In January, the British music magazine New Musical Express named the 100 greatest British albums of all time. Mostly, the list contains the usual suspects: The Beatles, Radiohead, The Stone Roses, etc. Shockingly, however, the album listed at No. 5 is the (very) recently released Arctic Monkeys album, “Everything People Say I Am, That’s What […]
Author Archives: Mark Humphrey
Easy iPod return policy evidence of bad Apple
I hate my iPod. A lot. Let me tell you why. I received my iPod as a high school graduation gift. This was when not many people had iPods, and the only ones who did were wannabe-hipster scads who ran around, iPods clipped to their belts, proclaiming, “Oh Marcus, you must listen to this wonderful […]
Winter games get icy review
February is a pretty lousy month for sports, I think. The Super Bowl is over, while the NBA and NHL have their self-promoting all-star games (where gimmicks such as the 3-point shootout and dunk contest far outclass the actual game). Plus, spring training has yet to start, and college basketball, while amusing, hasn’t hit a […]
Preview: Actor adds appeal to jazz show
As a style of music, jazz has always adapted to differing environments in a chameleon-esque way, with its influence permeating many genres. It should come as little surprise, then, that RoboCop and Dr. Ian Malcolm of “Jurassic Park” once played in a jazz band together. The group in question is the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, whose […]
Sounds of survival
The images are unforgettable. Ruined homes barely poking out of murky water. The living wading among the dead. Thousands fleeing over flooded freeway overpasses, hoping to be rescued. News reporters shaking their heads in disbelief, some moved to tears by the unimaginable human drama unfolding in a unique American city. “At every level ““ individual, […]
Corporate America says: Don’t stop believin’
I wrote a column a while back where I laid out my case for not liking The Beatles. This column took a lot of thought, as I attempted to pinpoint exactly why I couldn’t enjoy the most influential rock band of all time. I constructed a fairly bulletproof argument based on impossible expectations and knowing […]
Hit the streets to be seriously hardcore
After not having gone to many live shows in the recent past, my prospects are seriously looking up as of late. However, waking up on Saturday morning to buy concert tickets for Coachella reminded me that merely waking up early isn’t hardcore. It’s far more impressive to wait all night in line with rednecks, junkies […]