Hype is an interesting phenomenon. Advertisers try to create it. Any product, ranging from an eight-dollar movie ticket to the five-bladed razor, hopes to have it.

I miss The Shins. Oh, their new sound is good; frontman James Mercer gives it his all with clever lyrics and solid indie pop. But where have the mellow harmonies of the group’s first album gone? The ones that changed Zach Braff’s life in Garden State? It’s at moments like this that one turns to…

Music for people who like doing nothing How are you spending your summer vacation? Ever since students have entered grade school, the question has plagued them, and every time you meet that friend you haven’t seen since the end of Reunions last year it comes back to haunt you. Did you spend it rock climbing…

What are the elements of a group’s sound? If you listened to all the records by the Postal Service, you’d think that the unifying force was spastic electronic beats and Ben Gibbard’s dulcet tones. If you listened to every Radiohead song, you’d know that success is defined by an operatic wail and intense production. If…