Album by Freedy Johnston Singing Magnet Records Singer/songwriter Freedy Johnston is a strange artist. His last studio record, Right Between the Promises, was released in 2001. Since then, he has released an album of unreleased material, The Way I Were: 4-Track Demos, 1986-1992 (2004), and a solo concert album, Live at McCabe’s Guitar Shop (2006). […]
Music
Coverage of the music scene in Humboldt County with upcoming shows from locals and out-of-town acts, reviews, interviews and more.
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Creature From the Black Lagoon: The Legacy Collection
Universal Has there yet been a remake of a genre classic that’s better than the original? Now they’re trying it with Creature From the Black Lagoon, slated for release next year. Do yourself a summertime favor and see all three Creature features from the 1950s, on this nifty two-disk set from Universal’s Legacy Collection series. […]
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The Death of Don Juan
Elodie Lauten Unseen Worlds In the current world of modern composition, no movement has been more influential than minimalism. With the canon of bona fide first-generation minimalism set almost in stone with the big four (La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Philip Glass), not much is left undiscovered. However, much less examined is […]
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30th Humboldt Folklife Festival
In its 30th year, the Humboldt Folklife Society’s annual summer music festival has grown to eight days — four evening concerts, two dances and two admission-free daytime events. That many shows usually brings to mind touring artists (and high ticket prices) but it is Humboldt’s own musicians who fuel the labor of love that began […]
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Spaced
I’m not really into MySpace. I heard they upgraded the whole thing recently, but it doesn’t seem any different. It’s just as slow and clunky as ever. But despite the shortcomings, I end up using it pretty much every week to check out one band or another. Today I was taken to Space by accident. […]
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What Remains: The Life and Work of Sally Mann
Director/Producer: Steve Cantor Stick Figure Productions/Zeitgeist Films/HBO Documentary Films “It’s so strange to me that anyone would ever think that a work of art shouldn’t be disturbing or shouldn’t be invasive. It is to disturb, it is to make you think, it is to make you feel. If my work doesn’t disturb, from time to […]
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Nah und Fern
Album by Gas Kompakt The sound of Gas is tough to push into an established subgenre corner. Too stagnant to be “techno,” yet too mobile to be “ambient,” Gas elegantly moved beyond both genres with a certain otherness that seems to be neither. Closely linked to the already well-defined German minimal techno sound, artist/musician/thinker Wolfgang […]
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Crabs vs. Steelheads
July 2, Crabs Stadium The Humboldt Crabs bested the Humboldt Steelheads in both games of a doubleheader Wednesday night. Despite the losses, the Steelheads are shaping up to be a strong baseball team – made up of local college students, the team is full of scrap and quickness. There were more than 1,000 appreciative fans […]
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Weezer (Red Album)
Album by Weezer Geffen/Interscope The “clang clang clang clang” that began Weezer’s 1996 album Pinkertonheralded a masterpiece of tortured masculinity. They’ve never managed to release a record as complex, rewarding or fun since. And with the release of their latest self-titled album – this time known as the Red Album, if you’re keeping track – […]
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Re-Arrange Us
Album by Mates of State Barsuk The last time Mates of State blew my mind was in 2003. This makes me feel old, and at first it makes me kind of disappointed that they haven’t done much blowing, mind-wise, since then. The brilliance of their first trio of records – My SoloProject,Our Constant Concern,and Team […]
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Dancing for Independence
What do you think of, musically, when the Fourth of July rolls around? Brass bands and military drumlines maybe? “The Star Spangled Banner”? For me the old X song “Fourth of July” comes to mind: “On the stairs I smoke a cigarette alone. Mexican kids are shootin’ fireworks below…” and that great chorus, “Hey baby, […]
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Helvetica
Directed by Gary Hustwit Plexifilm A documentary where a bunch of graphic designers sit around giving their thoughts on the merits and deficiencies of a typeface would seem to be a sure recipe for boredom, but Gary Hustwit’s film takes this potentially dry subject and fills it with life and argument. Hustwit, who has a […]