Most Popular
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An ancient Apollo statue landed in Cleveland and touched off an international outcry
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Joe Cimperman hopes to tear down his former hero, Dennis Kucinich
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Beat Down
Cleveland teachers swap stories of school violence.
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Everybody Hates Mike
The peril of coaching an icon.
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Secret Valentines Notes from C-Town Celebs
Our I-Team uncovered the private love letters of Cleveland's biggest names. You'll be shocked by what we discovered.
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$100 Bounty on That Kid (19)
Copley-Fairlawn finds a way to keep the impostors out.
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At Indie-Rock Singles Night in Cleveland, an event for hipsters lacks one key ingredient: Hipsters (14)
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Dennis Kucinich’s brave talk about working and fighting — from the safety of the officer’s tent (10)
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Beat Down (3)
Cleveland teachers swap stories of school violence.
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Sour Notes (434)
Underneath its glossy exterior, the Cleveland Orchestra has a dark side. His name is William Preucil.
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Crazy Talk
Miranda Lambert is a lot like any other girl with a soft spot for guns and setting exes on fire.
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The Bravery's New World
New-wave revivalists discover the power of three-chord guitar rock.
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Beer, BBQ, industry schmoozing: Rounding up SXSW 2008’s local delegates
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Keep on Truckin'
Jason Isbell finds life after the Drive-By Truckers.
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It took them 10 years, but the Sadies finally craft a country-rock classic
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Akron mom embezzles $12,000 from PTA
05:21AM 03/10/08 -
Dispatch: Either Derek Anderson gets roster bonus in '09, or Quinn fans celebrate
02:49PM 03/07/08 -
Cleveland's power brokers take a turn at high fashion
02:39PM 03/07/08 -
Sound of Ideas Host Dan Moulthrop steals our idea, raises money for cancer
02:21PM 03/07/08 -
Review: Nellie McKay seduces the crowd at Nighttown
02:12PM 03/07/08
What we are writing about
- Black Sabbath
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Recent Articles By Justin F. Farrar
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It took them 10 years, but the Sadies finally craft a country-rock classic
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Blossom Toes
We Are Ever So Clean/If Only for a Moment (Sunbeam)
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Weener
Saturday, December 22, at the Jigsaw, Parma.
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The Pearlfishers
Up With the Larks (Marina)
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Flying Burrito Bros.
Gram Parsons Archives Volume One: The Flying Burrito Bros. Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969 (Amoeba)
National Features
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Houston Press
"It Was Like an Armageddon Movie"
For days after Hurricane Rita, a Texas prison was hell on earth.
By Chris Vogel -
SF Weekly
The Candidate
Our columnist knows Ralph Nader's running mate all too well.
By Matt Smith -
The Pitch
How Not To Be a Rap Star
First of all, lay off the Ecstasy.
By Nadia Pflaum -
Village Voice
Project Runaway
What becomes a gossip columnist most?
By Michael Musto
Neil Michael Hagerty hasn't released a great album in five years. That's peculiar, because the dude — first as a member of Royal Trux, then as a solo artist — released no fewer than 10 great albums between 1990 and 2003. But sometime in 2004, not long after the release of Neil Michael Hagerty & the Howling Hex, he started slumping. After the Trux fell apart at the top of the decade, Hagerty channeled his newfound freedom into three excellent solo records. As time wore on, however, his limitations emerged.
Hagerty is a soulful growler and virtuoso freak-blues guitarist, but he lacks the pop IQ of former Trux partner Jennifer Herrema. Trying to hide this, he formed the Howling Hex around the philosophy "This is a group; I'm just the bass player." So XI is yet another desultory collection of limp funk rock and listless boogie, with a couple of exceptions. And while Hagerty's bar-rock flunkies occasionally groove, they're bad songwriters and even worse singers. Artistic ruts are a bitch to crawl out of — just ask Dylan. But Hagerty could start by scrapping this boring group.
