POSTED // Dec 31,2008 - The rise of Netflix and MP3 downloads gave me a reckless sense of power. In 2008, I downloaded music and rented movies I had no business in hearing/seeing but that I heard/saw simply because I could. I developed a shameful music catalog so vast I was forced to create a folder named “Guilty Treasures.” I figure that, in order to nip this monster before it grows too big, I will publicly ...

POSTED // Aug 27,2008 - Monorchist DQ’D DQ’D’s cover features a nice-looking gentleman placing his hand oh-so-kindly up a dog’s—well, if you have a good imagination, you get the picture. Inside, the band invites listeners to fill out a form, entering...

POSTED // Jul 23,2008 - RuRu Elizabeth When I first pushed play, “Why” had me thinking Elizabeth (Northplatte Records) would be an upbeat alt-country album, but it quickly wandered down a path of candid, melancholy tracks and stayed the course. RuRu, aka Isaac...

POSTED // Jul 9,2008 - Albert Hammond Jr. Como Te Llama? Sometimes the bird has to fly the coop for a while to do its own thing, and that is what guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. has been doing with his time away from The Strokes. Como Te Llama? is his second album to come out...

POSTED // Dec 26,2007 - Going out on the town is getting harder to do, it seems. My recent attempts were thwarted by a live-band karaoke leader getting in a car accident (forcing him to cancel inspired takes on Journey), bars not updating their Websites to explain that advertised...

POSTED // Sep 27,2007 - I didn’t move to Utah for snowboarding. I take the end of summer harder than a toddler throwing a fit over the lollipop that they can’t have in the grocery store, screaming “Mommy, you suck!” So, what better, and less embarrassing...

POSTED // Aug 8,2007 - Ryan Adams and his former alt-country band Whiskeytown have been two of my guiltiest pleasures since I was a wee lass. I used to hide my affections but, through open and honest communication with friends who think he should crawl into a hole the size...

POSTED // Jun 11,2007 - My new cable TV high had finally started to wane. It was time to dust myself off and leave the house. The question was: Could I leave my stories behind for a single night in Wendover, Nev.? nnMy slot finger was itchy, full of the anticipation that comes...

POSTED // Jun 11,2007 - I love Christmas'but I do not love Christmas music. If I purchase a Christmas album, it shouldn’t be July while I’m thinking ’tis the season to be jolly, deck the halls with what the hell does this all mean? nnI can, however, listen...

POSTED // Jun 11,2007 - My experiences with heavy metal are as follows (crickets chirping, tumbleweeds blowing in the breeze) … I had a Metallica poster on my wall in seventh grade. Does that count?nnSo last week’s Gigantour was to be my grand awakening into the world...