AltWeeklies Wire
Vampire Weekend Dials Up '80s Nostalgianew
It's too early to tell whether the band will survive adolescence, though it's certainly bought some time with its ascending bass lines, squirmy guitar refrains, staccato string arrangements, and endearingly monotone vocals.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Max Goldberg |
01-23-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Vampire Weekend
Yeasayer Trots Along Unexpected Musical Pathsnew
The Brooklyn band has managed to engage even the most cynical of indie veterans with its escapist realm filled with an uncompromisingly authentic helping of psychedelic guitar noodling, hypnotic pop vocals, and worldly percussion that's as reminiscent of Carlos Santana as it is of Animal Collective or the Cure.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Fred Miketa |
01-23-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Yeasayer
Marvin Gaye's Everlasting Sublimenew
Breakup and concept albums may be part of the central tenets of rockism, but Marvin Gaye combined the two to produce Here, My Dear that trumps both modern music history and his personal specificities of time and place.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Kandia Crazy Horse |
01-23-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Marvin Gaye, Here, My Dear
You Can Judge This Book by its Covernew
This catalogue of what United Kingdom censors called video nasties proves visually and verbally lively. And for a book bathed in blood and drawn to depressing and despairing expressions of murder such as the infamous Maniac (1980), Nightmare USA is surprisingly and endearingly warmhearted.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Johnny Ray Huston |
01-23-2008 |
Nonfiction
Novel Gazingnew
Flash: Old white writer possibly irrelevant.
Sacramento News & Review |
Jonathan Kiefer |
01-23-2008 |
Reviews
W. Kamau Bell Takes His Swing at Racismnew
W. Kamau Bell plays against type and comes with not only the insights you wish you had spewed first but also the wit, centered on the issues of race that he's been grappling with since childhood.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Kimberly Chun |
01-23-2008 |
Performance
Tags: performance
Saving Food From Too Much Saltnew
There is hope if you've added too much salt to a dish or store-bought food is too salty out of the jar.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Paul Reidinger |
01-23-2008 |
Food+Drink
Using Biodiesel is Win-Win Situationnew
The newly established SFGreasecycle picks up used fats, oils, and grease at no charge from wherever people are willing to spare them. The list currently comprises mostly eateries, but also households, high schools, a synagogue, and museums. By the beginning of 2010 it aims to collect 100,000 gallons of grease per month.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Rachel Stern |
01-23-2008 |
Environment
Tags: environment, biodiesel
Maybe All Clones Should be Labelednew
Some are debating whether they will eat cloned meat, but do they know a fertility researcher and a biotech company investor are busy cloning themselves?
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Annalee Newitz |
01-23-2008 |
Animal Issues
Tags: animal issues
Daily Life in Sao Paulo is Anything but Dullnew
Director Chico Teixiera is best known for his documentaries -- his first film was the doc Favelas -- and his first narrative feature speaks to the honest and intimate way he is able to convey the life of an urban, middle-class Brazilian family.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Jennique Mason |
01-23-2008 |
Reviews
Portland Art Center, R.I.P.new
The Portland Art Center closes -- who is to blame?
Willamette Week |
Richard Speer |
01-23-2008 |
Art
Tags: visual arts
Toothed-vagina Ladies are Getting Away with Murdernew
I'm perfectly willing to accept that growing up next to a nuclear reactor might cause a girl to develop interlocking incisors in her vagina. (Things happen.) But I'm a little more skeptical that a year and a half of sexual abstinence will turn a teenage boy into a rapist.
Willamette Week |
Aaron Mesh |
01-23-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Mitchell Lichtenstein, Teeth
Helio Sequence's Synth-folk Floundersnew
It begins well enough but, weirdly, it's also stuffed with pick-happy country riffs that inevitably overwhelm.
Willamette Week |
Jay Horton |
01-23-2008 |
Reviews
Michael Hurley: Pre-Freak Folknew
Portland legend Hurley has a posse: He's credited as an influence by a number of musicians both local (Little Sue, Pete Krebs, Amy Annelle) and national (Cat Power, Lucinda Williams, Devendra Banhart).
Willamette Week |
Casey Jarman |
01-23-2008 |
Reviews
Tags: Ancestral Swamp, Michael Hurley
Chris Walla on Seized Hard Drive and Solo Worknew
His solo debut, Field Manual, garnered attention well before its release: In October, the Department of Homeland Security seized the album's master files during their transport across the Canadian border.
Willamette Week |
Amy McCullough |
01-23-2008 |
Music
Tags: Chris Walla, Field Manual
