While listening to Melissa Czarnik's Raspberry Jesus, her second album on Milwaukee based label Hyperdrive Motivator Productions, I found myself repeatedly picking up the CD cover and looking at her picture in amazement. Perhaps this is a controversial statement, but I needed to remind myself that the soulful hip-hop jams I was hearing were indeed coming from this little fresh faced hipster looking girl. Czarnik is a native of Milwaukee and ... Read More

People like to gang up on Brooklyn based writer Tao Lin and I'm not sure why. The comment sections following online reviews of his books are often as entertaining as the books themselves. As I'm writing this review, I almost can't wait to check in a bit later to read the comments (if any) left here, and defend this writer who I find to be, if at all annoying, annoyingly honest. Lin's 6th book and 2nd novel, Richard Yates (Melville House), ... Read More

When people talk about sex it's usually in a very summer blockbuster sort of way. All ripped t-shirts and things throbbing and pulsating all over the place. It's always "the best I've ever had," or "the hottest I've ever had." What's left out is usually the most intimate parts, the little awkward details like those body fart noises that happen when two sweaty people mush up against each other, and how satisfying/painful the hood of a car ... Read More

Heavy Cream is a three girls for every boy (get it? The band has three girls and one guy) band from Nashville and their full-length debut Danny (Infinity Cat) is a sticky, sweet musical sundae made with equal parts Ramones, Be Your Own Pet, and the Runaways. Released only on vinyl and MP3, the songs on Danny sound like empty soda cans filled with thumb tacks. The guitars here are steady and understated, the drums are tight and cymbal heavy, ... Read More

Upon discovering that Juliette Lewis was going to be playing in Brooklyn to promote her new album Terra Incognita, it wasn't at all odd to me that I wanted to go - even though I don't own any of her albums, or know any of her songs. I can only imagine that this is the sort of thing that actors and actresses in bands hate, and why Jared Leto of 30STM fame prefers to keep on the down low (meaning he wears lots of makeup) in his own ... Read More