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Here are another 5 quick picks for you, the loyal reader:MUSIC: Bird Of Youth – Fronted by noted music journalist Beth Wawerna, Brooklyn-based Bird Of Youth has come onto the New York scene strong. Produced by Will Sheff of Okkervil River, Bird Of Youth’s debut is full of interesting and soulful (yet laid-back) alt-country. Fans of Lucinda Williams ought to check out the brilliant album-opener “The Sound Of One Name Dropping.” (myspace.com/birdofyouthmusic)   BOOK: Geoff Colvin / Talent Is Overrated – Read regularly in Fortune Magazine and heard daily on CBS Radio, Geoff Colvin is known as an authority on…

Here are another 5 quick picks for you, the loyal reader: MUSIC: As Tall As Lions / You Can't Take It With You – The band’s third full-length release, You Can’t Take It With You, finds New York-based As Tall As Lions creative as ever. Few tracks you’ve ever heard, if any, sound like the dynamics-heavy and string-enhanced album opener “Circles.” Altogether, the collection goes all over the map sonically and stylistically -– somewhere between Dredg, Radiohead and Death Cab For Cutie, perhaps -- yet is the group’s first to crack the Billboard Top 100. See ATAL on the road…

[Editor's note: Cover images of albums previously reviewed on the DV have been linked to the review.]I’m gearing up to head back to school, which means yet another five hour flight across the country. I’m not terrified of flying, but it can be pretty miserable, especially if you don’t have some good tunes to make the journey a little more enjoyable.  Whether you’re flying back home, to work, or to a sunny tropical island (and if so, please take me!), this playlist makes for a good distraction for when you get bored of cloud-watching, crying babies, and free peanuts. So…

[Editor's note: Cover images of albums previously reviewed on the DV have been linked to the review.]First love: it’s one of those things, like death and taxes, that none of us are immune to. It’s messy and fleeting, but it’s enduring, too, carving out a slice of your heart in such a way that you can never be made whole again, not quite. Or, as author Joyce Carol Oates wrote in her 2002 novel I’ll Take You There, “Your first love you’ll never outlive. After that first love you will never love another in that way.” It’s more bittersweet than…

Here are another 5 quick picks for you, the loyal reader: MUSIC: Maplewood / Yeti Boombox – Self-described as “canyon rock from Brooklyn,” Maplewood is a New York quartet comprised of members of Nada Surf, Champale and Koester. Their first new album in five years, Yeti Boombox, brings more of the familiar Bread and America-influenced sounds that fans heard on their debut. In fact, not only did America opt to cover Maplewood’s “Indian Summer” on their 2007 comeback album, but America’s Gerry Beckley can be heard on Yeti along with Sparklehorse’s Alan Weatherhead. A lot of name-checking, sure, but of…

Here are another 5 quick picks for you, the loyal reader:MUSIC: Jenny Dee & The Deelinquents – Previously known for fronting The Downbeat 5 and The Dents, Jenny Dee is a Boston indie icon. Ditching her punk past for a “girl group” soul direction, her debut EP has already made waves in Spain, where her and band has already toured. Produced by Matt Beaudoin and Q Division’s Ed Valauskas, the recordings are sonically-fitting to tracks like “Let Me Go” and “Keeping Time,” which are presently posted for streaming on MySpace. (myspace.com/jennydeemusic) BOOK: Jerry Heller / Ruthless – Jerry Heller first…

As an official documentary, not authorized by Depeche Mode or their record company, The Dark Progression is stripped-down and dry – no band interviews, no fancy information booklet (in fact no booklet at all), no extra music. This documentary analyzes the progression of the band through the string of four key records – Some Great Reward, Black Celebration, Violator, Songs Of Faith And Devotion – that shaped their career and made them the greatest electronic band of all time. In the absence of band interviews (barring snippets from archived interviews of Martin Gore and Alan Wilder), the story is told…

[Editor's note: Cover images of albums previously reviewed on the DV have been linked to the review.]Flicking through my iPod the other day, the landslide of tracks titled with a name caught my attention. Trying to piece these together for a mixtape, however, left me obstacled with an obvious gender imbalance. Save for a handful of tracks, the majority of songs were about some girl or other, and were sung by a male artist. So what causes the gaping divide? It’s really hard to put into words without sounding tyrannically feminist or, oddly enough in my case, misogynistic. Even looking…

As I walked towards 1st Avenue Live in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the venue that hosted Trapt, Framing Hanley, Since October, and Inept on Friday, July 17, I was greeted by Since October's road manager. "Are you Paul?" He had caught me geeking out, carrying a Since October CD and a small notebook, and brought us inside to greet Since October's drummer, Audie Grantham. Grantham is an intimidating guy. He's 6'4, around 280 pounds with tattoos up and down his arms and neck. Beyond that, he’s a humble, thoughtful, talented musician who is a member of a band that is on…

Here are another 5 quick picks for you, the loyal reader:MUSIC: Reel Big Fish – Few bands survive having a hit major label album, let alone lasting more than another decade beyond that. Reel Big Fish can not only be heralded for survivors in the music field, but for also remaining consistent as a good times party band. In fact, when seeing them live, even a casual music listener may actually realize they know a lot of songs that Aaron Barrett crew are performing. Presently on the road with the also-legendary Dave Wakeling-fronted The English Beat, Reel Big Fish is…