In the summer of 2004, a little over a year after the United States invaded Iraq, Rise Against released their major-label debut, Siren Song of the Counter Culture. The band had made a name for themselves over the preceding half…
Album Review: Dan Auerbach – “Waiting on a Song”
Artists have a habit of creating art about art. No matter who and no matter what the medium, it seems that something about creating art turns the act itself into a potent muse. We can pick any number of examples…
Album Review: Justin Townes Earle — Kids in the Street
If reflection is a natural process of aging, songwriting is among its greatest agents. On his new album, Kids in the Street, alt-country artist Justin Townes Earle validates such wisdom. The singer spends much of his time here locked reflectively…
Album Review: The Mountain Goats – “Goths”
There is probably no word that describes John Darnielle better than “prolific.” In this decade alone, he has penned four albums with the Mountain Goats and published two novels—which is to say nothing of his various other writing ventures and…
In Memoriam: Chris Cornell
In 2015, at a concert in Melbourne, Australia, Chris Cornell performed a moving rendition of the Temple of the Dog song “Say Hello 2 Heaven.” He dedicated the performance to Scott Weiland, who the night before had passed away of…
Movie Review: Sahara
Children’s media—in a way that films and T.V. for adults can’t, by design, parallel—rests so strongly on the shoulders of behemoths. Making a revered film is good, but siphoning its charms into successful franchises, films and T.V. shows and related…
