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Spoon has emerged as one of the most critically celebrated "underground" rock acts of the past half decade. Mixing '60s pop sensibilities with new wave and blues, Spoon has yet to develop a wide popular appeal but has garnered a significant following among the indie rock crowd.
By Jeff Rosenfeld in Arts

2. Spoon
Published Thursday, April 17, 2003

Spoon frontman Britt Daniel described their show between songs as the "biggest show we've played in Boston." Playing to a talkative but enthusiastic crowd significantly above the 18-year old minimum, Spoon impressed with a raw set that translated their deliberate and nuanced studio sound into a raucous salvo of bass riffs, measured keyboard parts, dirty guitar and Daniel's unique brand of over-enunciated vocals. Despite being saddled by a mix that left Daniel's softer vocals muddled, the band proved its significance as a potent live act.
By Jeff Rosenfeld in Arts

3. Not So High Kick
Published Thursday, April 17, 2003

I'll admit it. Maybe, in some far corner of my mind, have I ever thought, flipping wistfully through the channels on a rainy Saturday afternoon: "Gee, this horrible kung fu movie would be so much better if it was dubbed over by hip-hop artists." The concept isn't really original; Woody Allen's What's Up, Tiger Lily, a movie in which he dubs over the voice track of a bad Japanese spy flick, has garnered quite a cult following. So I wasn't that surprised when an odd little DVD, "Kung Faux: Volume 1" floated onto my desk and promised an "Action Packed Hip-Hop Comedy Kung Fu Series!" The whole set-up was simple: a group of (suspiciously nameless) hip-hop artists dub over bad kung-fu movies, an editor splices in some text and screen effects, and then the program is shown on MuchMusic USA (mmusa) and marketed as a collectable series of videos.
By Tom McSorley in Arts

4. Better than Ben
Published Thursday, April 17, 2003

Mossberg is the best thing to come out of Worcester since, well...okay, so they are the only good thing to come out of Worcester. They also just may be the best band in the area that you have never heard. However, after a few notes into their debut cd Everything's Electric you will swear that you have heard them before. The reason is that the three-piece band sounds uncannily like Ben Folds Five.
By PHILIP SAFARIAN in Arts

5. A Different Take
Published Thursday, April 17, 2003

Walking out into the Mather courtyard early Saturday morning, I saw Andrew Bujalski '98 leaning against one of the beautiful concrete towers almost immediately. It was very picturesque, perhaps like something out of a film. The bleakness of the early morning drizzle, the starkness of the brutalist architecture, and the solitude of the unkempt, corduroy-clad Harvard graduate visiting his alma mater.
By Susan Mathai in Arts

6. A big dose of scotch
Published Thursday, April 17, 2003

Is indie rock ready for Radiohead-drenched gloomrock delivered in a Scottish brogue so thick that depleted uranium shells couldn't puncture it? A brogue that makes Sean "You're the Man Now, Dog" Connery sound as American as Tom Brokaw by comparison? Well, too late. Arab Strap has been taking the coffeehouse/ dorm room world of indie rock by "stewarm" (my lame attempt at Twainian vernacular accuracy) for five LP's and seven years. Is indie rock ready for Radiohead-drenched gloomrock delivered in a Scottish brogue so thick that depleted uranium shells couldn't puncture it? A brogue that makes Sean "You're the Man Now, Dog" Connery sound as American as Tom Brokaw by comparison? Well, too late. Arab Strap has been taking the coffeehouse/ dorm room world of indie rock by "stewarm" (my lame attempt at Twainian vernacular accuracy) for five LP's and seven years.
By Greg McGarry in Arts

7. Malkmus Pigs Out
Published Thursday, April 17, 2003

Hot on the heels of the essential, torrential, providential, slanted and enchanted Luxe and Reduxe, Stephen Malkmus has unleashed another burly beast of a solo record. Brimming with wanky riffs and yankee-doodle hooks, bristling with electric pathos and eclectic effects, Pig Lib finds Malkmus flexing muscles he never knew he had during his Pavement daze.
By Greg McGarry in Arts

8. Post ironic party
Published Thursday, April 17, 2003

Some cats want loot, others want power and some are so far-gone they just want more beauty," wrote Majesticon lawyer and founder, Jay Wakowitz.
By SHAUNAK DEEPAK in Arts

9. No Time to be Unprolific
Published Thursday, April 17, 2003

When not working over or getting worked over by her guitar, Kate Schutt '99 can be found holding down her own company-the independently-fashioned Wild Whip Records, of which she is president and chief artist. Schutt has just released her third album, broken, the bookend of the trilogy that began with brokenwingtrick, a collection of rocking and cunning cover tunes, and brokenworld, a fistful of hard-wrought, original emotional tracks.
By Jessica Ruddock in Arts

10. The Big Apple Circus
Published Thursday, April 17, 2003

Tired of juggling academics, extracurriculars, and a shallow semblance of a social life? Are exams and papers making you feel like you're walking a tightrope? Then perhaps a visit to the circus would be just the thing to inject some slapstick fun into your life.
By Jaya Padmanabhan in Arts