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National Features >
City Pages
Michele Bachmann, Unmuzzled
You don't need to read Sarah Palin's book to hear the ravings of a mad woman.
By Matt Snyders
Miami New Times
Pimp Daddy
The rise and fall of a chubby sex-cult leader.
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Riverfront Times
Babe 'n' Arms
Tom was a hot-tempered cross-dresser with a garage full of guns--and then he became Rachel.
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The Fight for Texas
Rick Perry and Kay Bailey Hutchison are locked in a battle over the soul of the GOP. They're also running for governor.
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The Roots
Rising Down
Def Jam
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By Michael Roberts
Published on May 13, 2008 at 7:17pm
The Roots' latest has been cast as a one-way trip to Bummer Town, and that's understandable: Thematically, it's heavier than Jared Fogle before he realized how much money he could make crediting his weight loss to sandwiches. Nonetheless, the disc's seriousness and smarts represent a welcome departure from commercial hip-hop's current it's-all-good bias.
The title track sets the tone with erudite rhymes about our out-of-control planet underscored by drummer ?uestlove's brawny boom-bap. And if the psychological study "Singing Man" boasts more nerve than insight, "I Will Not Apologize" gives defiance a jolting infusion of Afrobeat, and "Rising Up" shines a light in the darkness.
The results won't be confused with a party record. Still, the group deserves props for Rising Down instead of dumbing down.
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