=== Man Alive, Open Surgery One of the better punk-driven rock bands I’ve heard on disc lately, Man Alive hails from the unlikely location of Israel but is brought to you by the Militia Group, the lean and muscular West Coast label that also promotes Copeland (and other promising new …

Half a century has passed since Rebel Without a Cause, the ur-film of postwar teenage alienation, made matinee idols of James Dean, Natalie Wood and Sal Mineo. The Barely Balancing Artists Group, a theatrical company formed especially for the Hollywood classic’s golden anniversary, is marking the occasion with a stage …

=== Copeland, live at Irving Plaza, NYC, Oct. 5 2005 Copeland (it’s a band, not a person) played an energetic opening set at the eagerly anticipated Bob Mould concert at Irving Plaza last night in New York City. Copeland is a tight quartet with a wall-of-sound two-guitar attack – except …

Today is the 35th anniversary of Janis Joplin‘s death. It would be wrong to let the date go by unnoted, so, although I don’t have time or energy to write a new essay, I can re-publish here a piece I wrote exactly five years ago marking the 30th anniversary. The …

A study commissioned by the US Department of Defense has concluded that, contrary to claims by some politicians and pundits, a “major factor in the delayed response [to Hurricane Katrina] was that the bulk of the Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard was deployed in Iraq.” Other factors contributing to the …

When we've got a mayor who's doing a pretty good job, we hesitate to kick him out.

Now, however, Magnatune customers can legally distribute up to three copies of uncompressed music.

Most of the music is terrible, which is encouraging.

Slowly but surely the major Web companies are becoming important players in the entertainment industry. Case in point: the Atlanta band Copeland, currently on tour supporting Bob Mould, begins a headlining tour next month (with Daphne Loves Derby, Melee, and The Spill Canvas) playing ballroom-size venues like the House of …

The Jason Sinay Band falls into the trap that has snagged so many "musicians' musicians" in the past.