I’ll pretty much watch anything that takes place in a whorehouse. I was pleasantly surprised by Working Girls, the 1987 film by writer/director Lizzie Borden. The whole tale takes place over the course of a single shift at an upscale Manhattan brothel. During the course of the film we meet old men who seem to be in love with the prostitutes, assholes who want to degrade them, … [Read more...] about Entertaining History
Ear Shot
Cindy Combs
This is more than just an album of great Slack Key guitar—it’s also the first album in my life that my dad and I equally enjoyed. Slack Key music is one of the true sounds of Hawai‘i–part of our history and definitely part of our future. Sunny Rain consists of 13 instrumentals and runs for 56 minutes. The album is organized by themes–Morning, Noon and Night. The music is … [Read more...] about Cindy Combs
Easy Tiger
As a teenager living in Jacksonville, North Carolina, Ryan Adams played in punk bands. Fifteen years later, the artist Rolling Stone Magazine once called “permanently wasted” did the most punk rock thing he could: defied his own conventions and got sober. His latest offering, Easy Tiger, is surprising in its own way. On this record, Adams distilled his songwriting, … [Read more...] about Easy Tiger
Joe Cano
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that until recently, I had never listened to Joe Cano. I know, I know. He’s a living legend with an international audience and a huge amount of original work under his belt. I don’t have a good excuse, besides the fact that I just wasn’t exposed to his music. So, when I saw his Best Of album sitting on my desk, I wasn’t jumping for joy. … [Read more...] about Joe Cano
PRINCE
Boo. I’m really pissed off about this whole new Prince (err, excuse me, the artist formerly known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince) album. I was really excited about Planet Earth… until I heard it. Then I wanted to cry tears of blood. This isn’t Prince! I love Prince. I would crawl across rusty thumbtacks—naked, with a third degree sunburn—just to be near his purple, … [Read more...] about PRINCE