YIKES this isn't really my list, it's just some stuff we talked about as we wrapped up. I adore the Beatle box except for the packaging. (Still, this fits in with their longstanding tradition of tanscending Capitol's packaging.) The real find is Reigning Sound, which gets better upon each listening. … [Read more...]

LEAD OF THE WEEK: Kinky Does Parrothead "THERE is a fine line between fiction and nonfiction, and I believe Jimmy Buffett and I snorted it in 1976..." (in the Book Review) And why is this guy a regular on every media outlet? Come again? Don't we have video of Buchanan calling for Trent Lott's … [Read more...]

From Ron Rosenbaum, in the New York Observer: In Ohio, where a switch of some 68,000 votes could have changed the name of the next President, the count deserved maximum scrutiny. Especially when the combination of allegedly "spoiled" invalid ballots (93,000) and the number of "provisional" ballots … [Read more...]

UPDATED 2004 LIST: Dogs Die in Hot Cars PLEASE DESCRIBE YOURSELF (V2) This guy sounds distractingly like XTC's Andy Partridge, waiting for that association to drop away... The Veils THE RUNAWAY FOUND (Rough Trade) This guy sounds like a cross between Neil Diamond and Bono... but in a GOOD … [Read more...]

CULTURE SHOCK: Walking around Harvard Square last week it was like a trap door opening beneath me to discover the hollowed out space where Wordsworth's used to be. 28 years. Where will tomorrow's movie critics come from? Then, on a routine trip to Davis Square, the sign on Disc Diggers announces … [Read more...]

Here's my review of Dylan's Chronicles on WBUR's Arts pages. Here's the passage nobody else seems to have noticed yet: "...In the midst of all this blarney, there are scenes that conjure up dodged bullets. Once, while sitting around Johnny Cash's house after dinner with Graham Nash, Kris … [Read more...]

Nancy Franklin's lead is (as SKL would say) "crashingly banal": "Though there has not yet been a poll to prove the validity of this claim, it’s probably fair to say that most Americans will not be glad to hear that the 2008 campaign started on Wednesday, November 3rd." Versions of that sentiment … [Read more...]

Here's the funniest graph from this weary obituary, but far from the least likely: Mr. Bush's Republican Party had, during his time in office, so effectively marginalized the opposition Democratic Party that it all but ceased to function in many states. After the suspension of the filibuster rule … [Read more...]

Dear Tim, I am glad you tracked down "That's Where I Went Wrong," and am not surprised that you were evidently a bit disappointed. Thems the perils of nostalgia. The funny thing about this is that I had the same odd desire to track down the song, although I could only remember fragments of the … [Read more...]

Dear AB,Well I suppose steal it once (and Hunter Thompson is convinced Jeb wantsta be Prez) they could try again. Only it would be ten times harder this time, and for some reason I'm distrustful of how close the polls claim it is. First off I think people are intimidated by pollsters and give … [Read more...]

Russ Baker makes the wires with this interview. Why do these folks wait until that last minute? It's enough to give you hope. I still think Kerry never used a gnarly moral stick: admonishing Bush publicly for not attending a single soldier's funeral and disallowing coffin photos (and the press for … [Read more...]

Ron Rosenbaum writes: "Whatever it was, it gets him on the road again: On the verge of dropping out, he now books two hundred concerts for the next year—and only illness (an infection around the heart, wouldn’t you know) has suspended this "endless tour" ever since. I suspect we ought to be grateful … [Read more...]

Now just hold on a doggone minute: I look forward to musicians and musically minded critics like Tim Riley explicating this further... Next month, on WBUR.org. … [Read more...]

Jon Stewart gets jiggy on CROSSFIRE last week (video here): STEWART: But let me ask you guys, again, a question, because we talked a little bit about, you're actually doing honest debate and all that. But, after the debates, where do you guys head to right afterwards? CARLSON: The men's … [Read more...]

We watched some of Springsteen's segment on the Vote for Change concert before the debate last night. Earlier, while flipping through some of the gawdawful interview "color" segments, I had heard some electric guitar noodling through the "Star Spangled Banner," and thought to myself: This should be … [Read more...]