rakemag No matter how desperately loyal you might be to Minneapolis music, there’s no use begrudging the Goo Goo Dolls for taking the Replacements’ sound farther than the Replacements themselves ever could. As an enlightening exercise, erase the sales figures from your memory, spin the Goos’ new Gutterflower and Paul Westerberg’s new Stereo/Mono back-to-back, and ask … Read more
Amid the unexpected late-90s rush of Lilith fairies and Nick Drake-loving neo-folkies, English singer-songwriter Beth Orton was a standout—if not for her disarmingly fragile voice, then for her ability to flirt with club-music backdrops and borrowed beats without betraying the intimate acoustica that informs her best songs. Even in the company of esteemed electronic icons … Read more
Mourn all you want for the dearly departed Cedarfest, but really, it doesn’t take much to find an outdoor rock stage and a pack of domesticated drunkards pretty much any night of the summer. Meanwhile, it’s an encouraging sign that the Hot Summer Jazz Fest, now in its fourth year, has grown in rep and … Read more
If, like most people over 15, you’re put off by her status as an MTV flavor of the month, you’re really missing something. M!ssundaztood is a teen pop record worthy of the spirit of Phil Spector (we said spirit, though the songcraft and production are very good in their own right). Pink’s a tough, but … Read more
Arthur Miller is arguably the most important thing ever to have happened to American theater. It’s a question for the historians to figure out why it took us until the 20th century to find a voice fit for the stage, while the novelists were already worshipping the yellowing memory of great granddad Mark Twain. At … Read more
When Manet’s Mother Superior dryly asks, “God, when will this nightmare end?” we wonder right along with him. The Nuns has all the essential elements of a nightmare—from absurdly morbid sequences with a circus flavor, to the audience’s voyeuristic pleasure. This dark comedy, set during the Haitian slave revolt of 1804, cloisters the three sisters … Read more
What’s the attraction of panda bears to the children of the world? Like koalas, they’re real-life teddies that combine the fascination of wild animals with the cuddliness of the stuffed variety. Pandas are especially exotic in the western world, and herein lies a story of considerable intrigue. Even by the late 30s, China’s unique giant … Read more
This is your last chance, actually, to catch a highly popular series at the Jungle pairing the theater’s talented players and artists with great children’s stories. Well, your last chance for now. Linden Hills’ cornerstone Wild Rumpus has established itself as the Ruminator of children’s books, so it’s appropriate that they’re co-sponsoring and curating this … Read more
From TV ads with roving cursor arrows to horror films about chat-room predators, our so-called entertainment elite is deeply fixated on the culture and symbolism of the Internet. One hundred years ago, it was the burgeoning vogue of vaudeville theater and moving pictures that blew the American zeitgeist wide open, and painters of the day … Read more
Summer augurs the arrival of the high season for movies of all varieties. Looking for art-house titles? Why not go to the biggest, baddest art house around? The Walker’s healthy film and video commitments come into full flower in June, and this year is no different. As if to both elucidate and erase the line … Read more