Articles Archive for August 2009
Celebrity, Fashion »

Recently, André Leon Talley graced Time Out New York with a short interview, probably as part of Anna-Goddess-Wintour’s strategy to promote “The September Issue,” the documentary of her work on Vogue’s largest issue ever, September 2007′s. Even though it’s a very uninteresting interview, it does convey an important reality: people should mix and match designer and regular brands in order to look cool without having to spend money they do not have. I have done this before, as any fashionista, and there are some tips I am more than willing to share (especially because I know 99% of the humanity has no clue whatsoever on how to dress).
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Music, The Critic »

Being one of Jack White’s right-hand men certainly does have its advantages. Practically unknown outside of Detroit before he joined up with White and company for the Raconteurs in 2005, power-pop auteur Brendan Benson has been quietly making effortlessly catchy rock ‘n roll since the ‘90s. It’s a bit ironic that Benson finally achieved a modicum of commercial visibility assisting White in a band where Benson was merely the second fiddle, although Benson’s pop influences and golden ear for a hook were a major reason for the Raconteurs’ radio success. Then again, those Raconteurs paychecks have gone a long way towards buffing out Benson’s inimitable pop-rock stylings, and My Old, Familiar Friend features Benson’s most tricked-out studio effort yet, along with the requisite mammoth wall of hooks and lyrical charm he’s been praised for all these years…
Music, The Critic »

Let’s get this straight right off the bat – Jessie James is not a country singer. Yes, the marketing campaign paints her as Nashville’s newest painted-on jeans vixen, and her powerful vocals do tend to have a sort of twang about them, but James is a dyed-in-the-wool pop singer through and through. Her debut self-titled is country in the same way Taylor Swift’s latest could be billed “country” – it pays lip service to strong-willed women in the Carrie Underwood vein and throws the occasional banjo lick in here and there. That being said, James’ apparent crisis of identity makes Jessie James a hit-or-miss affair, where the singer vacillates between radio-ready Top 40 smashes and dead-in-the-water balladry or misguided genre affairs.