Featured Article
U2000s (Part One): All The Decade We Must Leave Behind
December 16, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Once called “the band of the 80s” in the group’s inaugural decade, U2 remains, according to Rolling Stone magazine, one of the best in the world at the end of their third decade. As music critics, bloggers, fans, and radio hosts from around the planet engage in epic list-making and taste-staking to recall the first ten years of the century known to some as “the oughts,” U2 fare fairly well. In the Rolling Stone Top 100 Albums of the period, all three U2 records hold formidable rank (All That You Can’t Leave... [Read the full story]
U2 News
U2 To Do Festivals Again! Glastonbury Confirmed & Bonnarumored
November 29, 2009 · 1 Comment
Just recently, Glastonbury and U2 confirmed that the Irish quartet will headline the 40th anniversary of the mother of UK rock festivals in June 2010. Almost immediately after that announcement, the hints and rumors (what I would rather call “focused and prayerful speculation”) began that U2 would also headline the American Glastonbury in small-town Tennessee, better known as the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival. When I think about U2 and the festival scene, I think of the band’s ascent in the early and mid-1980s:... [Read the full story]
U2 Shows
Up Against The Wall: U2’s Berlin Set Sparks Criticism
November 9, 2009 · 2 Comments
Given U2’s connection to Berlin with the Achtung Baby album, given U2’s history having “been around” when the Wall fell, given the historical moment that just transpired and U2’s desire to transport fans to a better place via music, it makes complete sense that the band would be invited to mark the anniversary with a free concert. All that said, most of the reports, like the one that follows, focused on allegations concerning the temporary fence that kept some fans from seeing the show. [Read... [Read the full story]
Concerts/Festivals
Remade Horizon: Dirty Projectors bring their experimental indie rock to Minneapolis
November 15, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Considering how incredibly tight the vocal and instrumental interplay on Bitte Orca is, I was, needless to say, skeptical about whether or not the Dirty Projectors would be able to reproduce their avant-garde indie rock/pop sound live. Luckily for me and everyone else at the Cedar Cultural Center, it turns out that the band is exceptional at doing just that, and even better, they’re able to maintain their melodies and harmonies while improvising and jamming into and out of songs–a mark of true musicianship. The sunny... [Read the full story]
Intermedia: Reviews/Views
Xmas Mix 2009: Tori, Sting, & Sugarland Light Up The Long Winter Nights
December 23, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Christmas music: some love it, many loathe it. This week it’s everywhere from radio to shopping mall, and frankly, some scrooges would rather hear your school-teacher’s fingernails on the chalkboard than yet another chirpy and cheesy rendition of a Christmas classic. However, for those of us who adore holiday and seasonal music, December offers the richest opportunities to explore the annual snowscapes of sound where myth and modernity merge. In 2009, we got a great crop of new Christmas albums, with maybe one... [Read the full story]
Featured Photos
U2 Commentary, Essays, & Analysis
U2000s (Part One): All The Decade We Must Leave Behind
Once called “the band of the 80s” in the group’s inaugural decade, U2 remains, according to Rolling Stone magazine, one of the best in the world at the end of their third... [Read more]
Will U2’s Claw Awe America?
Whether a technological cathedral of twenty-first century community or an environmentally wasteful machine of rock-star arrogance (or both!), U2’s massive “claw,” making... [Read more]
Entering Zoo Station: A Christian U2 Critic Talks to the Media
“I’m ready /Ready for what’s next /Ready to duck /Ready to dive” “Zoo Station,” U2 When my new book–We Get to Carry Each Other:... [Read more]
More U2 Commentary, Essays, & Analysis
U2 News, Reviews, & Shows
U2 To Do Festivals Again! Glastonbury Confirmed & Bonnarumored
Just recently, Glastonbury and U2 confirmed that the Irish quartet will headline the 40th anniversary of the mother of UK rock festivals in June 2010. Almost immediately after... [Read more]
Up Against The Wall: U2’s Berlin Set Sparks Criticism
Given U2’s connection to Berlin with the Achtung Baby album, given U2’s history having “been around” when the Wall fell, given the historical moment that... [Read more]
360 Degrees of Love: Reflections On The First North American Leg of U2’s World Tour
The mathematical idea of 360 degrees descends from ancient Babylon and has contemporary correlation in everything from video game systems to snowboarding. Increasingly in common... [Read more]
More U2 News, Reviews, & Shows
Featured Video
Intermedia: Reviews, Views, Etc.
Christmas music: some love it, many loathe it. This week it’s everywhere from radio to shopping mall, and frankly, some scrooges would rather hear... [Read more]
The start of Karen O’s career led us all to believe that this badass rock chick probably didn’t even know about the existence of an acoustic guitar,... [Read more]
For most bands, change in musicianship can be frightening, but not for the Avett Brothers. Starting out in early 2000’s as a hard rock band, they made... [Read more]
R.E.M.’s latest concert film, This is Not a Show, is disorienting, jarring, but most of all, simply beautiful. As part of Sound Unseen–a Minneapolis... [Read more]
Featured Shows and Festivals
Considering how incredibly tight the vocal and instrumental interplay on Bitte Orca is, I was, needless to say, skeptical about whether or not the Dirty... [Read more]
One major plus about the first day of this festival was the weather; yesterday was clear and warm, with a spectacular sunset and almost no need for long... [Read more]
It’s only three years old, but San Francisco’s Treasure Island Music Festival has already carved a unique niche in a musical landscape overburdened... [Read more]
On a cool, late September fall night perfectly suited for Grizzly Bear’s cerebral and reflective music, the band played to a sold-out crowd at First... [Read more]