With 'Heart,' Dylan puts the 'no' in noel

I hate Christmas music. Every year the same handful of stale Yuletide standards gets flogged to death by stores, radio stations and family members, with no regard for the fact that some of us would rather administer power drills to our skulls than endure "Santa Baby" for the 30,000th time.
Modified: 11/06/09 02:30:18 PM

The total package: a book, play, music

A conniving crook and a young innocent. Paths cross. Beliefs are challenged.
Modified: 11/06/09 02:25:16 PM

New on cd

The Killers
Modified: 11/06/09 02:30:14 PM

A return to the 'Mountain'

Patty Loveless is relaxing at home in Nashville, preparing for the tour that brings her to Walnut Creek on Saturday. The tour will present music from and promote her new Saguaro Road Records CD, "Mountain Soul II."
Modified: 11/04/09 05:56:28 PM

When things fall apart

Romantic breakups can be many things, but "fun" is never on the menu. During the wound-licking stage, both parties generally want to get as far apart from each other as possible. And yet John Booker and Rachel Hirsh have spent a long stretch of this fall in the close quarters of a touring van. Because while they broke up, their band - the excellent pop ensemble I Was Totally Destroying It - has not.
Modified: 11/04/09 05:10:40 PM

Contact the N&O features staff

Debra Boyette, features editor
(919) 836-4903

Adrienne Johnson Martin,
assistant features editor (919) 829-4751

Craig Jarvis, assistant features editor
(919) 829-4576

Features main number: (919) 829-4520

All newsroom contacts

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FilmPicks

We have a lot of ground to cover, so let's go through what's happening this week in quick bites:
Modified: 11/04/09 04:25:39 PM

GamePicks

If the decorations at the local CVS are any indication, holiday shopping season has evidently arrived. This is the busy season for games, of course, and if you're looking for a new title - for yourself or as a gift - there's a lot to choose from.
Modified: 11/04/09 05:06:19 PM

CountryPicks

Fiddler and step dancer April Verch grew up amid Ontario's rich traditional music community before heading south to attend Boston's Berklee School of Music.
Modified: 11/04/09 05:56:19 PM

Rock Picks

Guys holler in bars all the time and they're rarely worth paying attention to, but Scott Miller is the rare exception.
Modified: 11/04/09 05:56:01 PM

DVDPicks

Trying to find the right simile for the experience of watching " The Taking of Pelham 123," the NYC subway hostage drama starring John Travolta and Denzel Washington, I decided on this: It's like slightly upgraded fast food - familiar, bland, but with a little touch of upscale zestiness.
Modified: 11/04/09 05:05:33 PM

Classical Picks

Popular violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain returns to Raleigh on Saturday at 8 p.m. in N.C.
Modified: 11/04/09 05:10:39 PM

Quick Bites

Psst! The coast is clear. For the first time since Boylan Bridge Brewpub's much-anticipated opening a few months ago, it's possible to get a table on the patio when the weather is fair without staking out a spot hours in advance.
Modified: 11/04/09 04:31:02 PM

Raleigh Little Theatre's in the round with Charlie Brown

You haven't introduced your children to the world of Charlie Brown? Good grief!
Modified: 11/04/09 05:15:29 PM

Spry Cohen gives his all

Music Review: As instruments of doom go, Leonard Cohen's voice is sort of like anesthesia. You'll be coasting along, basking in his mellow croon and letting it wash over you.
Modified: 11/05/09 06:41:55 AM

Not giving up on the LP

Clearly, The Flaming Lips didn't get the memo about the death of the album.
Modified: 10/30/09 04:42:03 PM

Oswalt makes the most of his geekiness

On his latest CD/DVD, "My Weakness Is Strong," Patton Oswalt talks about waiting for the birth of his daughter.
Modified: 10/30/09 02:47:47 PM

Music reviews: Country

Among the younger generation of country artists, there may not be a voice better than Joe Nichols for conveying the emotions of old-time country songs. Songs, that is, about real concerns faced by real people with broken hearts and resilient hopes.
Modified: 11/01/09 04:45:27 AM

Music reviews: Jazz

Among the highlights of pianist Mike Longo's "Sting Like a Bee" (Consolidated Artists Productions) are a medium-slow version of Cole Porter's "Love for Sale" in a walking bass groove and an ultra-slow version of Kurt Weill's "Speak Low." Both demonstrate Longo's mastery of rhythm at tempos where timing always trumps flash.
Modified: 11/01/09 04:45:27 AM