Chuck Prophet – Temple Beautiful | CD Vinyl MP3 "Castro Halloween" (mp3) Because of the subject matter, which focuses on anecdotes and reminisces about San Francisco, Temple Beautiful is inevitably compared to Lou Reed's New York, an album homage to...
Bahamas – Barchords | CD Vinyl MP3 I Got You Babe" (mp3) Alfie Jurvanen releases his music under the name Bahamas and is also a member of touring bands for Feist, Jason Collett, The Stills, and others. On Barchords, Bahamas'...
Here are a few MP3s of songs from some of the better albums released this week: Bahamas – "I Got You Babe" from Barchords Capybara – "Late Night Bikes" from Dave Drusky Ben Kweller – "Mean to Me" from Go...
The Minor Leagues – North College Hills | CD MP3 Download "Ghost Maps" (mp3) Download "Secret Codes" (mp3) The Minor Leagues are a Cincinnati-based band started by Ben Walpole and Patrick Helmes that has expanded into a septet. The band's...
Gotye – Making Mirrors | CD Vinyl MP3 Download "Somebody That I Used to Know" (mp3) Gotye is the nom de musique of Wally De Backer, who is part of the Australian rock band The Basics. Making Mirrors, his third...
Crippled Black Phoenix – (Mankind) The Crafty Ape | MP3 Download "A Letter Concerning Dogheads" (mp3) The fifth album by Crippled Black Phoenix, (Mankind) The Crafty Ape, is an ambitious, 86-minute opus. The album is broken into three chapters –...
Here are a few MP3s of songs from some of the better albums released this week: Crippled Black Phoenix – "A Letter Concerning Dogheads" from (Mankind) The Crafty Ape Gotye – "Somebody That I Used to Know" from Making Mirrors...
Spy Island – New Milesian Kings | MP3 Download "The Punchline" (mp3) Download "Lonely Accomplice" (mp3) This Portland, OR, band of self-described nerds have an indelible chamber pop sound. The septet layers keyboards, horns, guitars and vocals into a cohesive...
John K. Samson – Provincial | CD Vinyl MP3 John K. Samson, the lead singer of The Weakerthans, released his full-length solo debut. Six of the twelve songs are rerecordings of the tracks from Samson's two solo EPs, City Route...
First Aid Kit – The Lion's Roar | CD Vinyl MP3 First Aid Kit is a folk duo of sisters from Sweden. Klara and Johanna Söderberg have an impressive catalog of songs from their first EP and full-length album. The...
Bhi Bhiman – Bhiman | CD MP3 Bhiman is the second album from folksinger Bhi Bhiman, after 2008's The Cookbook. The songs on this album, which have palpable lyrics, share varying perspectives, from a forlorn lover to an optomistic retiree,...
Cloud Nothings – Attack on Memory | CD Vinyl MP3 Download "No Future/No Past" (mp3) Download "Stay Useless" (mp3) Cloud Nothings began as the lo-fi recording project of Dylan Baldi. The self-titled first album – and the earlier EP and...
Here are a few MP3s of songs from some of the better albums released this week: Cloud Nothings – "No Future/No Past" and "Stay Useless" from Attack on Memory Nada Surf – "When I Was Young" from The Stars Are...
This is the latest review of my all-time favorite films. In Bruges (2008) | DVD Blu-ray Instant Video In Bruges is a dark comedy about two hitmen who are forced to take a vacation in Bruges after a hit goes...
Guided By Voices – Let's Go Eat the Factory | CD Vinyl MP3 Download "Doughnut for a Snowman" (mp3) It's been eight years since Guided By Voices released an album of new material (and nine years since I last saw...
Kathleen Edwards – Voyageur | CD Vinyl MP3 For her fourth full-length album, Canadian singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards shared production duties with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, who added a wide range of instruments and sang some background vocals to Edwards's normal...
Here are a few MP3s of songs from some of the better albums released this week: Guided By Voices – "Doughnut for a Snowman" from Let's Go Eat the Factory Small Mountain Bear – "Foolish Heart" from Mathematical Hands After...
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011) As one of the four words in its title divulge, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is set in a covert intelligence agency. Based on a John Le Carre novel of the same name, the film takes...
Pina (2011) Two days before filming of this documentary was to begin, Pina Bausch, the German modern dancer and choreographer who is the subject of Pina, passed away. Director Win Wenders cancelled the production. The members of Bausch's Tanztheatre Wuppertal...
Unlces – m4w Download "Ballad of Lehigh Valley" (mp3) Download "Bayberry Lane" (mp3) Uncles started as an outfit for the songwriting duo of Dan Bateman and Will Schwartz. After the guitarists finished their first album, 2010's Replacing Words with Other...