Name: Nik Dirga
Dateline: Auckland, New Zealand
Weblog: spatulaforum.blogspot.com
Articles: 130
First Published: Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Last Published: Thursday, June 12, 2008
Currently listing articles 130-101:
-
Book Review: The Wild Trees by Richard Preston — Head into a hidden world with this fascinating exploration of California's redwood canopies.
-
Music Review: The Old 97's - Blame It On Gravity— Love and romance with a country twang, the Old 97's return with a fiery new album.
-
Music Review: The Replacements - Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash, Stink, Hootenanny, and Let It Be (Special Edition Reissues)— An '80s band that matters: Nearly thirty years on, the rough and raw Replacements still soar in four great new reissues.
-
Book Review: After Dark by Haruki Murakami— As a kind of throat-clearing between bigger tales, the enigmatic After Dark is almost more of a tone poem than a fully fleshed-out novel.
-
Music Review: Everclear - The Vegas Years— 1990s rock icons Everclear retrench with a covers record paying homage to their idols.
-
Book Review: Ultimate Blogs - Masterworks From The Wild Web edited by Sarah Boxer— One book tries to sum up millions of blogs in a best-of collection, and while it isn't completely comprehensive, it's a good try.
-
Music Review: I'm Not There Original Soundtrack— A who's who of American music pays tribute to the master in the soundtrack to fanciful Bob Dylan homage I'm Not There.
-
Music Review: The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour— The poet laureates of Canadian rock return with their fourth album, a lyrically dazzling gem.
-
Music review: Iggy Pop Live In San Fran 1981— The best way to hear Iggy Pop is to hear him live – and this 1981 show is a fine document of the molten frenzy
-
Music Review: Loretta Lynn - Number 1's— A class collection of one of the pioneers of women in country music - loaded with sass and wit.
-
Book Review: Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones— A stirring tribute to the power of storytelling takes place on a remote New Guinea island and combines Dickens and life in wartime.
-
DVD Review: Popeye The Sailor Volume 1: 1933-1938— A treasure trove of rare cartoons, packed with bonus features, makes a case for Popeye being one of the finest toons of all time.
-
Music Review: The Frames - The Cost— One of Ireland's biggest bands is back with their latest effort
-
Music Review: Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen Sony/Legacy Edition — A cult classic collection of '80s pop is remastered and expanded in a new edition.
-
Music Review: Crowded House - Time On Earth— After a 14-year-break, Australia and New Zealand's Crowded House reunites for a strong, if solemn, new album.
-
Music Review: David Bowie - Young Americans Special Edition— David Bowie's "plastic soul" album is spruced up in a new double CD/DVD edition that includes rare video footage and some of Bowie's finest singles.
-
Music review: The National, Boxer— Dark and brooding but filled with heartbreakingly gorgeous pop, The National's latest album soars.
-
Music Review: The Afghan Whigs - Unbreakable (A Retrospective 1990-2006) — The Afghan Whigs make a compelling case for their diverse, hard-edged rock in this look back at their 1990s heyday.
-
Book Review: The Rough Guide To The Blues by Nigel Williamson— The Rough Guide explores the vast world of the blues in a new encyclopedic book and an excellent CD compilation
-
Movie Review: Transformers— Brace yourself – for a movie about giant robots that turn into trucks and tanks, it's an amazing piece of summer entertainment.
-
Music Review: Yoko Ono - Open Your Box ; Yes, I'm A Witch— Artists from Cat Power to the Pet Shop Boys remix Yoko Ono in two new CDs that offer a fresh look at her legacy
-
Music review: So Real: Songs From Jeff Buckley— Is it necessary? Maybe not, but a new compilation of Jeff Buckley's work takes samples of his one album and scraps of the rest of
-
Music Review: Lou Reed Takes Berlin Back on the Road— A remastered version of Lou Reed's once-reviled, now hailed dark 1973 album accompanies a new European stage show.
-
Music review: The Traveling Wilburys - The Traveling Wilburys Collection— Finally – the two discs by the late great Traveling Wilburys super-group return to print, in a new collection by Rhino Records.
-
Music Review: Motown Number 1's Volume 1 and Volume 2— Forty years of Motown hits boiled down to two superb, concise compilation CDs, with barely a bad song on them.
-
Music Review: The Stooges - The Weirdness— It may be clutzy, it may be goofy, but the Stooges' first album in more than 30 years still kinda rocks
-
Music Review: The Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare— England's next big thing of 2006 comes back with a razor-sharp second album full of pop-punk riffs and surprisingly insightful lyrics.
-
Movie Review: Spider-Man 3— Don't listen to the haters - "Spider-Man 3" might be flawed, but it's a fitting, thrill-packed conclusion to one of the great movie superhero sagas.
-
Music Review: Sly and the Family Stone - There's A Riot Goin' On, Remastered— A dark and brooding piece of early seventies disillusionment funk gets its day in the sun again.
-
Kurt Vonnegut, 1922-2007: Mark Twain For The Nuclear Age— A pessimist with soul, Kurt Vonnegut was one of America's unique literary treasures. And now he's gone.
All BC Articles