There’s no form of art tied up with notions of “authenticity” as much as music. We don’t get it from the music itself, however; aside from certain sectors of hip-hop, punk, and folk, the music itself doesn’t necessarily concern itself with “realness” as a thematic element. No, music listeners apply labels to each [...]

The invective issued by Chris from Gorilla vs. Bear toward another blog (to remain nameless) last Friday, brings to the fore that good old fashioned debate bound to emerge out of any music (sub)culture: authenticity. My initial reaction when reading the post was surprise—that the initial, bold accusation of falsity was coming from the [...]

As witnessed through Death Cab for Cutie’s last two albums, singer/songwriter (and sole meaningful member) Ben Gibbard’s formerly unique style of songwriting has morphed into something nearly unlistenable. In the cyclical, cross-medium method that’s become the popular standard, Gibbard’s lyrics have taken on the universal, overly sentimental tone of teen melodrama “The O.C.,” which, as [...]

It’s been widely reported that CBS’s “Love Monkey” is not much more than a mutual hand-job between the network and Sony/BMG—Teddy Geiger (his Sony debut drops in February, y’all!) as the new Beck, Franz Ferdinand’s “Do You Want To” (distributed stateside by Sony) popping up in the background of a club scene, and main character [...]

“An approximate and complicated visualization of an idea invariably precedes the industrial discovery which alone can open the way to its practical use” — Andre Bazin
Comments by esteemed colleagues Wes and Kevin on a recent post of mine have spurred me to offer some specific thoughts of my own on Rob Horning’s recent PopMatters article [...]

The simmering debate making its way around the internet, concerning Morningwood and We Are Scientists and which band will be more successful in 2006, is absolutely not interesting. First, though, a disclaimer. Everyone’s tastes: They’re fine. I have no problem with them. Don’t take offense. Now, the bands. Neither of them are very good. That’s [...]

During a conversation with a friend (over IM, naturally) the other day, he asked me for my recommendations for the “next big thing.” Assuming he meant music, I quickly sorted my iTunes by date, scrolled down to 2005, and began reciting bands in reverse alphabetical order: Wilderness, Tom Vek, Sufjan Stevens, Russian Futurists, Pitty Sing, [...]