Stephen Thompson

12/8/04

Best Albums Of 2004

Call it the year of the sleeper. In 2004, the best music came from unlikely sources: The few albums most critics…

Stephen Thompson,

Andy Battaglia,

Noel Murray,

Josh Modell,

Keith Phipps,

and Nathan Rabin

PublishedDecember 8, 2004

12/6/04

Everclear: Ten Years Gone: The Best Of Everclear 1994-2004

Everclear has made one enduring classic (1995's Sparkle And Fade), two more keepers (1993's World Of Noise and…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedDecember 6, 2004

12/1/04

A day in the life of basic cable

Stephen Thompson

and Scott Tobias

PublishedDecember 1, 2004

9/27/04

American Idiot

Before, during, and after its bout with mid-'90s superstardom, Green Day has spent little time deviating from its…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedSeptember 27, 2004

8/25/04

A message for the children

Children: Everybody loves them, and everybody agrees they're the future, but do they listen to what we tell them?…

Stephen Thompson,

Tasha Robinson,

Nathan Rabin,

and Josh Modell

PublishedAugust 25, 2004

8/23/04

Various Artists: Future Soundtrack For America: Future Soundtrack For America

Righteous anger has historically fueled more great music than comfort or contentment ever could. So it stands to…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedAugust 23, 2004

8/2/04

Sahara Hotnights: Kiss & Tell

Every musical genre has innovators and imitators, and the trend favoring simple, impeccably dressed garage-rock is…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedAugust 2, 2004

6/7/04

The Slow Wonder

What allows The New Pornographers' records to reach the pinnacle of power-pop greatness isn't their instantly…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedJune 7, 2004

6/7/04

Fancey

What allows The New Pornographers' records to reach the pinnacle of power-pop greatness isn't their instantly…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedJune 7, 2004

5/28/04

Pedro The Lion: Achilles Heel

On "Bands With Managers," the characteristically seething opener to Pedro The Lion's Achilles Heel,…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedMay 28, 2004

4/20/04

Jump: Between The Dim & The Dark

The South Carolina band Jump, Little Children has endured an unfairly star-crossed career, its momentum slowed by…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedApril 20, 2004

4/12/04

Ben Kweller: On My Way

Few blessings are as cursed as childhood stardom, which so often comes bundled with deluded expectations, an array…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedApril 12, 2004

4/5/04

Walking Tall

foo

Stephen Thompson

PublishedApril 5, 2004

3/29/04

The Vines: Winning Days

The avalanche of media attention that greeted The Vines' debut album Highly Evolved couldn't help but breed…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedMarch 29, 2004

3/24/04

South By Southwest 2004

It's easy to quantify the scope of South By Southwest, the massive annual music-industry showcase that overtook…

Stephen Thompson

and Josh Modell

PublishedMarch 24, 2004

3/1/04

The Frames: Set List

For more than a decade, the Irish band The Frames has courted a reputation as a sort of alternate-universe U2: It…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedMarch 1, 2004

2/17/04

Probot: Probot

Dave Grohl's ascent to icon status has just about everything to do with his roles as both Nirvana's drummer and…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedFebruary 17, 2004

1/27/04

Ani DiFranco: Educated Guess

Many prolific artists yearn to flood the market with titles, but the music industry's promotional machinery and…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedJanuary 27, 2004

1/12/04

The Offspring: Splinter

More than 15 years into its history, The Offspring has reduced its sound to two simple approaches: There's its rote…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedJanuary 12, 2004

1/7/04

Mort Sahl

Mort Sahl isn't the household name he used to be, but he's had a direct and profound influence on many of the…

Stephen Thompson

PublishedJanuary 7, 2004