Escape With the Runaways

By Todd A. Brownlie

Stepping into a comic book series can be confusing and frustrating for most newcomers. Big name heroes, like the X-Men and Captain America, have been around for decades, with story arcs and characters so fleshed-out, it requires constant research into their past history. Maybe it’s the lack of dialogue or even a thin, uninspired plot in a series that will instantly cause you to set the issue down and just walk away.
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Michael Hurtt and His Haunted Hearts, Come Back To Louisiana

By Less Lee Moore

When first heard Michael Hurtt and His Haunted Hearts, I was dazzled. I’d seen Hurtt play with The Royal Pendletons dozens of times when I lived in New Orleans, but this was something altogether different.
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Renato Zero, Presente

By Hanna

Presente is a great album—if you can get it. As a result of his breaking with Sony, Renato has released it independently, as he’s emphasized overly clearly in interviews. It’s like a perfect tiny illustration of protectionism: while the independent release has had many advantages—more control over promotion, a more detailed concept and, of course, the uncommercial 17 tracks of the CD—it also means it isn’t for sale anywhere outside of Italy. The Sorcini network has insured it gets shared, but it is a situation that should be resolved, as this is shutting many people out and alienating an already detached market.
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Depeche Mode, Sounds Of The Universe

By Lisa Anderson

The boys of Depeche Mode and I go way back. This relationship has had its ups and downs, but the romance has been rekindled. I was able to reconnect with them last month when they released Sounds Of The Universe, their first new album in four years.
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Going With The Known Demons: An Interview With The Melvins

By Summer Hayes

Early on I knew the Melvins only by association, but it wasn’t until I saw them live that I realized how incredibly talented and unusually bizarre they really are. My initial introduction occurred in the early ’90s when the surge of grunge-angst rock (a.k.a. Temple of the Pearl in Chains) emerged from the northwest shores of Washington State. Ironically, I was too busy listening to Faith No More and swooning over Mike Patton to delve into the unconventional, yet highly addictive, sounds of the Melvins (and to think that I was on the right track and didn’t even know it). Nearly ten years later, in late 2002, I went to New Orleans to check out Mike Patton’s latest creation, Tomahawk, only to discover that the Melvins were the opening band. I was hooked.

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