AltWeeklies Wire
A Review of the Country-rock Mason Dixon Band's Debutnew
Every classic country album needs a sappy romance song, and "Unspoken Promises" delivers it with a slow tempo and whining steel guitar in the background. "Ain't Dead Yet" is the best track because it sounds more like a snippet from life on the road than just another folk diddy.
Charleston City Paper |
Patrick McGinn |
12-16-2009 |
Reviews
'The Men Who Stare at Goats' Falls Short of Strangelovian Laughsnew
Grant Heslov's film is so intent on being funny and ironic that it erodes any audience investment in the characters and their plights. We spend so much time laughing at their travails that when it's time to root for their victory, it's just too damn late.
Charleston City Paper |
Felicia Feaster |
11-04-2009 |
Reviews
Mirror Universe Tapes Helps Revive Interest in a Once-Dead Formatnew
It's hardly worth declaring a cassette revival, or even to say tapes are the new vinyl. But the recent success of the Charleston-based cassette-only record label Mirror Universe Tapes seems to indicate otherwise.
Charleston City Paper |
Bryan Reed |
10-14-2009 |
Music
Kathy Griffin Wins Big as a Hollywood Losernew
Many comedians have made a living by finding funny eccentricities in everyday life. But Griffin's show is less about what you did or saw yesterday and more about what you read on TMZ.
Charleston City Paper |
Greg Hambrick |
10-14-2009 |
Performance
Tough Titties: Lowry Beall Stares Down Breast Cancernew
At 27 she found a lump. At 29 she had a bilateral mastectomy. At 30 she's trying her damnedest to be a badass cancer survivor.
Charleston City Paper |
Stephanie Barna |
10-07-2009 |
Housing & Development
Andrew Bird Has Many Talents, but Have You Heard Him Whistle?new
Bird's whistling is the shining diamond embedded in the gold band of song he's been developing since he played a sideman's role for the Squirrel Nut Zippers in the '90s.
Charleston City Paper |
Bryan Reed |
10-07-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
St. Vincent Embraces the Excitementnew
Her alter ego may have plenty of hipster, too-cool-for-school fans, but behind the Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter St. Vincent is Annie Clark, a charmingly unassuming young woman who conducts phone interviews from her mom's mini-van.
Charleston City Paper |
Andrea Warner |
10-07-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
John Patton Ford Hopes to Hit the Film Festival Circuit with 'Patrol'new
Ford's star continues to rise. Patrol was a finalist in the prestigious Angelus Student Film Festival, and two AFI grad school screenings sold out. Ford's parents were there to share his big moment.
Charleston City Paper |
Nick Smith |
10-07-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Ghostface Killah Goes R&B on 'Ghostdini'new
Like his excellent 2006 LP, Fishscale, Ghostdini demonstrates Ghostface's uncanny ability to take a single thematic unifier and present it from different angles over the course of an album. What Fishscale was to drug narratives, Ghostdini is to sex jams.
Charleston City Paper |
Bryan Reed |
09-30-2009 |
Reviews
Drivin' N Cryin' Release Their First Studio Album in 12 Yearsnew
"We're really enjoying the fact that people are excited that there's a new record out, and we're really excited that we get to do this again. We don't have any plans to write or record anything in the future. We're just enjoying this moment for what it is."
Charleston City Paper |
Doug Walters |
09-30-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Gov. Sanford & the Dos and Don'ts of Making Over a Ruined Reputationnew
We assembled a sort of pro bono crisis management team to determine what image is really worth and whether or not a tarnished reputation like Sanford's can be fixed.
Charleston City Paper |
Kinsey Labberton |
09-30-2009 |
Politics
Singer/Guitarist Eric Lindell Makes Space for Soulnew
Gulf Coast Highway finds Lindell reaching new musical ground. As passionate as ever, he sounds as strong on the mic and through the guitar amp as he did on previous albums. But there's a fine layer and extra polish on this new batch.
Charleston City Paper |
T. Ballard Lesemann |
09-23-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Eric Lindell, Gulf Coast Highway
Groundation Jams on More Than Just Reggaenew
For over 10 years, frontman Harrison Stafford has led his spiritualized reggae ensemble from their earliest days in the northern California scene through a world-wide musical journey that continues to aim far.
Charleston City Paper |
T. Ballard Lesemann |
09-09-2009 |
Profiles & Interviews
Memoir 'Traveling with Pomegranates' Offers European Reflectionsnew
Pomegranates goes back 11 years, when Sue Monk Kidd was contemplating trying fiction for the first time. Ann Kidd Taylor had just graduated college, suffering from depression with no clear picture for her life.
Charleston City Paper |
Jonathan Sanchez |
09-09-2009 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
Decision on Offshore Drilling in South Carolina Nears the Surfacenew
The U.S. Department of Interior's Minerals Management Service is drafting up a plan that could open the South Carolina coast to offshore oil and natural gas exploration in five years.
Charleston City Paper |
Dan McCue |
09-09-2009 |
Environment
