The Brooklyn Rail

Everywhere you go you hear music. Itís in clothing stores and supermarkets, and itís what you listen to on the phone while you wait twenty minutes to speak to a customer-service representative.

Reviews of five new albums.

Liars and Secret Machines—and I’m not talking politics, but two cannabizarre bands on a journey to the outer limits by way of Brooklyn.

The crank on the side of a wind-up toy or a music box is not just a mechanical device that sets things in motion; it is a generator of suspense.