Dec 17, 2009 Live

The quote of the evening goes to the girl next to me—who just before Mew took the stage emphatically announced "Mew aren't Danish! They're from Denmark!" Errr...pardon? Audience confusion aside, the three Danes men from Denmark known as Mew (along with two touring members on bass and keyboard) put on one heck of a show-even after a delayed entrance post curtain-rise caused the (much saner) girl next to me to mutter, "Concerts—you're doing it wrong!" More

Dec 17, 2009 Music Web Exclusive

Gnashing guitar punctuated with snappy hand claps and crisp drumming explode out of the speakers to begin "Cinnamon Girl," and it stands as one of the best, most immediate openings to an album ever. The song is ferocious, and sets the tone for Neil Young's first album with Crazy Horse, his on and off backing band for the last 40 years. More

Dec 16, 2009 Comic Books Web Exclusive

Successful art engenders powerful emotion in its observers. How do I know that Al Columbia's Pim & Francie is an amazing work of art? Because it seriously made me feel ill. Uncomfortable. More

Dec 16, 2009 Books Web Exclusive

By now The Simpsons is among the most predictable institutions in America. Not in the sense that the show is boring or unsurprising—though many will argue that it is—but predictable in that, after two decades, it's still on the air every with new episodes Sunday night at eight o'clock. Like baseball or The Ramones, The Simpsons has come to be synonymous with America. More

Dec 16, 2009 Music Web Exclusive

Neil Young's first solo album after the breakup of Buffalo Springfield is pretty stunning to listen to 40 years after its release, especially in such pristine remastered form. More

Dec 15, 2009 DVDs Web Exclusive

Director Todd Phillips was on the outs from some movie fans after the terrible back-to-back crappiness of Starsky & Hutch and School for Scoundrels (not to mention having his involvement virtually erased from Borat), but 2009 was as perfect a year as any for a comeback. The Hangover provided a much-needed hilarious escape from the many overbloated disappointments (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Terminator Salvation, X-Men Origins: Wolverine) of the sequel-laden summer and became one of the most successful R-rated comedies of all time.  More

Dec 15, 2009 Music Web Exclusive

Four years after their eponymous debut, British quartet Engineers are back with a sophomore effort that methodically shifts their sound from pleasant—albeit sleepy—dream pop, to actively engaging shoegaze. However, while Three Fact Fader's highpoints often recall a more accessible Lush or Slowdive, Engineers are careful to treat their predecessors as reference points rather than crib notes. More

Dec 13, 2009 Music Web Exclusive

The 30 songs on The Singles Collection effectively compile Creedence Clearwater Revival's first 15 singles in chronological order. All the most recognizable material is here, and, as such, this collection is nearly identical in content to the band's Chronicle Vol. 1 greatest hits album, excepting the addition of a few more tracks. More

Dec 11, 2009 Music Issue #28 Fall 2009 - Monsters of Folk

You know it was bound to happen. Bristol noisniks Fuck Buttons, aka Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power, have hooked up with a big name boardsman-in this case DJ, remixer, and producer Andrew Weatherall-and toned down their aural apocalypse. More