The Killers “Sam’s Town” Island Records (Out of 5) The Killers’ vocalist Brandon Flowers was recently interviewed in “Entertainment Weekly” and modestly declared that his group’s new album, “Sam’s Town,” would be “one of the best albums in the past 20 years,” not to mention the album “that keeps rock ‘n’ roll afloat.” Those are […]
Author Archives: Mark Humphrey
GAMER GALAXY: “Okami”
“Okami” Capcom PLAYSTATION2 (Out of 5) The Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii will be released next month to gamers ready to shell out their hard-earned cash for the latest interactive wares. These, along with the Xbox 360, will likely leave old game consoles in the dust, forgotten in a haze of resale bins and budget […]
Hopelessly bound to be star crushed
She’s everywhere I look. On buses. At the Century City mall. On the sides of buildings. Everywhere she is, she’s doing the same thing ““ suggestively putting her index finger to her lips, shushing my inner libido as if to say, “Wait ’til it’s not primetime network-TV anymore, cowboy.” Yeah, it’s puppy love alright. Too […]
SCREEN SCENE: "American Hardcore"
“American Hardcore” Director Paul Rachman Sony Pictures In the arena of documentary film, a filmmaker’s level of involvement with his or her source material can be both a blessing and a curse. Sometimes, a interest in a subject can lead to exhaustive research and interviews that a less enthused individual would not be able to […]
iPod song shuffle plays on emotions
When you’re as stubborn as I am, 5,731 songs can get old in a hurry. That’s how many songs I have on my iPod. I’ve got a diverse selection ranging from college favorites like Radiohead and Kanye West all the way to far-out wackiness like Wesley Willis and Optimus Rhyme. Yet strangely, while I love […]
Parents: Don't let your kids grow up so fast
Every few weeks, I visit my mother to have dinner and catch up on the goings-on in the community, and she occasionally hits me with a real doozy. She informed me that police in Calabasas had reportedly caught two teenagers having sex behind the local movie theater. This wasn’t terribly newsworthy until my mom told […]
Stepping out of Sufjan's shadow
For independent bands in 2006, the Internet and music blogs have become as vital as Xerox machines and fliers were to the trailblazing underground groups of the 1980s. Yet while some emerging bands like Minnesota’s Tapes ‘N Tapes have embraced the new medium and secured record deals through Internet and blog buzz, Canadian group Shapes […]