How to grow a backache: Astonishing talent and resume’ aside, Chris Thile still has a lot to learn about lumbar support. Chris Thile’s new album is being billed as his return to bluegrass. But what he means by bluegrass is anybody’s guess. Thile has been blurring the genre’s definition as mandolinist for Nickel Creek — … Read more
Forget the ’80s: With a new album and a musical mission that spans sex, war and politics, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are firmly rooted in the 21st century. Rocker Joan Jett, whose numerous chart-topping rock anthems will forever inspire fist-pumping sing-alongs and underwhelming drunken karaoke routines, is feeling political. On Sinner, her first studio … Read more
Girlishly geeky: British electro-rocker Imogen Heap has braved poverty and questionable hairstyles to bring her musical vision to the masses. “The older I get, the more comfortable I am just in simple clothes,” announces Imogen Heap, the Brit-pop musician known as much for her complicated, flower-adorned hairstyles and elaborate dresses as her indie-synth sounds. “I … Read more
Battered workers Domestic violence has a cost outside the home. The American Institute on Domestic Violence reports that “intimate partner violence victims lose nearly 8 million days of paid work each year — the equivalent of more than 32,000 full-time jobs and nearly 5.6 million days of household productivity.” The impact of domestic violence in … Read more
