Jun 02, 2007 By Chris Tinkham Web Exclusive

Breathtaking is a word that usually is not used literally, but go to a screening of La Vie en Rose, writer-director Olivier Dahan’s chronicle of the life of French singer and icon Édith Piaf, and listen to the folks seated near you at the end of the film. You will hear sniffling and slow gasps as actress Marion Cotillard illuminates the film’s final frames. More

Apr 01, 2007 By Frank Valish Los Campesinos!

“We started out as seven friends, just jamming and writing some songs, and then this just kind of happened,” says Neil of Cardiff, Wales’ bright new band, Los Campesinos! “It’s really weird. I’m having a conversation with someone from America, interviewing me. It’s really mental. It doesn’t make any sense.” More

Jan 02, 2007 By Lily Moayeri Web Exclusive

Nicolas Godin, one half of the French duo Air, sounds like he’s speaking from a monkey cage. In reality, he is in the lobby of a hip New York hotel after having spent hours with his other half, Jean-Benoît Dunckel, convincing passport control they are not the thieves of their own passports which were stolen a few years back. More

Jan 02, 2007 By Frank Valish The Most Serene Republic

With its 2005 debut, Underwater Cinematographer, Milton, Ontario’s The Most Serene Republic established itself as the newest band in a Canadian indie-rock scene led by the likes of Broken Social Scene, Stars, and The Dears. Though the band was still in its infancy, Underwater Cinematographer succeeded on the strength of an experimental, multi-instrumental pop sound that was as engaging as it was eccentric. More

Jan 02, 2007 By Marcus Kagler and Mark Redfern The Helio Sequence

Time and space seem to be the cornerstones of the untitled work in progress from Portland, OR duo The Helio Sequence (vocalist/guitarist Brandon Summers and keyboardist/drummer Benjamin Weikel). Summers cites the use of odd micing in closets and a more acoustic writing approach as having influenced a record unlike anything the duo have produced before. More

Jan 01, 2007 By Matt Fink John Waters

As a true legend of outsider films, it should surprise no one that director John Waters also has a taste for the obscure and eccentric in music. Following 2004’s compilation CD A John Waters Christmas, his second set is a celebration of Valentine’s Day entitled A Date with John Waters, with a similarly unconventional set of songs designed to seduce you into submission. More

Jan 01, 2007 By Marcus Kagler The Bees

The Bees, England’s pioneers of revamped ’60s psychedelic peace music, will return in 2007 with Octopus. Bees’ songwriter Aaron Fletcher describes the new album as “sound[ing] more like 1666.” More

Dec 01, 2006 By Nick Hyman, Wendy Lynch & Mark Redfern Crispin Glover

Crispin Glover has been the epitome of the cult actor since the mid-’80s, when his star-making turn as Marty McFly’s dad in Back to the Future charmed audiences and his portrayal of Layne in River’s Edge guaranteed that he was a performer to watch no matter how big or small his roles. Though his persona has garnered him a devoted fanbase (including early-’90s fanzine, Mr. Density), for the most part, the actor, writer, and filmmaker was and still remains enigmatic to many. More

Oct 01, 2006 By Matt Fink Wovenhand

Offering the dark and ominous counterpoint to Danielson’s celebratory avant-pop and Sufjan Stevens’ studious craftsmanship, Wovenhand is the Sounds Familyre label’s most unfortunately overlooked act. More