Email Author Mikael Wood

2004 Stories by Mikael Wood

• Nas

  published December 16, 2004

  When you consider that he's titled previous albums God's Son and Nastradamus, it's not terribly surprising to find that the latest... More >>

• White Stripes

  published December 16, 2004

  The only real thrill of Under Blackpool Lights, the Detroit blues-garage act's first DVD, is getting a closer-than-normal look at the... More >>

• Gwen Stefani

  published December 9, 2004

  Gwen Stefani's obsession with material wealth borders on the pathological on Love, Angel, Music, Baby, the No Doubt front woman's solo... More >>

• Citizen Cope

  published December 9, 2004

  On his self-titled 2002 debut as Citizen Cope, Clarence Greenwood (former DJ with backpack-rap stars Basehead) made like a more granola Everclear:... More >>

• Becoming Babydaddy

  published December 2, 2004

  Here's the second-best thing about Scott Hoffman, the bass player and co-songwriter at the center of New York's Scissor Sisters: He's part of a... More >>

• RJD2, Lyrics Born, Diplo

  published December 2, 2004

  Since We Last Spoke, indie-rap mixmaster RJD2's latest, proves there's room for advancement in instrumental beatscaping post-DJ Shadow. RJ... More >>

• Drain You

  published November 25, 2004

  Listen up, rockists, mythologists, screenwriters and future biographers: With the Lights Out, the four-disc boxed set that Nirvana fans... More >>

• The Hives

  published November 25, 2004

  Though I can't be alone in wishing the Hives had used the mainstream appeal they won with Veni Vidi Vicious to write songs with the Matrix... More >>

• Paper Chase, Make Believe, Chin Up Chin Up

  published November 25, 2004

  Here's a creative indie-rock triple bill worth rescheduling an evening dedicated to reading old Pitchfork reviews. Headlining locals the... More >>

• Strike It Up

  published November 18, 2004

  It's Friday night in Manhattan, and though the line snaking down Broadway between West 52nd and 53rd might appear to be for tonight's performance... More >>

• The Faint, TV on the Radio, Beep Beep

  published November 18, 2004

  Wet From Birth, the latest album by Nebraskan electro-goth pin-ups the Faint, doesn't feature the reappropriated '80s synth-pop melodies... More >>

• Earlimart

  published November 18, 2004

  L.A.'s Earlimart sounds like a lightweight version of Californian psych-pop bards Grandaddy, which is not an official slight. Grandaddy guitarist... More >>

• The Donnas

  published November 11, 2004

  I can admit it: I misjudged the Donnas. For their first several records I wrote off the Bay Area quartet as a cheap joke wrapped up in a cheaper... More >>

• Mosquitos

  published November 11, 2004

  These New York-based indie dabblers aren't nearly as obnoxious as you might fear: Yes, they are two American rock guys--guitarist Chris Root and... More >>

• Matthew Sweet

  published November 4, 2004

  Once upon a time Matthew Sweet made an album called Girlfriend, and we saw that it was good: the precise midpoint between studio-guy... More >>

• VHS or Beta, the Fever

  published November 4, 2004

  Kentucky's VHS or Beta are perhaps the least likely of the new dance-rock scene's emergent stars: They're from Kentucky, for starters, a locale... More >>

• Jon Brion

  published October 28, 2004

  Here's a challenge to workhorse producer/sideman/composer Jon Brion: For your next film-score gig, take on something by Wes Craven, or Antoine... More >>

• Ben Lee, Pony Up!

  published October 28, 2004

  I don't mean to make light of his hardship, but breaking up with Claire Danes might turn out to be a good thing for former Australian teen-pop... More >>

• Mclusky

  published October 28, 2004

  The British post-punk act Mclusky has learned a lot from Steve Albini, the Chicago noise-rock provocateur who recorded the group's last two... More >>

• John Vanderslice, Robbers on High Street

  published October 21, 2004

  As his day job, John Vanderslice runs San Francisco's Tiny Telephone recording studio, which features a Neve 5316 console, "the city's most... More >>

• Elvis Costello & the Imposters

  published October 14, 2004

  Elvis Costello's never shied away from making genre records--there is a country one (Almost Blue), a fake-classical one (The Juliet... More >>

• Gomez

  published October 14, 2004

  Split the Difference, the fourth album by trippy English roots-rockers Gomez, doesn't feature much in the way of songs. Holed up in the... More >>

• The Pixies

  published October 14, 2004

  Unquestionably the reunion story of the year--unless Siegfried & Roy pull one out before Christmas--the return of the Pixies will, if we're lucky,... More >>

• Alternative Education

  published October 7, 2004

  As one-half of the Canadian electro-pop duo the Junior Boys, singer Jeremy Greenspan hardly lives a debauched rock-and-roll lifestyle. "I'm... More >>

• Jay-Z, R. Kelly

  published October 7, 2004

  You gotta love Jay-Z's logic: When he and R. Kelly released their not-inaccurately titled collaborative album The Best of Both Worlds in... More >>