Most Popular
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A Cold Case Frozen in Time
Until this cold case heats up, Sharon Skiba is lost in limbo.
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CU Hires Three Pulitzer Winners
Some of newspapering's best and brightest are trading journalism for academia — including three Pulitzer winners hired at CU.
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Sazza
If you must go for gourmet pizza, go to Sazza.
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Arapahoe County DA Charges Death-Penalty Fees to the State
How does DA Carol Chambers beat the high cost of a death-penalty prosecution? By billing the prison system.
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Crepes ’n Crepes
French food is no flash in the pan.
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A Cold Case Frozen in Time (10)
Until this cold case heats up, Sharon Skiba is lost in limbo.
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Con Artist Gives Funny Cause for Pregnant Pause (7)
Would you pay $20 to get a scam artist off your front porch?
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Big Trouble (8)
Gary Haney was living the high life until meth took him down.
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To the Max (5)
A publicity-hungry student shows how easy it is to become a media darling -- with a little help from CU.
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The Magnet Mafia Sticks to Street Art (5)
Matt Feeney and Harrison Nealey have a new way for artists to stick it to the city.
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Bad Luck City Haunts Denver
These folks like their Americana dark.
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Planes Mistaken for Stars Makes Its Final Approach
Capturing the final days of one of Denver’s most vital bands.
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George Porter Is Still Funkin'
This Funky Meters bassist has become a jam icon for a new generation.
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Cue the Cricket
One of Denver’s most storied stages may soon be silenced.
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Boulder Gets a New Elixir
The Purple Martini’s owner opens a club in the People’s Republic.
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Westword Now Exhibit A in Death Penalty Tussle
11:21AM 03/10/08 -
C is for Cookie
10:58AM 03/10/08 -
Alan Parsons as Living History and Other Assorted Goodies
11:36AM 03/10/08 -
Friday Rap-Up: Basementalism, Hip-Hop 4 Obama, 50 Cent, Fat Joe, Juvenile
02:35PM 03/07/08 -
Look of the Day - Irish Gangster
11:41AM 03/07/08 -
Project Runway Finale Tonight
02:54PM 03/05/08 -
Delegating Denver #34 of 56: New Jersey
12:03PM 03/10/08 -
Pundit Watch: Paul Begala
04:45PM 03/07/08
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Recent Articles By John Jesitus
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Paul Westerberg
Stereo (Vagrant)
Mono (Vagrant)
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Hit Pick
MaggieJack
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Steve Earle
Sidetracks (E-Squared/Artemis)
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Hit Pick
Xiren
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Luka Bloom
Between the Mountain and the Moon (Bar/None)
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
A master at indulging the exquisite ache of romantic longing, Cousteau comes off like an absinthe-sipping amalgam of del Amitri without the bitterness and Bowie without the coke. A lush, languid bitch-slap in the face of perky teen pop idols everywhere, this CD shimmers most menacingly when the subterranean stylings of singer Liam McKahey meet the literate (at least by commercial-radio standards) lyrics of multi-instrumentalist/producer Davey Ray Moor. Prime examples include "She Don't Hear Your Prayer," which if not for its 4:25 length could find itself on the next Melissa Etheridge platter (sample lines: "I wish I were you/Then I wish I were dead"). "Wish You Were Her" takes a similarly heartwrenching tack, closing with the irony-dripping assertion "I'm getting over you." It's also one of the few up-tempo tunes on the disc, although in Cousteau's hands ballads are hardly a bad thing. Cases in point include "You My Lunar Queen," a composition with just four lines of lyrics and barely enough instrumentation to make it from one beat to the next; nevertheless, it should be on the soundtrack to some deliciously depressing musical. "How Will I Know," on the other hand, sports enough pop hooks and R&B harmonies to make Elvis Costello fans yearn for younger days. But, in fact, Cousteau's retreading of fairly familiar ground stands as the CD's most serious flaw, followed closely by the combo's dogged refusal to get too excited over anything. Compositions such as the 5:51 "Mesmer" drag on for too long. But if you want a solitary evening of drinking at home (hopefully without any firearms available), there's nothing like a deep dive into the murky waters of Cousteau.
