Sometimes, you just get lucky. If you had a range of eccentric producers and an ounce of musical talent (or, at least, a boatload of collaborators), you could turn out an album hailed by at least one reviewer as “innovative” and “ahead of its time.” Of course, that reviewer would… Read more »

Bands attempting a comeback after a decade or two are almost always at a disadvantage. If you alter your sound to go into a more post-modern direction, you sound unrecognizable and lose your fanbase. If you try to replicate your old sound, people suddenly remember it’s not 1980 and… Read more »

Even when collecting other people’s items, Shinique Smith’s own artistic influences manifest. Just as the bundles of cloth and consumer items Smith displays came from a variety of seemingly unrelated sources, Smith herself draws upon a variety of seemingly disparate art forms and backgrounds. Smith, who grew up in Baltimore… Read more »

Books are not often thought of as an art form. Then again, these are not mere books. The compendiums slaved over by monastic scribes in candlelit halls were not merely text upon paper. Illuminated manuscripts were carefully crafted, elaborately decorated pieces of medieval artwork. And while these European gilded… Read more »

Excuse me laying this on you, but I’ve had a crisis of faith recently. It started in class the other week, when a clip of 1998’s “The Siege” was shown. After the conclusion of the trailer, the professor in question asked for responses to the clip. “I just can’t… Read more »

“Tell me everything.” The phrase may not be uttered in every case, but it’s the implicit demand of every talk show host, interviewer and media personality around. We want to know everything of our representatives, sure, but now we push the Average Joe for every detail of his life.… Read more »

It’s partly a shame that Interpol’s musical trajectory was measured so closely against Joy Division. The depressive post-punk group eventually morphed into the techno-pop New Order, and Ian Curtis — who was suffocated by his own collapsing baritone laments — killed himself before his brand of apocalyptic post-punk could probe… Read more »

When dealing with the ancients — be it Greek or Roman, history or mythology — the modus operandi for filmmakers is usually the same: Go big or go home. The opulence of gilded ancient palaces and musclebound hoards of oiled warriors screams for over-the-top production and special effects. So… Read more »

Heartbreak was not made for movies. The silver screen may lament the death of a main character or cause audiences to weep en masse when the Nth “love of the century” ends in tragedy, but the real focus is enduring love. No matter what happens, they’ll live their lives and… Read more »

Most students don’t step into candy shops. We’ve got Walgreen’s, and they’ve got enough high-fructose corn syrup miscellany and gelatin-infused gobs of chemicals that true sugar and real chocolate is not a priority. If we want baked goods, we’ll wait until mom makes something. Or we’ll make them ourselves. Of… Read more »

It’s hard being a serial killer. Well, not the killing part. I mean — grab a knife, track a family and have yourself a bloody old time. Rather, it’s hard to be a respectable serial killer. You think you have your victims planned out, a place to bury them… Read more »

Beth Ditto belongs in a museum. Somewhere where she can be preserved and taken care of so future audiences can appreciate the Gossip lead singer’s garage punk attitude and gilded vocals. Because the more time she spends with Gossip on her new major label, the more her value depreciates. The… Read more »

Traditionally, a “MacGuffin” is a plot device of little importance. It’s what the entire movie revolves around — something everyone is trying to get to and you, as the viewer, haven’t a clue what the hell it’s supposed to be. There are enough MacGuffins in “In The Loop” to fill… Read more »

Something is askew. There should have been no doubt that “The Final Destination” was awful. No one expected the ritualized blood, guts and gore to be a symphony of cinematic expertise. And when you’re handed 3-D glasses, it doesn’t exactly say, “We feel the strength of this movie rests on… Read more »

The House of Britpop is probably more incestuous than most royal families. After a burst of bands like Blur, Pulp, Oasis, Suede, Supergrass, holding the patriarchical line (with Elastica and Sleeper shrugging off their motherly duties after a year or two) �We had all these bizarre black sheeps, deformities… Read more »

With two of our hump day columnists leaving, there’s a pretty big hole to fill. Do you think you can do their jobs better than they did? Prove it. Answer one of the three following questions and send your reply to [email protected] by May 30 and you might be able… Read more »

Hey, do you want to know what college is like? What’s that? You say you’re a high school student who forgot what school you applied to after Spencer’s latest blowout with Heidi wiped your mind of all memories in the last week? Hmm. Well, do you want to ride on… Read more »

Ethanol has a cadre of lobbyists, farmers and bandwagon-riding Congressmen ready to do battle in the fields of Iowa. Despite these children of the corn beating the drum for domestic fuels, one man thought it wasn’t enough. One man saw a crowded field of social causes and American problems and,… Read more »

Prequels are never justified with ease. Fans’ demands to understand the origin of a mysterious character can be met with shrugs if the box office receipts don’t build the foundation. Even with a strong financial backing and fan interest, everything can come apart if the question of “Why bother?”… Read more »

Clint Eastwood isn’t really a curmudgeon, but he (lately) plays one in the movies. Whether he’s a reluctant relic of the Wild West or a grizzled boxing trainer with skeletons in his closet, overtime Eastwood has remolded the “Dirty Harry” archetype into a noble toughness that oftentimes betrays an… Read more »

I’ve had a lot of people call me an idiot. It’s just a fact of life. When you speak up and try and speak your mind, enough people are going to shout you down and deride your ideas. Of course, sometimes you are wrong. And in fact, most of the… Read more »

I get it — Brandon Flowers has a fetish for the ’80s. While The Killers’ last album, Sam’s Town, seemed to prove the group indeed understood they were a rock band from the American desert and not a Morrissey tribute, they still bow to the monuments of their English idols… Read more »

Somehow, someway, the compact disc has managed to become the cockroach following the nuclear blast of digital music. Sure, CD sales have dropped significantly over the years, but they still account for 80 percent of total music sales. Perhaps our friends in the recording industry can explain why. In a… Read more »

Even though several friends listen to Appetite for Destruction as if it was the pinnacle of ’80s rock, I can’t help but start laughing whenever Axl Rose reached one of his classic falsetto yelps. Maybe it’s just because the idea of that rock ‘n’ roll mating call being a classic… Read more »

Most politicians’ brushes with popular music are, frankly, embarrassing. John McCain’s endorsement by Puerto Rican rapper Daddy Yankee was so forced you could almost hear McCain thinking, “What the hell am I doing here?” On the other side, I’m not sure what is worse: the fact that Barack Obama could… Read more »

Generalization always gets you in trouble. The very fact that I focus this column on something as basic and oversimplified as the mainstream music industry is almost asking for angry feedback. And as usual, it is for comments that aren’t central to the message. But that’s usually because I’ve missed… Read more »

Authors, historians, world leaders and the citizens of the United States have had a hard time trying to answer the question, “Who is George W. Bush?” As difficult as the question is, a more maddening question presents itself after this past weekend’s release of rushed biopic “W.” — “Why… Read more »

I learned most of the world’s musical preferences from the bus ride home. Back in middle school, when I blasted The Sex Pistols from my headphones, I got dirty looks from the kids at Racine Lutheran High School. Not because the “I am an anarchist/ I am an antichrist” line… Read more »

Despite what anyone claims about it being an amorphous industry title, indie music was a genre. No, really, it was. While this musical grab bag of thrift-store production and creative license on a schizophrenic mixture of tranquilizers and cocaine seems to be viewed as a “fill-in-the-blank” genre today, the fact… Read more »

In terms of a musical revolution, the idea of “electronic” music should have had all the hallmarks of a new musical genre: The guitars, bass and drums were replaced by synthesized hums, beeps and insulated beats; vocals were no longer a necessity; and, what’s more, it had no hint of… Read more »

Perhaps I expect too much. While I understand the music industry has become a shadow of its former self and don’t expect a lot of dynamic activity out of the mainstream pop artists, I know that if they’re good at one thing, it’s formulas. Formulas for pop songs, formulas for… Read more »

Katy Perry, I’d like to have a word with you. No, not for those reasons. I’ve noted your brazen sexuality, and while the normal college-age male might salivate over such suggestive posturing, I’m insulted. Not as a man, mind you. If I didn’t have the sex drive of a eunuch,… Read more »

If the massive multi-colored streamers on the outside of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art look like the invitation to a party, you’d be right. If, on the other hand, you felt they were meant as a sort of reality-bending filter of some sort, you’d also be right. Basically, if… Read more »

The wait music on Christopher O�Riley�s phone dispels any notions of pretentiousness. It�s not a Shostakovich prelude. Nor a Debussy sonata. It�s a Morrissey piece. �The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get,� to be specific. Such a selection might seem strange for an acclaimed classical pianist. But then… Read more »

Wyclef Jean seems to rewrite his own history during the opening to Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant: "Ever since my last album, Carnival, a lot of things have changed." While his album cites the Sept. 11 attacks and "panic" in the world, his own career is missing from… Read more »

The mere mention of the legendary Oxford quintet provokes fierce reaction from most music enthusiasts. Proponents of their unconventional approach to alternative rock cry, "Thom Yorke is a genius!" and "Jonny Greenwood is the greatest guitarist of the last two decades!" Others find their sound to be a mere extension… Read more »