Genius or insane? There is a fine line to draw between the two, one that artists have towed since the dawn of self-expression. Yoni Wolf, front man and songwriter for Why?, isn’t helping make any distinctions. Wolf comes off as a literary savant in his writing and delivery with wordplay… Read more »

Next week, Lifetime will premiere “Prank My Mom,” the newest reality prank show to exploit innocent victims at the hands of a network and bitter yet good-humored offspring. As the title makes explicitly clear, the victims are the mothers of said pranksters. In a sketch format, three mother-and-child pairs hash… Read more »

One of Madison’s great havens for local artists is soon to be relocated, but not without a final exhibit that celebrates one aspect the space has always emphasized: spectacle. Beginning tomorrow, the Project Lodge will display a menagerie of works composed by four local artists centered on the highly theatrical… Read more »

Stand-up comedian, “This American Life” contributor and now actor/director Mike Birbiglia has transformed his hilarious stand up routine into a feature film focusing lightheartedly on his own sleep disorder. And the subject has touched all of his media outlets in very different ways, each appropriate to its respective medium. In… Read more »

It’s Tuesday, and any audiophile knows what that means: new album releases! In the modern digital age, the fare is rarely as climactic as it should be. After all, most everything has leaked somewhere before its release date. The only exception here occurs when the release date gets pushed back,… Read more »

If this country is a melting pot, Wisconsin makes the fondue. The Madison World Music Festival is sifting through that proverbial cheese to celebrate some of the most talented musical artists from around the globe. Thirteen countries are represented among the nine sets, providing modern twists of traditional cultures… Read more »

“Breaking Bad” Sitcom Parody Apparently, all that is necessary to turn an edge-of-the-seat drama into a quirky sitcom is sound effects, a laugh track and a network logo. It’s more powerful than you’d think. This parody video has been around for a while, but right now, the corny edit serves… Read more »

Sometimes it’s best to describe an album by listing what it’s not. In the case of Animal Collective’s Centipede Hz, the experience is not tangible, it’s not aromatic, nor does it have a taste. But the last two senses, sight and sound, are wholly accounted for. The band has… Read more »

It’s been a while since they last played Madison or released any new material, but come this weekend, Minneapolis rockers The Suburbs will return to the city after 20-some years of separate projects. Keyboardist Chan Poling described a sort of full-circle evolution within the band that brought them back to… Read more »

Careening through dense fog under a full moon in the rural, mountainous region of Southeastern Minnesota had all the makings of a horror movie. Rough gravel roads and cornfields broken up only by a cemetery and dilapidated barns made the trip all the more nerve-wracking. Finally, a hairpin turn leading… Read more »

Ask anyone who has seen a Flaming Lips show to describe it, and you’re bound to hear something along the lines of incredible, indescribable, or completely and utterly weird. Their performance Friday at Warner Park for the inaugural Pondamonium was no exception. Before their set, a peek behind the stage revealed… Read more »

It isn’t easy to coax some 150,000 Madison residents and visitors from across the map to Capitol Square, especially amid a record-setting heatwave. But evidently, when you provide the art, the crowds will amass, as they did for the 54th annual Art Fair on the Square held July 14-15. At… Read more »

Occasionally, an album seems to come of nowhere at just the right time. Real Estate’s Days certainly didn’t come out of nowhere; the meticulous song structures attest to that, along with the fact that it’s been a year or so since their last LP. But as for timing, a few… Read more »

You might know Das Racist as the guys who made “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” a couple of years ago, but as they’ll demonstrate Wednesday at the High Noon Saloon, these indie rappers are more than just “those guys.” Music critics often talk about Das Racist’s lyrical critiques of… Read more »

Venus In Furs, a local three-piece punk band, wants to get the Madison scene dancing to its speedy breed of surf-punk. But when the girls came to an interview with The Badger Herald, they were one member short. “Vic [Victoria Echeverria, the guitarist] can’t make it; she’s doing roller… Read more »

Wisconsin-bred, UW-educated Nika Roza Danilova, better known as Zola Jesus, is set to release her third full-length album, Conatus, next Tuesday. In it, she showcases opera-trained vocals and apocalyptic fascination more than ever. But for the love of Jesus — Zola Jesus — don’t call it a doomsday opera. It… Read more »

It isn’t always easy to distinguish between literature and song lyrics. Many would consider any set of lyrics to be a form of poetry and expression. There is image-inducing poetry, and then there are narratives. Not that the two are mutually exclusive, but they are distinct. For this playlist,… Read more »

Whenever a holiday comes around, it’s fairly easy to tack a theme on anything. Just look at any new episode of your favorite TV show this week. I promise there will be some form of turkey worship in sitcoms across the board. It was no different for Halloween, and the… Read more »

Being sick is no treat. Ask anyone on campus; they should be well aware this time of year if ever. Usually the only consolation of having a cold or the flu is knowing that with enough sleep and soup the illness will likely pass in a few days. Imagine having… Read more »

It’s starting to feel a lot like Wisconsin outside. I don’t know why the coming of fall is always such a shock to my senses; I’ve been a Midwesterner practically my whole life. There’s just something about the rapid transition from sauna to tundra that gets me every year. What… Read more »

As usual, a typical campus conversation this week involves the infamous Freakfest of a Madison Halloween. “What are you going to be?” and “What are you doing for Halloween?” should be conjuring up a case of déjà vu by now, so maybe it’s time to respond a little differently and… Read more »

Every week, a certain day calls forth a feeling of relaxation unmatched by any other. Perhaps the opposite of a Monday, and sweeter than a Saturday, it’s the best time to step into slow gear and wallow in laziness, succumbing to a week-long fatigue. The last couple of “Paper Radio”… Read more »

She unknowingly boosted medicine into the 20th century, becoming a martyr for science. And for decades, the heroine’s identity was as much a mystery to the public as her unwitting scientific contributions were to her own family. The cells collected from Henrietta Lacks’ cervical cancer tumor were the first immortal… Read more »

Is it just me, or is this semester going by faster than a bullet train to Vegas? We’ve already reached the point of no return, where the first (and second) onslaught of midterms form the bread around a homecoming sandwich. And it’s not slowing down. Grab hold of something sturdy,… Read more »

As the familiar tagline goes, “In space, no one can hear you scream.” I’m inclined to think the same is true at the bottom of an abandoned well. It’s gloomy down there, but the protagonist in Murakami’s book “The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle” doesn’t seem to mind. After his wife leaves… Read more »

Style. Wit. Poetry. Self-expression. These terms have all been associated with the hip-hop art of Spoken Word. Toss in “education,” “community,” and “scholarship” to describe First Wave, a program under the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiative (OMAI) at UW-Madison. Just what is First Wave? In black and white, it is… Read more »

Imagine a forest in a faraway land. Brisk winds sweep through lush, emerald conifers as they flirt with the sky. Together, they display astonishing power and provoke an awed wonder undefined by humankind. Such an idyllic offering does not exist in the coastal city of Lisbon’s urban center. Instead, the… Read more »

Another semester at UW means another season of Paper Radio, bringing more soundtracks for your everyday life. New readers, listen up. The idea here is pretty simple, and it is something you’ve probably done before when putting together a playlist or mix CD. Nearly every scenario you could possibly encounter… Read more »

As a new resident in Wisconsin’s capitol, that first breath of the air is a sweet one. The breeze carries a foreign scent of a new city in a manner not that different from the fresh odor of a new house. Along with that scent comes a certain eagerness, a… Read more »

This is it, folks. The 2010 spring semester is almost at an end. That means the Herald is about to do the student thing and take a summer hiatus. It also means that for a while, “Paper Radio” will be off the air. Coming up with an appropriate playlist isn’t… Read more »

It’s time for a reality check, Badgers. Spring Break is finito and these last few weeks of the semester could be brutal. But just because leisure week is over, it doesn’t mean you have to dive right back in. Well, maybe it does for some, in which case I’d… Read more »

It’s been half a decade since anyone last heard from Damon Albarn (of Blur) and Jamie Hewlett’s virtual band Gorillaz. And finally, patience has bred reward. Just don’t be too eager to dive into Plastic Beach. It takes some time to get used to the water. Once adjusted, however,… Read more »

Like most undergrads here, I have a long wait until my 10-year high school reunion. But from what I’ve heard, or at least seen on TV, reunions aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Unfortunately, the same can often be said about band reunions. Even when all the former… Read more »

“O, Canada. O, God.” The Winter Olympics aren’t the only noteworthy media coming from the North. From the altar to the stage, Canadian gospel roots rockers Newworldson are making some public headway on their own, and they couldn’t be more eager to give thanks to the Big Guy. Ascending from… Read more »

A few columns back, I dedicated a playlist to the comforts of indoor winter living. As of last week, Madison forecasts started to hint at spring aesthetics. Needless to say, I was about ready to ditch the cold list for something warm and breezy, but alas — I jumped the… Read more »

The big game is over, and the results are in: Saints: 31, Colts: 17. The Who: awesome. Since this is a music column, I’ll leave the play-by-play to the sports writers. But it still seems necessary to crank out some sort of ode to the pigskin. How about a Super… Read more »

I don’t know about you, but a new year, a new semester and fresh responsibilities have been somewhat of a reality check. Menial tasks demanded of school and work feel like running a marathon when you’ve spent the past month in a state of gluttony. But just think�— a month… Read more »

What’s in a playlist? Everyone has that mix that hits the spot at the right time. I know I have a few. In fact, the existence of this column depends on them. MP3 players and digital music have made playlists easier to make and obtain than ever before, but… Read more »

Bob Dylan has done it all. Countless innovations and self-reinventions in a career spanning nearly half a century, little remains that Dylan has yet to dabble in. The 1997 release Time Out of Mind brought attention to a fresh, refined sound and earned him his first platinum CD in 18… Read more »