Jun 04, 2010 Live Web Exclusive

Thousands of North Westerners packed the normally barren fields of George, WA with bare-bones camping gear and their most exotic festival apparel to witness the epic line-up of Sasquatch! 2010. The list was stacked, and showed why the festival had already sold out by early spring with performances by Mumford and Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and  Vampire Weekend among others. More

Jun 04, 2010 DVDs Web Exclusive

Every complaint about Avatar is dead-on: the dialogue is awful, the story is not much more than a gussied up FernGully, the acting is wooden, the opening minutes are close to unwatchable, and the mere mention of the term "Unobtainium" should elicit anything from giggles to scornful rage. More

Jun 04, 2010 Comic Books Web Exclusive

Jack Cole is best known by some as the creator of Plastic Man; by others for his highly influential work on Playboy Magazine. He was undeniably a master of his craft, with deft, lovely lines and a witty sensibility. More

Jun 04, 2010 Music Web Exclusive

Let's just get it out of the way at the start: Mi Ami has a divisive singer. Daniel Martin-McCormick's caterwauls are going to send some listeners home immediately, with a style that draws on hardcore predecessors like, say, Ian Svenonius or Guy Picciotto, but an octave up, and with more of a nod to the No Wave shrieks of Arto Lindsay or Lydia Lunch back in the day. More

Jun 03, 2010 Music Web Exclusive

Despite a name that evokes thoughts of Christmas kitsch and a stage persona that leaves many cold, Sleigh Bells are here to stay. With the blown-out speaker quality of last year's widely-circulated, under-produced demos ("Ring Ring," "Crown on the Ground," "Beach Girls," "Infinity Guitars") tamed to a more palatable squeal, multi-instrumentalist Derek Miller and vocalist Alexis Krauss have created a delicious summer album, shimmying through the worlds of pop, electro, and hip-hop like a pair of sugar-buzzed kids in a candy store. More

Jun 02, 2010 Music Web Exclusive

As Willie Nelson himself puts it in the press release: "This is my definition of real country music." This is handy information, since followers of Nelson have witnessed about a hundred definitions of country music—the '60s songwriter who wrote "Crazy," the '70s progressive strains of The Red Headed Stranger, the glitz of Stardust, the very modern Teatro, or the inevitable reggae album Countryman, just to name a few. More

Jun 01, 2010 Cinema Web Exclusive

A documentary about ultra-smart teens and the competition that could catapult them to genius stardom—and send them to college—sounds fascinating. Unfortunately, director Tom Shepard and co-director Tina DeFeliciantonio don't get to the heart of their protagonists or the competition. More

Jun 01, 2010 Comic Books Web Exclusive

Capable heroine fighting against the elements in a strange environment, drawn by Steve Lieber...hmmm. Comparisons to Lieber and Greg Rucka's Whiteout are inevitable, I suppose. More

Jun 01, 2010 Music Web Exclusive

It is always the singer that gets the most attention, even when your group only has two members in it. Erasure equals Andy Bell and all his outlandish, outrageous, "out"-ness. More