Remember when bands cared about albums as an art form? Instead of
slapping together a dozen tracks because, hey, they'll just end up on
everyone's iPod shuffle anyway, musicians considered how their songs
might congeal as a whole or form some sort of dram
It's probably safe to say that Weezer's iTunes (and iPhone!)-only Christmas With Weezer is the weirdest, laziest 14-minute Christmas album ever. Whether they were being cheeky or earnest by doing six quick-as-hell, by-the-books covers of the most obvious Christmas traditionals possible (including "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" and "Silent Night") is impossible to tell, but by keeping these hymnals as stripped-down as possible they've actually recorded their most Blue Album-ish album since the Blue Album. No "Beverly Hills" meathead-isms here, just some fuzzy guitars, boyish charm and a "let's cut this thing and get back to the beach" urgency (indifference?)
Oh yeah, and there's this: The album has further fueled the culture war on Amazon.com. Reviewer Anna Louis Mckamey from Villa Rica, Ga., seems genuine when she comments that she likes "the fact that they unapologetically sung songs about Christ," awarding the album four of five stars.
But in a snarky five-star review, Richard from Florida (no last name) goes off on imaginary enemies like Bill O'Reilly on a Wal-Mart greeter wishing him "happy holidays."
"I must say," Richard gloats, "that I was quite surprised that Weezer was covering traditional Christmas songs especially in the politically correct day and age that we live in."
Thank you, Weezer, for providing us with order during these godless times.

Elvis Costello's frequent collaborator T-Bone Burnett produced Secret, Profane & Sugarcane,
an Americana-inflected album working with country and folk traditions
for images of sawdust floors set to mandolin and fiddle. Costello
intended one s
You wouldn’t expect to find T-bone and sirloin dinners at a place with stool seating and a location next to a shop hawking cell phones and cigarettes. But one of the city’s most evocatively named eateries, ZaZa Steak & Lemonade (4919 W. Capito
The enduring fantasy of older men is that a gorgeous
young woman will fall in love with them, find them sexually arousing
and long to imbibe their wisdom while sitting at their feet. That
fantasy is the spring driving Woody Allen's often-hilarious f
Away We Go, a droll comedy-cum-drama by director Sam Mendes (American Beauty),
perceptively explores the lives of more-or-less ordinary 30-somethings
lost in a world without much meaning. Verona (Maya Rudolph) and Bu


