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A punk-like stab at the English heart *
There is no such thing as punk rock. There hasn't been for a decade, maybe two. Yes, a lot of pop music capitalizes (or anticapitalizes) on the territory punk cleared, while the hardcore-punk hobbyist network ploughs that same ground over and over again. [More]

A road show with a difference *
Independent poets, cartoonists and artists are mixing punk rock's do-it-yourself philosophy with avant-garde sensibilities in cross-country tours resembling variety shows, HAL NIEDZVIECKI writes [More]

Allison Crowe named Artist of the Week by Canadian-Music.com *
Canadian-Music.com: "Falling somewhere between Sarah McLachlan and Fiona Apple, B.C. native Allison Crowe's career is in an upward swing. An extremely gifted classically trained artist Allison has much to offer." [More]

An old soul in a new indie-life *
Singer-songwriter Matthew Barber studied the great thinkers as a philosophy grad and now, his of-the-moment music has snagged him a contract with Warner Music, GUY DIXON writes. [More]

Cobain fans still struggling to face the music *
Ten years after the tortured Nirvana singer's death, 'a major new investigation' timed with a book is rumoured to question his suicide. [More]

Cobain wanted to quit Nirvana, interview shows *
Grunge rock icon Kurt Cobain dreamed about leaving his band Nirvana to join wife Courtney Love's group Hole, a music magazine (published a year ago) quoted him saying in an interview months before his 1994 suicide. [More]

Dandy Warhols -- Welcome to the Monkey House: An irresistible dance groove *
The emotional distance between caring and not caring can be very small, as anyone knows who has felt the subtle extinction of whatever it is that sustains a relationship. [More]

Download Wars: Singing a different tune *
Not all artists share the industry's view that free music is bad, GUY DIXON finds. Some see filesharing boosting sales [More]

Firing up the classical Zappa *
This weekend, chamber works by rock's profane prankster will be performed alongside Bartok, writes ROBERT EVERETT-GREEN. [More]

Forgettable tunes, uncannily memorable *
I've played The Golden River, the second album from Victoria's Frog Eyes, more than anything else this summer -- at least a dozen times. And since its vast half-hour of sound in no way accommodates being background music, that means I have spent at least six hours of concentrated listening on it, usually following along with the lyrics in the CD booklet. [More]

Leah McLaren: The secret of indie record store success *
My local independent record store has been doing booming business all summer [More]

Music industry gets slick on swapping *
The recording industry is showing fitful evidence of getting its act together in the face of the global explosion of music swapping. While it will never score total victory, the industry will make some gains, and in the process change some things about swapping and possibly, the Internet itself. [More]

Music's teenage satirist *
She's just 19, but Nellie McKay has written some of this year's wittiest songs, writes ROBERT EVERETT-GREEN. [More]

Music, visual art and the shrieks that bind them *
Music and visual art are estranged siblings, each wanting what the other one's got enough to stir lifelong resentment. They stirred first in the same cave, we assume, one daubing blood and fruit juice up on the stone and the other picking up a couple of rocks and knocking them to a beat; and they both eventually got sent to the same schools, groomed and jargoned up to the eyeballs and earholes into respectability [More]

Pemberton Rocks out -- Bigtime *
We thought the inaugural Pemberton Festival was THE BOMB! Watch for more coverage in a photo essay (by evalu8.org staff-photographer Kit Johnson) later this week. [More]

Sex Pistols: Fings ain't wot they used to be *
"I might be nearly 50, but that's 50 years ahead of the (expletive deleted) competition." [More]

Stars sparkle as Heart pumps up the buzz *
Music that makes you want to make love or cry is putting this Montreal-based indie band on the map [More]

The sound of even half-baked ingenuity *
The music business is always shouting that it's in danger of going extinct. I've decided I'm all for it. Any industry that responds to a technology shift by going to war against its own customers deserves what it gets. [More]

The Stills are going places *
The Montreal band is just one year old, but has already made a mark in New York and London, cut a stunning debut album and wound up on Rolling Stone's list of artists to watch in 2003 [More]

The story of O and the band *
Punk trio The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, fronted by Karen O, have wowed the New York scene and sparked a bidding war for their first record deal [More]

Truthfully Truthfully: The fine line between truth and something else ****
The title's a cumbersome mouthful, and probably grounds for suspicion. Is Joel Plaskett really coming clean, or is he just getting better? [More]

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Boogie nights: Rock and Porn *
A special alchemy exists between the worlds of rock and pornography, as the infamous gain legitimacy and the famous get street credibility. [More]

California dreaming redux *
The songs of Grandaddy manage to blend the familiar alienation of alternative pop with large doses of sunshine as well, ROBERT EVERETT-GREEN writes [More]

Gonzo with the wind *
A new owner's promise to revive Creem magazine is prompting sceptical guffaws from some of its original writers, including ALAN NIESTER , who here recalls the golden age of a publication that lived and breathed rock 'n' roll [More]

Laramy Clothing: an evening of fashion and live hip hop... *
Andrea Grant -- editor of the delightfully literate Copious Magazine -- is throwing another party with stellar performers and the coolest in urban wear. [More]

Lisa Marie Presley: Making a name for herself *
For Lisa Marie Presley, songwriting is therapy.

And the lyrics on her debut album, To Whom It May Concern, are as raw, brutally honest and uncensored as the woman herself. Presley's music, like the artist, pulls no punches. [More]

Mostly Alt-Rock 101 *
Although the first pop stars to make the transition from concert halls to athletic arenas were true giants, the acts most commonly associated with the term "arena rock" were clearly of a lesser order. [More]

Roy Bookbinder & Jim Byrnes *
November 15, 2003, Vancouver, BC [More]

Sexual lyrics linked to sexual activity? Is this for real? *
We all know statistics can be bent to support any thesis, so take this report with a grain of salt. Or even a PILLAR of salt. [More]

Sudden Death Xmas Party & Garage Sale *
Sorry. Finished for this year. [More]

Tragically Hip Happening with Gord Downie as Poet Laureate *****
First of two sold-out shows at Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Theatre... [More]