After three solid albums diffidently supported by three labels, English pop-folkster David Gray got the break he deserved when frat-friendly superstar Dave Matthews chose White Ladder as the first release on Matthews’ own label. True to its title, Ladder kept climbing, reaching multiple platinum on the strengths of its effervescent electronic beats and Gray’s sophisticated, … Read more
Neil Finn has been making the musical progression from reckless youth (he joined his brother’s band, Split Enz, at age 18) to pop craftsman (Crowded House) to, on his last couple of solo discs, melancholy crooner. Finn’s rich, textured vocals and whimsical and songwriting make him one of the most underrated performers of the last … Read more
There’s just no way around it, so we’ll take it head-on: Jane Monheit is similar to Diana Krall—but, we hasten to add, in all the right ways. She’s a brilliant retro-jazz interpreter, an incredible vocal stylist, and a very young woman with a very bright future. At the tender age of 26, she’s worked wonders … Read more
When Johnny Marr unplugged his guitar and walked out of the Smiths in 1987, his time as the king of jangly guitar was effectively over, as much by his own choice as anything else. Beyond a lackluster teaming with New Order’s Bernard Sumner in Electronic, Marr was inconspicuous through the 1990s, interspersing sideman stints with … Read more
It’s unfortunate that sonic groundbreakers like the Cocteau Twins sometimes sound so unremarkable in retrospect—in part because they spawned dozens of soundalikes, some of whom went on to greater glory and radioplay, such as Fascination Street-era Cure. We have fond memories of the Twins’ earliest records from the 80s, like Garlands. These were brooding, proto-gothic … Read more
These days, girls kick ass all the time. Buffy, Michelle Yeoh, the Power Puffs—it’s not even remarkable anymore. Which makes it hard to believe that’s it’s been a mere 12 years since Thelma & Louise, Ridley Scott’s feminist buddy movie. But in those ancient days of 1991, the damsel in distress wasn’t expected to stand … Read more
We’re not sure why PBS has let Mystery! go to hell, and if their idea of customer service is another Hetty Wainthrop sequel, we’d rather have another hole in our head. Time was, they ran the good stuff, like Morse—a virtual institution on the other side of the Atlantic. Granted, the series has been uneven … Read more
The marketing behind DVDs has been clever. Videotapes are disposable, and after about 25 viewings, utterly worthless. DVDs have acquired the “preciousness” of keepsakes—heirlooms to pass down from generation to generation. (“That was your grandfather’s Godfather trilogy—and now it’s yours!”) Combine that with our post-9/11 anxiety and need for the comforts of our youth, most … Read more
Here comes the second of a projected trilogy about a sweeping, epic battle for the future of a civilization; instead of orcs, this one has Kentuckians. Gods and Generals takes us back two years from the action of the first film, Gettysburg, to chronicle the most destructive war ever fought on American soil from its … Read more
Gus Van Sant’s Drugstore Cowboy helped jumpstart the late-80s wave of new indie film voices, and Van Sant’s work remains compelling thanks to his willingness to experiment rather than stay safe. That also breeds maddening inconsistency, and so his career is peppered with misfires and outright failures which are still some of his most interesting … Read more