Apocalypse Now: The Complete Dossier Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola(Paramount)“Terminate…with extreme prejudice.” Right from the beginning, the ominous opening credits backed by The Doors’ “The End,” Apocalypse Now is one of the most powerful films from Francis Ford Coppola’s 1970s maverick period. It features seminal performances from Marlon Brando and Martin Sheen as well as […]
Trevor MacLaren
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hey rosetta!
hey rosetta!Plan Your Escape EP(Sonic/Warner)This Newfoundland lush-rock outfit nabbed an ECMA nomination for the LP version, which caught the attention of Sonic Records (Matt Mays, Nathan Wiley), which signed the band up for a remix and release in this shorter form. If you missed the independently produced original, this record is a worthy choice. They’ve […]
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Various
VariousJazz Lounge 2(Water Music)Jazz Lounge 2 picks up where the first set left off and is a great fusion of jazz and electronica. Two discs of unreleased and hard to find tracks, the set is a great introduction into a subgenre of jazz and/or elctronica. The manufacturers claim that this will appeal to jazz purists […]
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Various
Published August 14, 2003. Various Yes New York (Wolfgang Morden) Yes New York sets out to prove that there is more to the current New York scene than The Strokes; strangely enough the disc opens with a live version of “New York City Cops”. After being enticed by this previously unreleased Strokes track, the compilation […]
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The Be Good Tanyas
The Be Good TanyasHello Love(Nettwerk)One of the greatest Americana revivalists to come from Canada, the Be Good Tanyas offer the anticipated Hello Love. The sound is much the same as the last two yet the ladies have taken a fresh approach. Widening the trio’s sound with help from the Old Crow Medicine Show put forth […]
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Emiliana Torrini
Emiliana TorriniFisherman’s Woman(rough trade)Filled with a lush and dreamy voice that was made for trip-hop, just as Beth Gibbons was. Fisherman’s Woman is a stripped-down affair from her trippy debut Love in the Time of Science. Taking cues from British folk hero Nick Drake, the disc is soft and beautifully laid out with awe-inspiring arrangements […]
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No Doubt
No Doubt The Singles 1993-2003 (Interscope)When you throw aside the filler that often bogs down their discs, No Doubt is one of the best pop bands around. From the breakthrough single “Just a Girl” to their previously un-issued cover of Talk Talk’s “It’s My Life,” The Singles is a fine collection. The disc shows their […]
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Prince
Prince3121(NPG)Prince is back, not only in name but sheer musical force. Musicology wasn’t the comeback everyone hoped for—3121 is. Musicology seemed to be made specifically as a commercial comeback; 3121 lacks the feel of classic Prince for the sake of classic Prince. The record has a great cohesive structure that works Prince’s various musical moods […]
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Various
VariousBrats on the Beat(Go-Kart)Just when you thought the memory of the Ramones has been sold and spit upon enough, some other marketing genius finds a new way to disgrace it. This collection of pseudo and real punk vocalists with kids screaming along behind them to the choruses of Ramones songs is a travesty. The arrangements […]
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Warren Zevon
Warren ZevonReconsider Me: The Love Songs(Artemis)The thing that made Warren Zevon a cult icon was not the fact that he was a great songwriter — although he was — it was the bitter, caustic wit that bled through his best work. A collection of Zevon’s love songs, then, lacks the wry critiques on modern life […]
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Paul Westerberg
Published November 20, 2003. Paul Westerberg Come Feel Me Tremble (Vagrant) During the last days of The Replacements, Paul Westerberg mellowed and tightened their sound into something more radio-friendly and accessible, a sound that would be the foundation of his solo work. With 2002’s Mono/Stereo, the old, bitter, pissed-off Westerberg came back. On Come Feel […]
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Radio Birdman
Radio BirdmanZeno Beach(Yep Roc)Radio Birdman, masterminded by Ann Arbor’s Deniz Tek and fronted by Aussie surfer Rob Younger, set the scene for Australian punk. Fusing the signature garage punk of The Stooges and MC5, the band became legendary to followers such as Nick Cave. But releasing only two records between ’75 and ’78 made them […]