Chris Willman

Esperanza Spalding Review: 'Radio' Heralds Jazz's First Music-Video Star

March 20, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

New album establishes Spalding as that rarest of things, a jazz singer capable of crossing over with self-penned tunes

  

'Hunger Games' Album Review: NPR-ish Teen Angst From Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, Arcade Fire

March 20, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

T Bone Burnett's quietly wily companion album for the movie eschews pulse-pounding tension for acoustic angst

  

'Once' Review: Cast Album Not the Real Swell Season, But An Incredible Simulation

March 13, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

The bitter edge of Glen Hansard's voice is missing in otherwise lovely Broadway cast covers of tunes from the indie film hit "Once"

  

Magnetic Fields Review: Anything Comedic Goes on Hilarious 'Love at the Bottom of the Sea'

March 6, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

If you love both Stephen Sondheim and Soft Cell, you're the target audience for Stephen Merrit's latest marriage of '80s-style synth-pop and arch, theatrical wit-eracy

  

Brad Pitt, George Clooney in All-Star Gay Marriage Play '8' (Video)

March 4, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

As a pro-gay-rights lawyer, Martin Sheen was the effortlessly passionate standout in a streamed reading of "8" that also featured Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Kevin Bacon, John C. Reilly, and Jane Lynch

  

Davy Jones Appreciation: 'Monkees' Star Wore the Mantle of Teen Idol Effortlessly

February 29, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

Davy Jones' death leaves the 16 Magazine generation crying at the loss of a teen idol that never chafed at the restraints placed upon him

  

Carve Out Some 'Wall' Space for Pink Floyd's Brick of a 7-Disc Box

February 29, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

Two discs of previously unreleased demos show how Roger Waters' opus of alienation became rock's own "Catcher in the Rye"

  

Lyle Lovett Makes Writer's Block Work for Him, Again, in 'Release Me'

February 28, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

Review: It's hard to complain about Lovett's spate of mostly-covers albums when he resurrects such juicy blues, country, and Texas-music obscurities

  

Chieftains Get the T Bone Burnett Treatment on Guest-Filled Anniversary Album

February 21, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

Fresh from the Grammys, Bon Iver and the Civil Wars are among the drop-ins deferring to the Chieftains' traditional style on a 50th anniversary album

  

Sleigh Bells Go With Death Knells On 'Reign of Terror'

February 21, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

A spoonful of sugary pop, along with a new penchant for heavy metal, make the morbidity go down on Sleigh Bells' mortality-themed new album "Reign of Terror"

  

Sinead O'Connor Rips Up Pope Again -- And Bono -- On New Album

February 21, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

It's not just the provocation that's a return to form for O'Connor on 'How About I Be Me (And You Be You)'

  

The Oscar-Nominated Sound Mixers: Gary Rydstrom of 'War Horse'

February 17, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

The veteran sound designer already has seven Oscars, and could pick up a couple more for his second trip to the battlefield with Steven Spielberg

  

Punch Brothers' 'Who's Feeling Young': Bluegrass for People Afraid of Bluegrass

February 14, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

Ex-Nickel Creek mandolinist Chris Thile continues to lead acoustic string-band music into the 21st century with his witty songwriting and eight-string shredding

  

The Oscar-Nominated Sound Mixers: Deb Adair of 'Moneyball'

February 13, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

Who needs action and special effects to get an Oscar nod for sound mixing? Not 'Moneyball,' which impressed the Academy with its blasts of silence as well as cracking bats

  

Van Halen Gets a Fun 'Jump'-Start With First Roth-Fronted Album in 28 Years

February 9, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

With Diamond Dave back in comedic-showman tow, 'A Different Kind of Truth' is good enough to make you forget Sammy Hagar and Gary Cherone ever happened

  

Paul McCartney's 'Kisses' a Valentine's Day Treat

February 7, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

Key collaborator Diana Krall helps keep Paul McCartney's album of pre-rock standards sweet ... and, unlike Rod Stewart's, subtle

  

Madonna Pre-Super Bowl Video Gets Some Cred From NFL, Nicki Minaj, M.I.A.

February 3, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

VIDEOS: Madonna hires her own celebrity cheerleaders in a ridiculous but infectious new video for "Give Me All Your Luvin'"

  

Review: Leonard Cohen Has Some New 'Old Ideas' -- Hallelujah!

January 31, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

77-year-old poet laureate Leonard Cohen merits hosannas for his warmest and best album in 20 years

  

Review: Lana Del Rey, the Anti-Adele, Gets Icy in 'Born to Die'

January 30, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

Lana Del Rey's coolly jaded album is neither as good as the "Video Games" single or as terrible as the controversial newcomer's "SNL" appearance

  

Review: Miley, Adele, Adam Levine, and Dozens More Ring Dylan's 'Chimes of Freedom'

January 24, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

Evan Rachel Wood and Ke$ha are among the improbable interpreters who score in a 76-song Dylan tribute

  

Review: Tim McGraw's 'Emotional Traffic' Is Serious and Silly

January 24, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

The uneven album, once the center of legal battle between the singer and his label Curb Records, hints at greatness and settles for affability

  

Review: Craig Finn's 'Clear Heart' Holds Steady With Superior Songwriting

January 24, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

Craig Finn's first album under his own name strips away the raucousness to reveal the haunted quality that's always been there

  

Review: Springsteen Does Another Political Fakeout With 'We Take Care of Our Own'

January 19, 2012 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

If you loved "Born in the USA" -- for the right or wrong reasons -- you'll hear anguished echoes in Bruce's new single, from his new album due March 6

  

Thanks to Gaga and Adele, Music Business Finally Improves in 2011

December 26, 2011 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

Album sales are up only about 1%, but that's still great news after a decade-plus of decline

  

Agnieszka Holland Illuminates Challenging 'In Darkness' Shoot

December 14, 2011 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

The Polish filmmaker, whose film is heavily touted for a foreign language Oscar nomination, didn't curse the darkness when she chose to make a movie that takes place 80 percent underground

  

'Beginners' Success? Thank Roller-Coasters and Christopher Plummer's Skinny Jeans

December 13, 2011 By Chris Willman 1 year ago

Director Mike Mills tells a Wrap-sponsored screening how he got Plummer and Ewan McGregor ready for their roles as a father who comes out at 75 and his straight son

  
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