The Pillowman is not a fairy tale. Children should not attend this play, nor should adults in search of fluffy, light-hearted entertainment. Written by Irish playwright Martin MacDonagh, The Pillowman garnered extensive critical praise during its recent run on Broadway. Heralded as a potent psychological thriller, MacDonagh’s contemporary statement on civil rights and the darker… Continue reading A Broadway dystopia
Month: March 2007
Spun: Psyopus
Every metal fan knows at least one person who thinks their musical tastes are hard, that guy who claims to listen to “heavy shit,” and his shit is always heavier than yours. That new band you like? Pussy garbage compared to this guy’s shit. His tastes only extend to the heaviest, harshest, most technical metal… Continue reading Spun: Psyopus
Spun: Yoko Ono
While known by many–for good or ill–Yoko Ono’s music can be both brilliant and utterly inaccessible, depending. Her latest collaboration cum remix album, Yes, I’m a Witch, is a collection of old Ono songs redone by some of the largest bands in indie rock, the only thing in common with the old tracks being Ono’s… Continue reading Spun: Yoko Ono
Spun: Doug Cox and Salil Bhatt
By Ken Clarke
East meets west in this unique collaboration between Canadian blues guitarist Doug Cox and India’s veena player Salil Bhatt. The blending of such disparate elements as blues music and classical East Indian stylings is not as awkward sounding as one might imagine. Although classical East Indian music is centuries older than the blues, both forms… Continue reading Spun: Doug Cox and Salil Bhatt
Spun: Great Lake Swimmers
The country-folk sound of Great Lake Swimmers makes for great ambient music, if the desired mood involves drowsily discussing peace and the Canadian landscape while sitting around in a circle burning incense. This holds especially true for the band’s upcoming release, Ongiara, due out Mar. 27. Ongiara is the band’s third full-length album, as well… Continue reading Spun: Great Lake Swimmers
Spun: John Hammond
By Ken Clarke
Despite 44 years on the road and in the studio, blues vocalist, guitarist and harp player John Hammond sounds vibrant and re-born on his latest release, Push Comes To Shove. Forsaking the convenience of ProTool’s digital enhancements, the blues veteran purposefully recorded the sessions live in analogue format to obtain a dirty, authentic and vital… Continue reading Spun: John Hammond
Spun: Maria Taylor
By Darren Young
Artists often spend most of their careers attempting to recreate past success, subsequently releasing 62 consecutive albums, each sounding like the last. In the case of Maria Taylor’s Lynn Teeter Flower, past success is examined and reworked, but not beaten to death. On her debut 11:11, Maria Taylor’s ability to sing stories with her silky… Continue reading Spun: Maria Taylor
Spun: Bright Eyes
By Darren Young
After the simultaneous release of the folk-inspired I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning and the electronic, synth-laden Digital Ash in a Digital Urn in 2005, fans began to speculate over which direction Bright Eyes would take in their next effort. The new Four Winds EP suggests that, despite his split musical personality, Conor Oberst has reconciled… Continue reading Spun: Bright Eyes
Spun: The Arcade Fire
Let’s get something out of the way: The Arcade Fire’s second album, Neon Bible, could never hope to live up to the hyperbolic accolades and devotion surrounding the band since their 2004 debut, Funeral. As arguably the most important album of the year, Neon Bible was set up for an enormous amount of scrutiny and… Continue reading Spun: The Arcade Fire
Welcome to Zombieville U.S.A.
Shoot the brain and not the chest, head shots are the very best!” So chants a chorus of schoolchildren merrily, as they go about their daily ‘outdoor training’–hands-on lessons in fending off zombie attacks. The scene is a sunny American school field, sometime in the ’50s. The image of the politically-correct nuclear family is on… Continue reading Welcome to Zombieville U.S.A.