One man's journey through 2005's best recorded music

Something's wrong with 'Rent'--and it's not just the awful songs

Fourteen ways of looking at a Big & Rich album

Walker show inspires chat about scary bugs and nature of reality

Oscar awaits an actor's immodest portrayal of the immodest Capote

Yesterday they were fending off racial taunts in small-town Minnesota. Tomorrow they could be hip-hop heroes.

A recently discovered concert recording finds Bird and Diz at their peaks

A quick primer on Puerto Rico's hip-hop/dancehall hybrid

Avant-garde epics, chamber jazz, and Streisand covers from David S. Ware and William Parker

'Hustle & Flow' gives props to a pimp's upbeat rap

Failed frozen-waffle jingle leads to year's best 51-song album

Steppin' in the name of love at the Zuhrah Shrine ballroom

Jason Moran uses the Walker's collection to dice up the jazz concert

Feist's 'Let It Die' is make-out music for the whole family

A quick trip through old new things

Saul Bellow's time in Minnesota

Sulking toward Nirvana

Doc-Maker Don McGlynn Draws the reclusive 'Spider' out of his web

Busdriver laughs through car troubles and a struggling career

Do jackasses have royalty? Meet the Kings of Leon

"Let Me Love You," "Caught Up," "Lovers and Friends," "Daughters"

After 7,000 gigs and 7,002 sacks of weed, Todd Snider finally arrives

Happy Apple takes its time to get to know you

"Used to Love U," "Ordinary People," "Number One"

Pop foursome fights cold, floats into air

Muted trumpets, unmuted emotion