Email Author Mikael Wood

2003 Stories by Mikael Wood

• Musiq

  published December 25, 2003

  Contemporary R&B singers can be divided evenly into two camps: the style-over-substance troupe, who believe in futuristic production tricks and... More >>

• Al Green

  published December 11, 2003

  As a friend said while we were driving through New Orleans' French Quarter listening to the rock critic Tom Moon calmly declare on NPR that... More >>

• Pearl Jam

  published November 27, 2003

  There are certainly worse ways to end a long and fruitful career at a major record label than compiling 31 hard-to-find B-sides, outtakes and... More >>

• Wyclef Jean

  published November 6, 2003

  Because he is (or, like, was) a Fugee, seems to genuinely believe in the future of our children and once cut a joint with multimedia titan The... More >>

• The Shins

  published October 30, 2003

  Oh, Inverted World, the sly, tender 2001 debut by Albuquerque's The Shins, fairly upended my historically indie-rocking world. Blame it on... More >>

• Hilary Duff

  published October 2, 2003

  Achtung, baby: I'm one of those soulless cranks who likes Liz Phair's new record. A few weeks ago I argued elsewhere that the album's four... More >>

• The Neptunes

  published September 11, 2003

  Savvy businessmen familiar with the truism that more songwriting and production credits yield a more robust payday, the rainmaking Neptunes have... More >>

• Cheap Trick Special One (Big3)

  published August 28, 2003

  Where do aging pop-rockers with little cultural currency and a hankering for actual currency go when the major-label system fails them but selling... More >>

• Original Soundtrack

  published August 7, 2003

  Sean "P. Diddy" Combs is many things to many people: shrewd record-industry mogul, sharp producer, shiny-suited bon vivant, inventor of the remix.... More >>

• Brooks & Dunn

  published July 31, 2003

  It's a testament to the natural-born, arena-bred talents of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn that no matter how many well-worn formal elements, humdrum... More >>

• The Mars Volta

  published July 24, 2003

  Now that emo has proven itself capable of selling more records than can fit into the back of a van, major labels are stumbling over one another to... More >>

• Tricky

  published July 10, 2003

  Tricky's ascension to worldwide critical acclaim and not-unimpressive commercial prosperity was one of the more unlikely success stories of the... More >>

• Lillix

  published June 26, 2003

  I've got absolutely no problem with the Y2K-pop model of producer-as-star: Timbaland; the Neptunes; Jermaine Dupri; shit, Jerry Finn--these... More >>

• The Isley Brothers

  published June 19, 2003

  For an impression of how things change, take a look at the two new Isley Brothers CDs currently on sale at your local Best Buy: Body Kiss,... More >>

• Gold Chains

  published June 5, 2003

  San Francisco resident Topher Lafata has the same bright idea lots of other former indie-rockers are riding these days: Ditch the electric... More >>

• The Thorns

  published May 22, 2003

  The Thorns have the sort of name that these days can attract a considerable ground swell of interest among young record-buyers: a definite article... More >>

• Madonna

  published May 8, 2003

  Virtually all of the hatorade that's been spilled over Madonna's sharp American Life has actually succeeded in pointing out what's great... More >>

• Ms. Dynamite

  published May 1, 2003

  Last year, the skinny white English dude Mike Skinner convinced lots of skinny white American dudes that Eminem wasn't the only skinny white... More >>

• Spiritualized

  published April 17, 2003

  The last several releases by former Spacemen 3 guitarist Jason Pierce's psychedelic-gospel outfit Spiritualized -- Ladies and Gentlemen We Are... More >>

• Richard Ashcroft

  published March 20, 2003

  It's nearly impossible to believe now, but there was a time when the music this man made felt urgent, necessary, even. As front man of British... More >>

• The Microphones

  published January 23, 2003

  Lo-fi indie pop gets a startling makeover in the able hands of Phil Elvrum, the young Washington state producer/musician who fronts the loose... More >>

• t.A.T.u.

  published January 16, 2003

  Red-headed Lena Katina and brown-haired Julia Volkova are t.A.T.u., two Russian teenagers who may or may not be lesbians involved in a steamy... More >>

• Various Artists

  published January 16, 2003

  The New York-based dance label Ultra excels at neat summations of current electronic-music fads: Its recent electroclash compilation pitted young... More >>