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14 Apr 2010 20:10

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Culture: Larry King is the king of divorce, amongst other things

  • 8 divorces for the really old man with
    the really ugly suspenders source

22 Aug 2009 19:38

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Music: Our Saturday Mixtape peers back into some of 2000’s best tunes



A word of warning: This is not a top songs of the year list for us. Rather, these are five good songs from 2000 that are worth your time. And yes, we plan on doing this with every year of the decade over the next few months. Agree with these choices? Disagree? Debate here.

  • 1. Elliott Smith’s later period is one highly debated by fans. He went big around the time of “XO” and went even bigger around the time of 2000’s “Figure 8.” For some fans, this made the album a bit of a wash, but the single, “Son of Sam,” still holds strong nearly a decade later.
    2. It’s easy to forget, but The Mars Volta started from the split of the At the Drive-In, a band which did more to justify Thursday’s existence than it did The Mars Volta. A precursor to screamo, “One-Armed Scissor” is far less embarrassing than that descripiton sounds.
    3. What a shame. Grandaddy’s “The Sophtware Slump” is a great album best known as the answer to a trivia question. The question: “What album was Jason Lee’s son, Pilot Inspektor, named for?” A damn shame for a great album. “Jed the Humanoid” is a definite highlight for sure.
    4. Yo La Tengo will likely never break out of its cult audience, but they make great musical arguments why they should. “And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out” is one of the band’s peaks, and “You Can Have it All” is a quiet triumph.
    5. For us, hearing Radiohead’s “Nude” on 2007’s “In Rainbows” gave “Motion Picture Soundtrack” context. Many superfans were spoiled by a spare acoustic version of the song that made the “Kid A” version seem overly grand. But in the context of “Nude,” you see exactly what the band was going for. Worth revisiting for sure.source

06 Apr 2009 11:17

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Music: It’s Spring! Here’s five albums you should save your nickels for.

  • German garage act King Khan & The Shrines (a killer live act) finally brings their blazing “What Is?!” to the U.S. (April 21).
  • UK act Art Brut’s “Art Brut vs. Satan” (out May 12 Stateside) promises to be high-concept (in a really good way).
  • Jason Lytle, the former lead dude of Grandaddy, goes uber-twee with solo debut “Yours Truly, the Commuter” (out May 19).
  • Also on May 19, Eminem, long out of the game, tries to remind everyone that he’s still alive and still worthy with “Relapse.”
  • Perhaps the most anticipated indie release of the Spring season? Grizzly Bear’s highly-hyped “Veckatimest” (May 26).