Given all the ink that’s been devoted to grunge over the past few years, it’s a little surprising that more has not been written about the Riot Grrrl movement. In Girl Power, author Marisa Meltzer devotes plenty of space to riot grrrls, as well as a slew of other female-fronted music genres throughout the decade including “Angry Womyn†(Alanis Morissette and Tori Amos), girl groups (The Spice Girls and Shampoo)…
Former Husker Du co-founder, drummer Grant Hart has a bit of a reputation for being a tad bit erratic when it comes to releases, so the fact that he hasn’t put out a proper album in 10 years, should come as little surprise. Hot Wax, his fourth solo effort, is not a drastic departure from his previous solo works. Not nearly as aggressive or groundbreaking as the songs in Husker…
England’s X-Ray Spex may not have garnered as much respect or attention as The Sex Pistols or The Clash, but they had their hand in influencing a generation of future punk and indie rockers, from Concrete Blonde to Le Tigre. Recorded in 2008, the CD/DVD Live at the Roundhouse England beautifully captures the energy from this late 70’s pop-punk band, reunited after more than a decade a part. X-Ray Spex,…
You’d think with The Simpsons, three offerings from Seth McFarland and every other show on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim we’d have enough adult cartoons by now. But HBO’s The Life and Times of Tim shows we have room for at least one more.
The political Right may have Ann Rand, but the Left has always had Howard Zinn, author of the fantastically inspirational A People’s History of the United States – a Bible of sorts to anyone who has ever questioned the way American history has always been neatly wrapped and presented to us in a red, white and blue flag. This beautifully-crafted documentary features passages from Zinn’s best-selling history book, read by…
Regardless of how well you think you know him, Ozzy Osbourne has a remarkable sense of humor and pretty spot on view of how the world sees him. For more than 350 pages, the Prince of Darkness opens up about his childhood, his rocky relationships, his addictions, his arrests and friendships, and is still realistic enough to end the memoir with the following phrase: “Ozzy Osbourne, Born 1948. Died, whenever.…
The concept of Pawn Stars, the History Channel’s latest stab at reality TV, is admittedly yawn-inducing. Set in a family-run pawn shop off the strip in Las Vegas, the show works thanks to the personalities of the shop owners and employees and an interesting collection of items that come into shop. The store is run by the Harrison men, three generation including the cranky, “I’ve seen it all†Navy vet…
It is easy to forget just how much of a transformative figure Elvis Presley was to music. The erratic behavior, the bloated Vegas period and dying on the can have all contributed to “Elvis as the punch line†rather than “Elvis as Rock and Roll Godâ€. This four disc box set will help remind just how much of an inspiration Presley was to, well just about any rock band putting…
ER was on the air for a staggering 15 seasons, so you’d be forgiven – if like me -you were unaware of most of the characters that surfaced in the just released twelfth season DVD set.
Wisconsin art rockers Laarks is just the type of band the trendy indie critics at Pitchfork drool over: a warble-y voiced lead singer, prominent use of synthesizers, and a strong affinity for Death Cab for Cutie songs. I don’t write for Pitchfork, so I can be honest and tell you there’s very little to get excited about over the band’s debut An Exaltation of Laarks.
