Brill Building

The best national music releases of 2011

Review: The Don'ts and Be Carefuls at Hi-Dive, 9/9/11

Tom MurphyThe Don'ts and Be Carefuls​THE DON'TS AND BE CAREULS at the HI-DIVE | 9/9/11 The Don'ts and Be Carefuls did something at this "Triple EP Release" show that you just knew the band had in it but you might not expect to see: they fused the exuberance and innocence of its original sound ... More >>

Top 10 Reissues of 2008

Over the next couple of weeks, Backbeat will feature some Top Ten lists from around the Village Voice Media chain. Click here for previous year-in-review coverage from Backbeat and VVM. It's time to rank the best of what went around and came around again. BILLY JOEL The Stranger (Columbia/Legacy ... More >>

Paranoid Park

Gus Van Sant returns to disaffected youth and shoestring budgets in Paranoid Park.

More Songs of the Century

Part two of a pre-millennial trek through a hundred years of pop music.

The Mellowing of Mr. C

Elvis Costello isn't angry anymore.

Lord Knows

Mary Lou Lord is smarter than the average busker.

After Further Review

Putting the season's major releases to the test.

Rap Gets Puffy

Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs fathers a return to hip-hop pop.

Muscle Bound

Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs fathers a return to hip-hop pop.

The Prize Patrol

The biggest musical winners from 1996.