Email Author Ben Mercer

2002 Stories by Ben Mercer

• Tahiti 80

  published December 5, 2002

  After listening to Tahiti 80's Wallpaper for the Soul for the first time, I thought I had these guys pegged. They hailed from somewhere in... More >>

• Ladytron

  published November 14, 2002

  Ladytron makes music simultaneously from decades past and decades yet to come. Their layered beats and hovercraft grooves suggest the morning... More >>

• Clem Snide

  published November 14, 2002

  Clem Snide reached new heights with last year's The Ghost of Fashion, which contained, among other highlights, an elegant tale of a... More >>

• Hot Hot Heat

  published October 17, 2002

  It's been some time now, and the Hives, the Vines and others of their ilk have to be growing stale in the ears of the powers-that-be at MTV2 by... More >>

• Clinic, Apples in Stereo

  published September 26, 2002

  The new Apples in Stereo disc--aptly titled Velocity of Sound--is indeed a very fast record, much more dynamic and, believe it or not,... More >>

• Interpol

  published September 19, 2002

  "The subway is a porno/The pavements, they are a mess." So desperately intones Interpol's Paul Banks just a few lines into "NYC," itself just a... More >>

• Neko Case

  published August 22, 2002

  The official book on Neko Case has her born in Virginia, growing up all over North America (though staying in Tacoma just long enough to call it... More >>

• Old 97's

  published August 1, 2002

  With Elektra Records seemingly placing more confidence in Rhett Miller and his new solo career (his debut--well, his first solo outing since... More >>

• Múm

  published August 1, 2002

  Múm has the same creak-chic as Sparklehorse and the dying music box delicacy of Björk's Vespertine. They've got the glacial... More >>

• Young and Restless

  published August 1, 2002

  Those constantly disenchanted with the simplicity and apparent meaninglessness of modern art need not read any further. The following will just... More >>

• Jason Loewenstein

  published July 25, 2002

  On the front of At Sixes and Sevens, Jason Loewenstein's name appears scrawled in a feverishly etched, scratched-over-for-emphasis font... More >>

• The Shins

  published July 11, 2002

  The clever video for "New Slang"--the first single off the Shins' full-length debut, Oh, Inverted World--has the band's four members posing... More >>

• Radar Bros.

  published July 4, 2002

  "Tar the Roofs," the opening track off The Singing Hatchet, the Radar Bros.' 1999 sophomore full-length, is just about as (gloriously) sad... More >>