"They came to me and said, 'We don't want to lose Conan O'Brien.' I said, 'Oh, OK, what does that mean?' " The big shocker here: Leno's been host for 11 YEARS already. All CBS has to do is hire Jon Stewart, it's a SLAM DUNK. … [Read more...]

Punk's Revenge on WBUR's arts page. … [Read more...]

NPR's On Point with Tom Ashbrook (from WBUR Boston) Rock 'n Gender Roles Aired: Friday, September 17, 2004 8-9PM ET RA | WMA | QT … [Read more...]

My appearance on today's Here and Now, with Robin Young, promoting Fever. Click here for the direct RA link. … [Read more...]

Owen Gleiberman weighs in on a lot of things at rockcritics.com, including this comment on pop in the movies: I've always lived for those moments in movies that are musical-dramatic epiphanies. The form, if that's what it is, was really born in Kenneth Anger's Scorpio Rising--both Scorsese and David Lynch were hugely influenced by its fusion of darkness and Top 40 beauty--and the great filmmakers are still out there doing it. Wes Anderson, as much as I deplore his synthetic irony, is a wizard at using songs to conjure a mood. I'm haunted by … [Read more...]

Jeff Jacobi ("Where is the Muslim outrage?"), meet the New York Times ("Massacre Draws Self-Criticism in the Muslim Press"). … [Read more...]

Back from another Goshen Fair, rich with carbs. Late into the night after rescreening some BAND OF BROS, which holds up nicely, I listened to the Fiery Furnaces's BLUEBERRY BOAT, which blew my mind instead of lulling me off to sleep. I mean this in a good way. The lyrics veer between offhanded randomness and surefire inevitability; the production values are pristine but not IN YOUR FACE; the singing is casual-virtuosic; and the elaborate instrumentation recalls the more inspired Brian Wilson. Eric Weisbard sings their praises in … [Read more...]

David Thomson on Robert Redford. introducing FANTASY COVERS: Max Cleland doing Johnny Paycheck's "It Ain't Over Til the Triple Paraplegic Vet Sings" GLOSSED IN TRANSLATION: "I listened to Richard Nixon... and I decided to be a Republican..." Arnold Schwarzenegger. READ: "That one guy looked richer than the other guy..." [What would Nixon make of Arnold?] "Thank God we have George W. Bush for President..." Rudolph Guiliani. READ: "Thank God there's a Republican controlling the federal spigot..." John McCain explained: he's accepted a major … [Read more...]