Weezer Maladroit Geffen By: Eric Greenwood Weezer's speedy follow-up to last year's self-titled "Green" album signals a new found sense of purpose for bandleader, Rivers Cuomo. The dark, five-year period following what still stands as the band's best album, 1996's Pinkerton, is ancient history, as Cuomo has been accepted once again in the commercial arena. […]

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Spider-man Directed By Sam Raimi Columbia By: Eric Greenwood Despite the lame CGI effects, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man easily tops all of the superhero-themed films of the past two decades with a solid balance of camp, humor, and charisma. Raimi's cast is pitch-perfect. Convincing Sony that Tobey Maguire was the man for the lead role was […]

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The Notwist Neon Golden City Slang By: Eric Greenwood Having undergone inexplicable facelifts over its decade-long, five-album existence, Germany’s The Notwist is barely recognizable as the same band that churned out semi-industrial punk-metal back in the early 1990’s. Somewhere along the way, though, The Notwist, like countless post-punk outfits before it, slowly acquiesced to the […]

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Panic Room Directed By David Fincher Columbia Pictures By: Eric Greenwood On the surface David Fincher's Panic Room is typical Hollywood fare compared to the noir-ish, ultra-violence of his polemical last film, Fight Club. In almost any other director's hands, Panic Room would be an unwatchable catastrophe, but Fincher's showy directing style, which employs the […]

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Blanket Music Move Hush By: Eric Greenwood It would be easy not to notice this album if you dropped in at a party, and it just happened to be playing in the background. The music is so laid back and innocuous that it just hangs pleasantly in the air. You probably wouldn't know why you […]

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Blur Leisure Food/SBK By: Eric Greenwood Blur naively stormed the British music scene in 1990 with some false advertising. “There’s No Other Way” seemingly fit right in with the “baggy” Manchester dance pop revival, but it was hardly representative of the band’s versatility. Blur was far too talented to limit itself to any passing fad, […]

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This Computer Kills S/T Substandard Records/new Red Archives By: Eric Greenwood Just as I finish telling somebody that playing hardcore in 2002 is not unlike flogging a long-dead horse, here comes This Computer Kills to serve up a big plate of crow for me to eat. Sadly this Reno, Nevada trio announced its breakup only […]

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