I remember 2001. I remember September 11th wrenched the country out of an innocent slumber, the first year of high school ended, and Is This It came out. Actually, that's about all that I remember from 2001; and as September 11th begins to feel more and more like a terrible nightmare that won't go away, Is This It remains a very real, immediate force in my life. Scarcely a week goes by when I don't listen to that brilliant album that so effortlessly melds Television, the Velvet Underground and the Stooges.
Ah, Ryan Adams. You had such potential. You really did. I loved you so much when you fronted Whiskeytown. I loved you even more when you came out with Heartbreaker, and I hated all those girls that broke your heart. I thought that we would never split up when you came out with Gold, and "Harder Now That It's Over” became my personal breakup song. I cried every time you talked about the bracelet that you bought in Reno, where they sold old jewelry.
The first ten seconds of New York quartet's The Rapture's new album Echoes is all that you need to hear to realize that there's nothing at all musically original about this band of hipsters. Opening track
The first time I spun Elephant, the new album by boy/girl sensation The White Stripes, a part of my personality became very clear to me. Frankly, I'm a jerk. I realized this the moment I heard the first note of the first song (which is also the first single) on the album. I realized this because when I heard that note, I turned the album off and didn't listen to it for another few days. I did this not because it was a particularly grating or badly played note, or a note somehow unworthy of attention. I did it because that note was a full octave lower than anything the White Stripes have ever played. The note was coming from a bass, and that was more than I could deal with.
WKYS getting a little boring? The songs on 99.5 not really jammin'? The number of times you hear Ludacris getting plain ludicrous? Not to worry, there is life beyond the dial, and here Silver Chips outlines four of the best hip-hop acts you may not have heard.
The crowd at the 9:30 Club watches a tangled mass of human flesh and hair lunge across the stage. Limbs flailing, it hammers the guitar slung around its neck. The figure crumples to the floor, then jumps into a scissors-kick. It screams into the mic, then stumbles off the stage. Something amazing has just happened. That something is pure rock ‘n' roll.
Moliere's classic Misanthrope, a comedic satire of French seventeenth century high society now being performed at Arena Stage, provided an entertaining night of laughter and social commentary. Despite being too heavy on melodrama, Moliere manages to make profound observations of human nature.
Junior Ben Austin has hopes and dreams. He sees a million people of all different backgrounds and ages marching in the streets, yelling chants, waving banners and singing protest songs. He sees Washington, D.C., filled with protesters all aiming to accomplish one goal: to stop the war in Iraq before it starts.