review

Plays by August WilsonTheatre Communications Group ‘Tis the season of the boxed set, but this one has more significance than the usual holiday gift repackaging. This is the first physical embodiment of a singular achievement — 10 plays, each set in a different decade of the 20th century, which together tell a long story of […]

Directed by Jeff Krulik and John HeynFilm Baby On May 31, 1986, amateur filmmakers John Heyn and Jeff Krulik pulled into an arena parking lot outside of Washington D.C., unpacked their equipment, and proceeded to shoot footage and conduct interviews with the scores of fans who had gathered to prepare for that evening’s Judas Priest/Dokken […]

BBC/Warner Home Video In terms of cultural impact, Dr. Who is the British Star Trek and Star Wars put together. The BBC-TV series about a dapper two-hearted alien traveling through time and space in what looks from the outside like a blue police box, first went on the air in 1963 and ran continuously until […]

Soundrack featuring various artists Columbia/Sony Director and writer Todd Haynes’ new film, an unusual, eccentric biopic of Bob Dylan entitled I’m Not There, stars six different actors, including Cate Blanchett, Richard Gere, Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, portraying the enigmatic singer/songwriter in different stages of his life and career. With the wide release of at […]

Book by Judith Jones Knopf The opening scene in Judith Jones’ memoir, The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food, says it all: Her mother was well into her 90s, and she had one question for her daughter. All she needed was an honest answer. Jones braced herself for something heavy-duty. But her mother needed to […]

Game by Level-5 Play Station Portable I had the fortune of winning a PSP in a contest a few weeks ago, and in my hunt for an inaugural game for the system, I spotted Jeanne D’Arc on a shelf in a local toy store. Because the cover sports an awesome girl with a sword and […]

CD by Six Organs of Admittance. Drag City Records. At this point in Ben Chasny’s storied career, it is unfair to continue referring to John Fahey and Robbie Basho in an attempt to situate the Eureka native’s musical orientation. His accomplishments in Six Organs of Admittance, as well as Comets on Fire and various other […]

CD by Omar Dykes/Jimmie Vaughan. Ruf Records. Less is more. The space between the notes is at least as important as the notes themselves. That concept has been well enunciated by bluesmen like James Harman, Freddy Below and Jimmie Vaughan. This new release from Kent "Omar" Dykes and Jimmie Vaughan is a great illustration of […]

Book by Matt Taibbi. Published by Black Cat Books. There are only two reasons to read the otherwise decrepit Rolling Stone magazine these days, and neither of them have anything to do with music. One is David Rees’ pissed-off clip art comic strip Get Your War On, and the other is the stiletto sharp journalism […]

CD by Al Di Meola. Inakustic. Widely recognized for his technical mastery and Latin flare, guitarist Al Di Meola gained notoriety playing with Chick Corea’s jazz fusion project Return to Forever. Di Meola quickly established a successful solo career and spent the ’70s and ’80s integrating traditional Latin sounds with intricate song structures and his […]

Oct. 27, 2007 Live at the Ocean Grove Crunk music is the notorious southern brand of hip hop — dizzying repetitive beats crafted to make dancers ecstatic, often with the assistance of alcohol and drugs. A pre-Halloween evening with Humboldt honky tonk band Rooster McClintock at Trindad’s Ocean Grove offers an easy comparison: honky crunk. […]

Book by John Leland. Published by Viking. Few literary brands need to be reduced in size and fable more than that of Jack Kerouac. In honor of the 50th anniversary of Kerouac’s On the Road, the hip European clothing shop Hogan debuted its own line of Kerouac-inspired beatnik clothing, including boots starting at $475. Clearly […]