AltWeeklies Wire
A Handful of PDX Pop Now!'s Founders Reminisce, Persevere and Conquer Genrenew
The annual PDX Pop Now! festival, which celebrates its fifth birthday this Friday through Sunday at Rotture, shows no signs of aging--even if it has caused a few gray hairs among the heads of four of its founders.
Willamette Week |
Casey Jarman |
07-23-2008 |
Concerts
San Francisco is a Dangerous Town for Butterfliesnew
According to lepidopterist Liam O'Brien, 24 of 58 local species have been wiped out in regional extinctions caused mainly by habitat destruction. Another three or four, he said, will likely be gone within the next five years.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Kat Renz |
07-23-2008 |
Animal Issues
Why Did the Liberals Cross the Road? Bill Bishop Crunches the Numbersnew
Although conventional wisdom affirms the accuracy of the analysis in The Big Sort and the social costs that flow from it -- a decrease in across-the-aisle contact, elevated levels of rhetorical excess, diminished civility -- it does not follow that our political life has reached new levels of intemperance, or that this has had any enduring impact on our capacity to govern.
The Texas Observer |
Char Miller |
07-23-2008 |
Nonfiction
How One San Fran Woman Helped Nail a Notorious Weapons Smugglernew
Investigator Kathi Austin helped expose notorious arms dealer Victor Bout and awaken the world to a key human rights struggle.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
G.W. Schulz |
07-23-2008 |
Crime & Justice
'Wanted and Desired' Takes Aim at Roman Polanski and the Culture of Celebritynew
Some critics will probably deride Wanted and Desired as pure hagiography, or worse yet, a legitimization of Polanski's crimes and subsequent fugitive status. But Zenovich's intentions circumnavigate any idol worship, as her refusal to err toward his guilt or exoneration makes clear.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Erik Morse |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
Beck Offers Gloom You Can Move to on 'Modern Guilt'new
By enlisting DJ Danger Mouse, Beck seemed poised for a return to the madcap sound collages of his early landmark albums. But on Modern Guilt, Beck's 10th album, Danger Mouse streamlines the meditations on personal stasis and existential dread that have been the core of Beck's output since the acoustic gloom of Sea Change.
C-Ville Weekly |
Kaveh Ardalan |
07-23-2008 |
Reviews
Constructing 'American Teen' with Nanette Bursteinnew
American Teen debuted at Sundance 2008, and some viewers begrudged the sale of Nanette Burstein's eminently entertaining, beautifully constructed snapshot of the lives of several teenagers across a senior year at a Warsaw, Indiana high school.
Chicago Newcity |
Ray Pride |
07-23-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: American Teen, Nanette Burstein
The Radiators Show Their Rough Side on 'Wild & Free'new
This two-disc set of unreleased rarities, outtakes, flotsam and jetsam of 30 years of playing comes across as something of a basement tapes recording with rougher, more laidback versions of fan favorites.
Tags: The Radiators, Wild & Free
C-Murder Creates Gangsta Nostalgia on 'Screamin' 4 Vengeance'new
Corey Miller, aka C-Murder, releases a new project while awaiting a retrial on murder charges. The record is filled with stomping, lead-heavy beats and menacing gangsta growl and features a guest spot from No Limit star Mia X. It's not a thriller, but does strike chords of nostalgia.
Tags: C-Murder, Screamin' 4 Vengeance
John Cleary Channels New Orleans Legends on ' Mo Hippa'new
Jon Cleary's new album captures some of the unfettered groove of New Orleans legends like James Booker and Professor Longhair on a record of authentic Crescent City stomp and boogie-woogie.
New Orleans Saints Seek Redemptionnew
The New Orleans Saints hope to put last year's disappointments behind them in 2008.
Tags: sports & fitness
Gun Law Loopholes Render Gun Control Pointless in Many Statesnew
Idaho is one of them. The state has no idea how many mentally ill are out there armed.
Boise Weekly |
Nathaniel Hoffman |
07-22-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Massacre in Moscow, Idaho: Part IInew
The second part of a two-part series examining a courthouse shooting in Moscow, Idaho and the factors that led to the massacre.
Boise Weekly |
Nathaniel Hoffman |
07-22-2008 |
Crime & Justice
Salvia D: The Tempest in a Tea Leafnew
Indigenous people use this Mexican plant for medicinal purposes, which has researchers touting its healing potential. Others smoke it for a legal high, which has legislators itching to regulate. What's to keep Salvia D from being the drug war's next casualty?
Missoula Independent |
Patrick M. Klemz |
07-22-2008 |
Drugs
Salman Rushdie Creates an Engrossing East-Meets-West Novelnew
The bridge between these two worlds is the enchantress of the book's title, an Indian princess so beautiful and beguiling, Rushdie keeps her from the reader for more than half of the book--as if we, too, could not bear the full power of her charms.
Weekly Alibi |
John Freeman |
07-22-2008 |
Fiction
