Although rap and electronica are not my usual beat, I think I manage to explain why I like the selections below. In between, you’ll find a self-described “bunch of average middle-aged people” who call themselves Key Lime Pie. Next to strawberry-rhubarb, that’s my favorite kind of pie, so they have …

For a superb collection of science fiction and fantasy suitable especially, but by no means exclusively, for teens, you need look no further than this wonderful new anthology. The first in what I hope will be an annual series, the book was compiled by veteran anthologist Patrick Nielsen Hayden and …

Well, rock me over with a feather - Styx's new CD is damn good.

=== Damon Aaron: Ballast Throwing hip-hop lovebeats into acoustic, folky music is a hip (pun intended) thing to do these days. Damon Aaron is good at it. Fans of Elliot Smith or Nick Drake might well like Aaron’s new CD, which also has a hint of Elvis Costello’s torchy mode …

Saying Gentle Giant's music is cerebral just means that it makes your brain dance.

Escaping difficult family circumstances, Joseph Quitman Johnson enlisted in the US army at the age of fourteen and was stationed with the 31st Infantry in the Philippines in April 1941. After Pearl Harbor, his coming-of-age adventure turned into a nightmare of combat and suffering. Johnson survived shelling and hand-to-hand combat, …

The US Appeals Court for the DC Circuit has vacated the FCC’s digital TV Broadcast Flag regulation. The court ruled that Congress never gave the Federal Communications Commission the authority to regulate consumer electronics devices with respect to what they do after a transmission has been received, which is what …

A historical drama with an epic sweep, full of the sound and fury and gore of battle, Kingdom of Heaven is a somewhat formulaic but very entertaining tale of the Crusader wars. Directed by Ridley Scott from a tight script by William Monahan, the majestically shot film centers on Balian, …

It’s only natural that a male-dominated music industry should use its promotional juggernaut to turn attractive female singers into icons. What’s more interesting is when it tries to reverse the process and turn icons and other cute things into singers. Lil Jon, who is collaborating with the much-less-stupid-than-she-looks Paris Hilton …

What made America different from the other countries, my Dad would tell me, was that we didn't have to carry identification just to exist