A New Review for a New YearThe Willowz, Chautauqua, Dim Mak [3/20/07] Another line-up change, another label. Not to worry, the Willowz still sound like the Willowz. The Anaheim aggregate still rocks hard, Richie Follin still sings at the top of his range. Hey, it worked for Geddy Lee, it worked for Fred Cole--it worked for Jeffrey Lee Pierce, too. The Willowz may sound more like the White Stripes as a quartet than trios like Rush or Dead Moon, but you get the idea.Guitarist Follin and bass player Jessica Reynoza form the core of the band. As with Chicago's Ponys, a garage-punk group founded by a couple, I'd imagine that these two are an item (Reynoza'

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When the Shillelagh Meets the HoodPart Seven: A Bundle of ContradictionsI'm a little black boy and I don't know my proper placeI'm a little black boy, get my head in its spaceI'm a little black boy, I just play my bassI'm a little black boy, it's no disgrace.-- Thin Lizzy, "Black Boys on the Corner" (1973)***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****I considered presenting a paper at next year's Pop Conference, but for various reasons, decided against it. See below for my proposal. Frankly, I don't think it would've made the cut, and PhilLynott means too much to me to risk it. At some point, I'll write something up for this site, but I still have a lot of

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Brooklyn in Da British House (By Way of a Mouse)Danger Mouse, The Grey Album, Bootleg [2004]I pray I'm forgivenFor every bad decision I madeEvery sister I playedCause I'm still paranoid to this dayAnd it's nobody fault I made the decisions I madeThis is the life I chose or rather the life that chose meIf you can't respect that, your whole perspective is wack Maybe you'll love me when I fade to black.-- Jay-Z, "December 4th"*****By now, everybody knows about The Grey Album. The thing is, not everyone has actually heard the record, since it was never--and will never be--officially released. Brian Burton, AKA Danger Mouse, had been kicking around the fri

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The Supergroup, the PowerTrio, and Polly JeanDungeon Family, Even in Darkness, Arista [2001]They don't use our music to get high / They use our music to get by.-- Dungeon Family, "Follow the Light"Ever wonder what would happen if Outkast joined forces with their Atlanta counterparts, like Goodie Mob? If so, you've probably already given this disc a spin. Well, another chart-topping duo, Gnarls Barkley, has me digging through the Cee-Lo Green archives for more treasures to excavate. (Even in Darkness also pre-dates Outkast's phenomenal Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.)As with Parliament-Funkadelic, many players make up this supergroup. Fourteen may be a cr

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An Army of Movies: My Top 30 for 2006Or maybe that should be an army of films, since I do tend to gravitate towards the art house. And this year, few big-budget spectaculars captured my imagination. Granted, I quite liked Déjà Vu, Casino Royale, and the underrated Superman Returns, but I wouldn't necessarily describe them as great.As for why I compile a top 30 instead of a top 10, it's simply because I find 10 titles too restrictive, even if it's the end-of-the-year standard. I see a lot of fine films and want to recognize as many of them as possible. Anything beyond 30 seems like overkill, so I list most docs and re-releases separately. In other word

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When the Shillelagh Meets the Banlieu, the Shtetl, and the Heart of DarknessThe following comes from a piece in Salon about controversial Nobel laureates. I've always thought Samuel Beckett was The Man as far as playwrights are concerned. I have a great deal of admiration for those who can say so much with so few words, and Beckett was a masterful minimalist. Of course, I'm also a great admirer of his more verbose Irish-American "cousin," Eugene O'Neill. In both cases, they exploited the English language for all it was worth. This piece proves Beckett was The Man in numerous other ways--plus, he had the best damned hair next to Seymour Cassell. Happy

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Into the LightAereogramme, My Heart Has a Wish That You Would Not Go, Sonic Unyon Recording Company [2/6/07]At the door, the curator took the old man's hand with an extra firmness. "My heart has a wish, Father: that you would not go."-- William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist (1971)*****Compared to their debut, My Heart Has a Wish is a kinder, gentler affair. Granted, the title comes from a line in The Exorcist that didn't make it into William Friedkin's frightfest, but there's nothing scary going on here. In fact, the Scottish quartet are sounding more like fellow heart-on-their-sleeves countrymen Snow Patrol these days and less like the more elliptical B

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The Greatest: My Top 20 for 2006I'm just riffing on the title of Cat Power's latest. I don't really present any of these titles as "the greatest." They're just my favorite records, reissues, and singles of the year--nothing more to it than that.*****Top 20:1. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere (Downtown/Atlantic)Who saw this one coming? Two shape-shifting tricksters who forged their reps via hip-hop, producer Danger Mouse and rapper-turned-soul man Cee-Lo Green, greet a welcoming world with the most exuberant pop platter of the year. Adding to the funky feat are lyrics that couldn't cut deeper. It's all here: depression, schizophrenia, suicide...necrophil

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Brightblack Morning Light: They're Gonna Let It ShineIn early September, I interviewed Rachael and Nathan from Brightblack Morning Light by email for a profile that ran in the Seattle Weekly later that month. (They prefer to be addressed as Rabob and Nabob, so I went with the flow.) As with most such pieces, I was only able to use a few quotes--the word count was 750--so for those who'd like to learn more about the duo, here's the complete transcript. I would also recommend Daniel Chamberlin's interview in the July issue of Arthur. Expect to see Brightblack Morning Light's self-titled Matador debut making a lot of top 10 lists for 2006.*****Hi Nabob.

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Mick Collins in ReviewWhile writing for Tablet (2001-2005), I contributed three Mick Collins-related reviews. Since the local alt-monthly n'existe pas, I'm reproducing them here so as to continue to spread the gospel (hey Collins, if you ever find yourself in need of a new publicist, look no further!). I've included the grades/scores I gave each effort at the time. Though Tablet began by using numerical scores, in the final year, we assigned grades, much like the Seattle P-I or Entertainment Weekly. Note that the word count also shrank between 2003-2005, hence the mini-review at the end. *****Blacktop, I Got A Baaad Feelin' About This - The Complete R

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