Problem is, they keep getting punched in the groin. Every time the pain subsides from one blow, another is seemingly waiting in the wings.

The departing manager, the smoke-and-mirrors record deal, the stolen trail...]]> Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/after-losing-a-manager-and-label-prospect-the-abracadabras-held-their-glitter-and-released-a-free-album http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/the-cardinals Squirrelly as ever, Ryan Adams isn't in favor of bills that list his name "and the Cardinals." So we'll oblige. In fact, if he changed his name to a Greek letter and reduced his backup band to a lunchbox full of snails, we'd still listen — as long as those snails could nail the awe-inspirin...]]> Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/the-cardinals http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/john-mceuen The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is state-fair royalty thanks to its 1972 album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, which paired the longhaired California hippies with veterans of the country music establishment. Multi-instrumentalist John McEuen rode the Nitty Gritty train for two decades befo...]]> Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/john-mceuen http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/a-place-to-bury-strangers If A Place to Bury Strangers were one of the presidential candidates, the hypnotic trio would be John McCain. Politics notwithstanding, this Brooklyn band, like the Straight Talk Express, tends to noisily echo the past more than strut into the future. Suturing syncopated drum loops with ee...]]> Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/a-place-to-bury-strangers http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/randy-newman Randy Newman has reached an age (he'll be 65 next month) and stature (Oscar, Grammys, Emmys, boxed set) at which some have begun to suggest that he has transcended the role of acerbic entertainer to become a classic American wit and social critic. The Los Angeles Times, for example,...]]> Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/randy-newman http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/starfucker Think of Starfucker as a peculiarly Portland, Oregon, answer to neo-wave dance acts like Klaxons, the Teenagers and Hot Chip. The group's fey, friendly, fractured electro-pop sews cloudy Northwestern indie-pop lilt to burbling banks of plinking synths. Unlike its international compatriots,...]]> Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/starfucker http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/wayward-son In the Old Testament book of Job, after a description of the flawless title character, who is about to get screwed out of his own skin, Satan pays a visit to God.

The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?"

Satan answered the Lord, "From roam...]]> Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/wayward-son http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/the-download Mountain Dew has been working hard to diversify in 2008, and with questionable results. Along with testing out a few short-lived flavors and lending its citrusy zest to Doritos, the caffeine machine has begun fancying itself as a platform for up-and-coming artists. The Green Label Sound ha...]]> Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/the-download http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/trystyl Beginning with the sound of a needle dropping on a scratchy LP, Trystyl's latest is an insider's record, made for and by crate diggers and notebook poets. Over Trystyl's smooth, ice-cream-with-spinkles production — electronic plus East Coast hip-hop and soul plus a passion for old records &...]]> Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/trystyl http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/split-lip-rayfield In the four years since the last Split Lip Rayfield record, the band had to overcome the loss of founding member Kirk Rundstrom to cancer. In that respect, I'll Be Around is an affirmation of the band's 14-year journey and the scars its gas-tank bass and three surviving members have accumu...]]> Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/music/split-lip-rayfield http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/dining/an-adventure-to-choga-korean-restaurant-heats-up-our-curiosity Whenever North Korea is in the headlines, the news is usually disturbing. Last week, there was the announcement that it was restarting its plutonium reprocessing plant and barring U.N. inspectors. And there's the ongoing drama surrounding the ailing health of the mysterious Kim Jong-il — th...]]> Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/dining/an-adventure-to-choga-korean-restaurant-heats-up-our-curiosity http://www.pitch.com/2008-10-09/dining/on-edge When the J.E. Dunn Construction Company pulled out of advertising mogul Bob Bernstein's much-hyped West Edge project last week, it didn't just leave the long-delayed office, hotel and retail complex in limbo but also added more stress to the life of restaurateur James Frantze.