Who are the great lyricists of the day? Not the ones whose themes rattle within your bones for some personal or circumstantial reasons, but those with a passion for and a grasp of language. The poetic and the literary. Masters of construction. Twisters of the phrase and owners of confusion. Those whose songs could be […]
Andrew R Tonry
Posted inMovies & TV
Bad Apples
Errol Morris Goes to Abu Ghraib
That citizens of this country suffer from “war fatigue” is unconscionable. War documentary fatigue, however, is forgivable. The slimy trails left behind by films like Outfoxed, Control Room, and Bush’s Brain (not to mention all the fictional bombs) have stuck our feet to the floor—outside the theater. After all, who wants shell out 10 bucks […]
Posted inNews
Still Fightin’
The Ralph Nader Interview
I knew I was going to interview him, but I wasn’t sure exactly when—his people were supposed to call and set up a time. When the phone rang Monday afternoon, I assumed it was them. “Hello, Andrew? This is Ralph Nader.” Well shit, there he was—gruff, grizzled, and ready to go. Almost as surprising as […]
Posted inMusic
Once More With Feeling
Nurses
[There are only so many music columns one man can write in a week, so while Ezra Ace Caraeff is covering for a vacationing Cary Clarke’s Our Town Could Be Your Life (pg. 29), Mr. Tonry will be filling in here on Once More with Feeling.] A month ago I wandered down the steps into […]
Posted inNews
Bait and Switch
Voters Are Lining up to Register as Democrats—But Will They Stick
Lindsey was one of the rare ones. “I feel like a tool,” she said after switching her party affiliation from “nonaffiliated” to Democrat in order to vote for Barack Obama in Oregon’s May 20 primary. “I like to think of myself as a radical. Am I getting old? I just want Barack to win.” After […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Priceless
A Succinct Review for the Discerning Cinephile
“Charm beats looks,” she says. “You can resist looks, not charm.” And though it certainly helps that she’s devastatingly gorgeous, Irène (the intoxicating, magical, and waif-y Audrey Tautou) is right. But rather than using her seductive tricks to procure love, Irène lusts only for decadence—and unless you inhabit the sparkling world of caviar, couture, and […]
Posted inMusic
Once More With Feeling
Playlist
[There are only so many music columns one man can write in a week, so while Ezra Ace Caraeff is covering for a vacationing Cary Clarke’s Our Town Could Be Your Life (pg. 29), Mr. Tonry will be filling in here on Once More with Feeling.] Here at the Mercury we spend so much time […]
Posted inMusic
Once More with Feeling
MGMT
The night of January 30 was perhaps the most anticipated show of the year to date: the talked about, fawned over, overnight New York sensations MGMT and Yeasayer. It was a frantic clusterfuck. Either band was probably capable of selling out the joint (Holocene) by themselves, yet here they were, together. And so many fans—or […]
Posted inNews
Beneath the Mask
Andrew Tonry Spends the Worst Night of His Life as the LumberJax Mascot
I stripped off the ridiculous costume and headed for the shower. I had to get it off. All of it—the sweat, the stink, and that feeling like I’d just done something reprehensible. I needed refuge. Whatever part of me that got me here, the one that said, “Yeah, that’s a good idea—it’ll be fun, you […]
Posted inMusic
Time Machine
Dirty Projectors Take You Back
The concert posters that are left are mostly in tatters, but a few of them you can still read: “Benefit, seven bands, 50 cents.” So many memories. Train tracks on long summer evenings, walking endlessly toward nowhere. Too young to work, scraping up bits of change. Out-of-tune guitars and beer-soaked circle pits. Shoulder tapping and […]
Posted inMusic
Once More With Feeling
Kill Rock Stars
[There are only so many music columns one man can write in a week, so while Ezra Ace Caraeff is covering for a vacationing Cary Clarke’s Our Town Could Be Your Life (pg. TK), Mr. Tonry will be filling in here on Once More with Feeling.] Seminal Northwest indie label Kill Rock Stars—who have released […]
Posted inNews
More Notes from the Rope Line
A Glimpse of Hillaryland
IT’S 8 AM on Saturday morning, April 5, and we’re headed toward Hillsboro. That’s right—8 am, Saturday, Hillsboro. I can’t believe it. My mind is overrun with thoughts and apprehensions about how this ill-conceived Hillary Clinton rally might stack up against Barack Obama’s rock-star blow-through at the Memorial Coliseum last month. But as we pull […]