Sondre LercheTwo Way Monologue(Virgin)The Norwegian wunderkind has much to live up to on his second full-length—like Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst, he’s been saddled with saving his generation. Good luck. Kids are much more content crying along to Oberst’s wordy, folky heartbreakers than Lerche’s pop poems. Lerche—a Heavy Blinkers fan—is rooted in the kind of sound […]
Tara Thorne
Posted inArts + Music
Regina Spektor
Regina SpektorBegin to Hope(Sire)Fuck anti-folk—Spektor is a pop superstar with the best wit and piano chops this side of Ben Folds. As “Fidelity” works its way into ubiquity scoring film trailers and Grey’s Anatomy previews, Spektor’s surprise dark side is waiting for you on “That Time” and the multi-language “Apres Moi.” Endlessly listenable.Tara Thornecategories: Best […]
Posted inArts + Music
Bright Eyes
Bright EyesMotion Sickness(Saddle Creek/Team Love)Ryan Adams wasn’t the only shaggy-haired, hard-drinking prolific songwriter of 2005 — Conor Oberst squeaked his third record of the year in just under the wire. After the staggering two-punch of I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn — both released on January 26, 2005 — […]
Posted inArts + Music
Pilate
PilateSell Control for Life’s Speed (Maple)Pilate’s debut was a lovely, melodic slice of Britpop cut against the ’70s-infused scrap rock popular in 2003. On Sell Control for Life’s Speed the Toronto quartet takes a bite out of the Coldplay apple with big, bombastic, arena-ready songs. The best example is the nearly nine-minute “Don’t Stare,” which […]
Posted inArts + Music
Come Early Morning
Come Early MorningDirected by: Joey Lauren Adams(Alliance Atlantis)Come Early Morning is the kind of indie movie that makes people hate them—it’s slow-moving with no discernible plot, all character and no action. But that’s life, and most hard-drinkin’, hard-kissin’ small-town women wouldn’t have a problem being portrayed by Ashley Judd. Before Hilary Swank got her career, […]
Posted inArts + Music
Various
VariousGarden State OST(Sony)North America’s new boyfriend Zach Braff has created a lovely mix tape to go along with the film he wrote, directed and stars in, making his list of hyphenates grow to almost pretentious proportions. Featuring songs by Coldplay (“Don’t Panic,” also used to similar hopeful effect in Igby Goes Down), Zero 7, The […]
Posted inArts + Music
Imagine Me & You
Imagine Me & YouDirected by: Ol Parker(20th Century Fox)In our L Word age, this sweet romantic comedy—about a girl who falls for another girl just as she marries her longtime (male) sweetheart—is almost lamely tame. Maybe it’s the British accents, but Imagine Me & You is still a quietly compelling, heartwarming watch, exactly the kind […]
Posted inArts + Music
Wintersleep
WintersleepWelcome to the Night SkyLabworkPaul Murphy has always been about the big picture. There are songs of love (“Listen, Listen”), lust (“Avalanche”) and politics (“Orca”) in Wintersleep’s catalogue, but Murphy’s lyrics usually address larger life issues. A theme of the band’s 2003 debut was normalcy—“Calibre” and “Assembly Line” questioned what life was supposed to be […]
Posted inArts + Music
Mysterious Skin
Mysterious SkinDirected by: Directed by Gregg Araki(Tartan)This brutal, dread-infused, well-made movie from Gregg Araki (The Doom Generation) has been touted as his most mature film yet, which is debatable, but it’s certainly his most assured and deliberately photographed. It stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Brady Corbett as Neil and Brian, respectively, who were Little League teammates […]
Posted inArts + Music
The Weakerthans
Published September 25, 2003. The Weakerthans Recon-struction Site (Epitaph) The Weakerthans make some of the best music in this country. Reconstruction Site offers more of the same intricate arrangements (though less delicate, more pop-py here than on Left and Leav- ing), underlying political statements and mostly, especially, John K. Samson’s observant lyrics, which form 14 […]
Posted inArts + Music
Tori Amos
Published December 08, 2005. Tori Amos The Beekeeper (Epic) Amos’s first album of original material since 2002’s epic Scarlet’s Walk is a return to the ballad-based times of Under the Pink, with a gospel choir and Damien Rice thrown in for new colour. A political bent pokes its way through the (overlong) narrative, most bizarrely […]
Posted inArts + Music
Bright Eyes
Bright EyesDigital Ash in a Digital Urn (Saddle Creek)Digital Ash feels like the kind of record Oberst might have put out under a psudonym if he hadn’t decided to release two records at once. If I’m Wide Awake is the singer-songwriter opus that cements his status, Digital Urn showcases lyrically similar songs covered in excess: […]