Dec 10, 2009 Music Issue #28 Fall 2009 - Monsters of Folk

For those who are hoping The BQE represents the long-awaited next installment in Sufjan Stevens' slow trek across the U. S. of A, look elsewhere. For those who are hoping to get some of Stevens' trademark Americana lyrics and witty storytelling, you, too, are barking up the wrong tree. More

Dec 09, 2009 Music Web Exclusive

It's interesting how the music that was "alternative" during the '90s has become the classic rock of today. This phenomenon is most apparent with Pearl Jam, their songs now seeming almost as much a staple of classic rock radio as, say, Led Zeppelin. However, in terms of sound and sentiment, one of the bands whose true ethos seems closest to that of classic rock fare is Foo Fighters. More

Dec 08, 2009 Comic Books Web Exclusive

The Fir-Tree is Lilli Carré's sometimes enchanting graphic interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic Christmas tale. (Read the original here.) The meteroic graphic novel artist/author also penned Nine Ways to Disappear, The Lagoon, and Tales of Woodsman Pete, and she contributes to This American Life. More

Dec 08, 2009 Music Web Exclusive

If you're inclined to look down on the concept of "essential" "Weird Al," don't. In a career spanning nearly 30 years, Weird Al has surpassed the Dr. Demento show that spawned him as a cultural institution; survived and thrived while the artists he's parodied have faded to obscurity; stayed consistently funny while SNL continues to tank; and become a modern musical icon to rival just about any other of his time, so widely recognized that even your mom knows who he is. More

Dec 07, 2009 Live Web Exclusive

There is no shortage of crappy bars in most cities in America where on any given night you can see bunch of amateur musicians slogging through cover versions of their favorite classic rock tunes. But it's not every night that you get to hear two of alt rock's finest play essentially the same gig, albeit in nicer surroundings with less cheap beer. On an unseasonably warm night in Pennsylvania's quaint town of Sellersville, Matthew Sweet (he of the famed Girlfriend) and Susanna Hoffs (The Bangles) brought their revival act to several hundred concertgoers at the tiny former movie house called The Sellersville Theater. More

Dec 07, 2009 Comic Books Web Exclusive

Rac Shade, the madness-powered changing man, returns in another collection of the prototypical Vertigo series, building on the good base that was established in volume one. More

Dec 07, 2009 Books Web Exclusive

After a collection of previously-published essays and taking an ill-advised stab at fiction, Chuck Klosterman's latest offering gets back to what he does best, but it all feels a little too familiar. In Eating the Dinosaur, Klosterman once again takes the position of all-encompassing cultural commentator, riffing on Abba, Garth Brooks, Kurt Cobain and David Koresh, time travel and more. Composed of a collection of unrelated essays, Dinosaur ostensibly replicates 2002's Sex Drugs & Cocoa Puffs, inexplicably Kosterman's best-selling title to date More

Dec 07, 2009 Music Web Exclusive

Christmas albums are tricky business. Many artists seem attracted to the Christmas song for some reason, but few albums (compilations or otherwise) are anything more than curiosities. These are impulse purchases, things you think sound interesting but will probably listen to only once before realizing you don't really want to hear The Flaming Lips singing a holiday tune or Twisted Sister rocking around the Christmas tree or Bob Dylan croaking out "Silver Bells" while you enjoy your holiday ham. Perhaps the most risky of endeavors is what Tori Amos has chosen for her recent holiday release—artistic reinterpretations of classics alongside original tunes. More

Nov 30, 2009 Music Web Exclusive

Three years ago, Under the Radar reviewed a Christmas album by hair metal goofs Twisted Sister, and with all due respect to Bob Dylan, who is perhaps the best songwriter of all time, Christmas In The Heart is a similar curiosity. More