

Moving Citations:
Thoughts on Pop That Matter

[9.Mar.10]

Reggae’s Civil War (The Village Voice)

[7.Mar.10]

Joanna Newsom, the Changeling (The New York Times Magazine)
China’s Cyberposse (The New York Times Magazine)

[5.Mar.10]

War Games (slideshow) (Foreign Policy)

[4.Mar.10]

Google Everywhere (The American Prospect)
Our Digitally Undying Memories (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

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