Last week, David Byrne interviewed Thom Yorke of Radiohead for Wired, about their battle with record companies and their ultimate decision to produce and distribute their own music. This was punctuated a few months ago by releasing their latest album, In Rainbows, through their own site, and allowed fans to name their own price [...]

On The Muppet Show, Animal battles Buddy Rich. Until I saw this clip, I didn’t know the musician who performed Animal’s drumming was Ronnie Verrell. This is some amazing drumming.

Get The Muppets.

Negativland is a group that creates mash-ups of existing music, sound and video. They have been sued for this, but believe firmly that art belongs to society. They are releasing a compilation of their work, Our Favorite Things, which properly has been mashed up yet again by other artists. They started doing [...]

I was born after the 1960s. What I know is only from stories and grainy video, comprised of many heroic and striking moments, modern stories not unlike King Arthur’s Court or Hamlet. The difference is, these are modern stories from not that long ago, and you can see their effects clearly all around [...]

I went to an afternoon of flat track roller derby, and even though it’s a sport, I could care less who won or lost. A lot of us were there to be entertained. Roller derby is dramatic and theatrical. Lots of players and whole teams have strong characters (whether real or mythical), [...]

Some of the best funk and psychedelic music ever written was created for Italian B-movies in the 1960s and 70s. This music was compiled and released by Plastic Records in Italy. I discovered them through Tower Records (of all places) who carried a single album from their catalogue – Vroommm: Funk Cinematique. [...]

The Producers and Hairspray both began as movies, became musicals, and then turned into movie musicals. I have little doubt the new musical Young Frankenstein will follow the same footsteps.
It’s still in previews and has its flaws, but mostly it’s a lot of fun. From some really funny moments to a giant Frankenstein [...]

Any decent rockstar by nature is sexual and rebellious in one way or another. By nature this flies in the face of people who, for example, own tv or internet companies, or are heads of government big and small, and want to keep things nice and normal and non-rebellious. There is a history [...]

Sarolta Zalatnay, sometimes known as Cini, is a Hungarian singer who sounds like Stereolab, Joan Jett, Janis Joplin, Abba or Blondie, depending on what song you’re listening to and what mood you’re in. Her fashions changed as much as her musical style, but both are always energetic and daring. All totaled, her best [...]

Japanese artist Cornelius often performs in stadiums back in Japan. So I felt lucky to see him in a venue with only about 50 other people. When I first saw the show advertised, I thought it was a mistake because it was in such a small space. Cornelius has been called “The [...]

Throwing stuffed animals at each other while jumping on second hand furniture in between stripteases doesn’t count as art most of the time, even though it’s a helluva lot of fun. But Berlin choreographer Constanza Macras and company Dorky Park weave together an enticing performance that’s both fun and sexy while technically challenging. [...]