If the Twin Cities has an answer to the literate, charmingly tuneful pop songcraft of Belle And Sebastian, or the Kinks songs that populate Wes Anderson movie soundtracks, it’s surely …
Originally published in The A.V. Club’s Twin Cities edition, December 5, 2011. As new local traditions go, few could be better or more welcome than the Minnesota Beatle Project, now …
British fantasy author Terry Pratchett has spent nearly his entire career writing about the Discworld, a pancake-shaped land carried on the back of a giant cosmic turtle. Over the decades, …
When the electrifying, trancelike street music spearheaded by veteran Congolese band Konono No. 1 reached Western ears in the early 2000s, it sounded like something beamed in from Mars. Konono’s music was …
Why it’s daunting: Everyone knows who Sherlock Holmes is, and it seems like everyone has written about him, too. It’s amazing just how much Holmes material is out there. The London …
Published in The A.V. Club, April 20, 2010. Roky Erickson is a true rock ‘n’ roll survivor. Founder of the groundbreaking 1960s psychedelic band 13th Floor Elevators, Erickson fell into a …
An icon of modern British culture and the longest-running science-fiction TV show in history, Doctor Who has never been more popular than it is today, thanks to producer Russell T. Davies, whose …
I was one of the contributors to The A.V. Club’s 2009 book Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, and 100 More …
Twin Cities post-punk quartet The Chambermaids sounds like it might have stepped out of a time machine, freshly arrived from 1983. Its new seven-song Down In The Berries fits comfortably back-to-back with spiky, art-punk …
“I always loved the idea that music is something to cast a curse with.” Originally published in The A.V. Club’s Twin Cities edition, August 14, 2009. Over the course of …