HBO series Produced by David Simon HBO’s The Wire, now in its fifth and final season, may be the most critically acclaimed television series nobody knows about. In addition to receiving a Peabody award, the police drama has been rated the best in its genre by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, TIME,and […]
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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Music for a Cold Winter Night
They don’t call themselves Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band because they have a lot of members, it’s just a trio, but the sound they make — raw, bold blues played on acoustic instruments — is big and loud as can be. It’s also a true family band: The right Reverend (a big man, by the […]
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Books of 2007
by Various Authors Here are my favorites of the year. I don’t claim they’re the best, because I obviously can’t read everything. (I do try, though.) Potentially worthy candidates such as Denis Johnson’s Tree of Smoke and Ben Ratliff’s new book on John Coltrane remain on my shelf unread to taunt me into the new […]
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Classical Recordings of 2007
by Various Artists Mahler: Symphony No. 9 —Berlin Staatskapelle Orchestra: Daniel Barenboim, conductor. Barenboim has been dogged by accusations of superficiality as an interpreter. I cannot imagine anyone pinning that label on this glorious, blazing performance. Barenboim and this superb orchestra completely get this score, in full sync with the deep, even frightening passion of […]
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CDs of 2007
by Various Artists The most monumental release this year is certainly Rhys Chatham‘s A Crimson Grail, a recording of a piece scored for 400 electric guitars commissioned by the city of Paris. Moving far beyond the actual spectacle of having 400 guitarists playing to an audience of 10,000 in a massive French church, Chatham fashioned […]
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More CDs of 2007
by Various Artists Jose Gonzales, In Our Nature.Argentinean singer/songwriter who was raised in Sweden and sings in English delivers a haunting, spare recording, with songs that revolve around war. It’s the sound of this record, with only Gonzalez on vocals and acoustic guitar strummed in an uniquely unorthodox manner that draws the listener. Beautiful. Handsome […]
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Kill All Your Darlings: Pieces 1990-2005
Book by Luc Sante YETI Books Sixteen years ago Luc Sante’s first book, Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York, explored the the sheer weirdness and teeming danger of life on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 19th and early 20th century, conducting a vividly impressionistic tour of a world of […]
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Another Year, Another Weekend
As I sit typing on a dark Sunday night it’s still 2007, but with the wonders of time shifting and the inherent lag in the print medium, by the time you read this it will be two thousand-ought-eight. Yes, a new year is upon us and, to borrow from that catchy Brett Dennen song they […]
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Manufactured Landscapes
DVD, directed by Jennifer Baichwal Mongrel Media In some ways watching Manufactured Landscapes made me think of another famously slow documentary, Baraka. But at least in that 1992 film — a montage of stunningly rich moving images of the modern world — director Ron Fricke (cinematographer for Koyaanisqatsi) uses a combination of time-lapse photography and […]
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Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
CD by Rivers Cuomo Geffen Records Rivers Cuomo, the frontman of Weezer, once famously remarked that to be a true fan of his band, you have to hate it. Weezer injected a much-needed sense of playfulness to the grunge era with Weezer ("the Blue Album")(1994) and Pinkerton (1996). In fact, the fresh-faced earnestness of those […]
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A Cup o’ Kindness
Well, we’ve survived another year. To paraphrase (and reverse) Dickens, 2007 was neither the best of times nor the worst of times. So we’ll take a cup of kindness yet, and make plans to celebrate the coming of a New Year. You might want to stay home and see if Dick Clark is still alive […]
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Little Kingdom
CD by Citay Dead Oceans/Important Records Originally spawned as a studio-only project by Ezra Feinberg and Tim Green of the Fucking Champs, Citay quickly garnered critical acclaim within independent music circles with their 2006 self-titled debut, a release well noted for its warm and vibrant tones, lush harmonies and discerning compositions. It is a formula […]